When setting up an aquarium,

the concept of “Serviceability” should be paramount.  As hobbyists, if a design decision can be made in the planning stages to make maintenance easier then it would actually get done. So for longevity in this hobby, you should plan on making as many maintenance items as simple as possible and only add what you need to reduce clutter and complexity.  Let’s take a look at some of the few basic serviceability factors that should be obvious but sometimes get overlooked.

• Accessibility

  • Location – The most basic factor is pretty simple. Locate the system close to a sink/drain. Ensure there is adequate room around the system to perform the maintenance required.
  • Equipment Layout – Position all the equipment that requires cleaning in an unobstructed area. Do not blindly harness everything just to look nice. Forethought of specific maintenance tasks is required, or else you will kick yourself the first time it needs to be done and it can’t be done. Locate the items that require regular cleaning in the most convenient positions that are not buried or blocked by other equipment. This includes all pumps, skimmers, reactors, dosing containers, etc. Notice in the 3D model shown above, the return pump union is placed near the front of the tank for convenient access.

• Ease of Locating and Disassembly

  • Drain /Return Plumbing – Plan to use true union ball valves as much as possible. It’s not if but when you will need to disassemble the plumbing since they will clog over time due to biofilm or calcification on the inner walls reducing flow.
  • Doser Plumbing – Use quick disconnect fittings near the doser and containers. Route the tubing with tubing holders to keep them tidy for ease of traceability.  The use of color coded labels or tubing can be a huge benefit as well. Keep the distance between the doser and dosing containers as short as possible. Keeping all the tubing on the same plane instead of just bundling them will reduce nightmares when you need to trace or replace a tube. Dosers should be easily accessible since the pump heads require maintenance over time.

 

 

• • Harnessing Design– Unfortunately most manufacturers have not answered my call for disconnection points closer to the active part of the device. For example, wave pumps should have waterproof disconnects closer to the pump heads in order to avoid pulling out all the harness just to remove the unit for cleaning. Sometimes creative custom DIY solutions need to be made to enable this concept. A product like the CoralVue Hydros Wave Engine is nice since it eliminates additional power brick clutter with a single central connection but the downside is that it is all controlled by a single unit which can be a point of failure. So prioritize your requirements when comparing aesthetics vs. redundancy.
  • Cable Management– If possible use industrial wire looms to hide cabling and allow ease of removal. Use non-permanent wire wraps, like Velcro cable ties, to separate the most commonly maintained equipment.  Carefully arrange and label everything. The availability of pre-made controller boards and industrial wire looms can give you a professional look at a moderate cost. A properly designed and implemented setup is a piece of functional artwork to behold. Below are 2 examples.

• Automate as Necessary

  • Add automation to your system for parameter monitoring, controls (i.e. water changes and auto shutoffs), dosing, or water testing but keep in mind that the equipment itself will require maintenance over time. It will allow you to manage your most critical devices from a central dashboard to power everything you need OFF for various scenarios such as water changes, feeding, etc.
  • Keep electrical hardware in easily accessible locations to ensure they are visible to address issues. “Out of sight, out of mind” applies here in a negative sense.
  • Think outside the sump cabinet. Moving all the electrical equipment out of the sump cabinet to an external location is my preference to avoid moisture/salt spray build up and can be more ergonomic.

Final Thoughts

I always tell new hobbyists that it’s always cheaper on paper when you plan your system out. Take the factors above and sketch it out so that you can visualize the accessibility and space constraints.  Computer aided design software is not required. But if you have the skills to draft it to scale in 3D you can avoid headaches before spending a single cent.  If you have friends who are professional plumbers or electricians ask them for some tips. Find some examples from fellow hobbyists that appeal to you. Emulate them while keeping serviceability as a priority.

Richard Ross currently works as an Aquatic Biologist at the Steinhart Aquarium in the California Academy of Sciences, maintaining many exhibits including the 212,000 gallon Philippine Coral Reef. He has kept saltwater animals for over 25 years, and has worked in aquarium maintenance, retail, wholesale and has consulted for a coral farm/fish collecting station in the South Pacific. Richard enjoys all aspects of the aquarium hobby and is a regular author for trade publications, a frequent speaker at aquarium conferences and was a founder of one of the largest and most progressive reef clubs in Northern California, Bay Area Reefers. He is an avid underwater videographer and has been fortunate to scuba dive in a lot of places around the world. At home he maintains a 300 gallon reef system and a 250 gallon cephalopod/fish breeding system, and was one of the first people to close the life cycle of Sepia bandensis. When not doing all that stuff, he enjoys spending time with his patient wife, his incredible daughter and their menagerie of animals, both wet and dry.

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Reef Evolution Salt is a third-generation sea salt, born out of the experience of ASF Aquarium System. It has everything it needs to be considered perfect.

Whenever I talk about sea salt, like to start with the basics because, in my humble opinion, not enough importance is given to the salt that is used to create the sea water used in our aquariums. It should be obvious to think that since water is the liquid in which everything is immersed, if there are issues with our water, then our whole system will have problems and carry them for a very long time. Assuming we can solve them.

That is why I consider salt to be one of the key components for our aquariums. So I think the choice of a good salt is a key factor in the splendor of an aquarium. It is crucial in preparing the water for starting our aquarium so that it has perfect water, but it is also crucial in preparing the water for changes. In this regard, we repost a few articles that are among the most widely read and appreciated:

This dutiful promise is important because we finally have a salt that has been much talked about lately, both in Italy and in the United States, as we got to see during ReefApalooza in New York (click for more information). We are talking about Reef Evolution Salt from Aquarium Systems.

Reef Evolution Salt in detail

Reef Evolution Salt has been formulated to best meet the needs of reef aquariums by providing a regular supply of oligoelements, calcium, magnesium, and alkalinity. Earlier I called it third-generation salt because in addition to trace elements, it also contains food for beneficial bacteria, amino acids and vitamins that support biological processes in the aquarium for optimal coral growth and coloration, as well as fish health.

Essential vitamins and 10 different amino acids are contained in the salt, and the salt is certified to be phosphate-free, nitrate-free, nitrite-free, and ammonium-free.

Mind you, this is not a probiotic salt; if anything it is a prebiotic salt! And that is also why we call it a third generation salt. Reef Evolution Salt is the third salt developed and formulated by Aquarium Systems. The first was Instant Ocean and then Reef Crystal. But that is not the only reason for calling it that name. First came sea salts, let’s call them traditional, then came probiotic sea salts, i.e., those enriched with bacteria, and finally Aquarium Systems has developed this prebiotic salt. That is, without bacteria, but with food for the bacteria themselves thanks to carbon sources. And I must say that I really like this very much.

Also because the bacteria is already in the aquarium, or we can use bacteria that are more specific to what we and our aquarium need. Using perhaps the brands we prefer. In any case I consider it much more useful to have the bacteria food than the bacteria themselves. The food in fact stimulates bacterial production, without the bacteria themselves having to die from lack of food.

Chemical composition

The Reef Evolution Salt is a charged, but extremely balanced, salt. The magnesium value is exactly three times that of calcium. And a carbonate value, or KH, that is absolutely perfect for not being too aggressive to corals.

With a density of 1024 we have the following values, as stated and tested by Aquarium Systems:

Calcium	435-460 ppm
Magnesium	1340-1400 ppm
Kh	7.7-8.3

In this case, unlike the Reef Crystal salt, Aquarium Systems has not provided values inferred from an ICP analysis, and we honestly believe that for one of the companies that has made the history of aquarium salt this is not a big problem. Given the excellent reputation of its salt over the years, we believe that the stated values are more than enough to reassure us aquarists.

How to prepare water

We prepare water, at least the first time, using 39/40 grams of salt per liter of water. Using a smaller amount of salt, as indicated in the table on the back of the package, results in a lower salinity suitable for the various types of animals kept. I am on team 35 per thousand, meaning that for me the right salinity is always 35 per thousand, and therefore 39-40 grams per liter.

The exact amount stoichiometrically would be 36.27 grams. But if you want to go more in depth, we refer you to the article linked above. Once the salt is dissolved we check the amount and then adjust if necessary by adding a little water. It is of course critical that the amount of salt is less than what is needed.

With the 39 grams per liter we should get a concentration of around 36 per thousand.

1.024 specific gravity or 35 per thousand per 606 liters?

We discovered a curious thing. Aquarium Systems indicates that at 1.024 specific gravity, that is, with a density of 1.021 and a ratio of 32 per thousand, one can produce 606 liters.

However, if the salt were completely anhydrous (i.e., without any trace of moisture), dividing the 22 kilograms of content by the amount of 36.27 grams we would get precisely 606 liters… but at a rate of 35 per thousand! Of course using 39-40 grams we would get 565 liters. In the end these are small details, but I still wanted to mention them.

One detail that personally drives me crazy is the shape of the bin. A crescent moon that has now become iconic with the gold color that predominates on the packaging.

How do you open the bin?

This sounds like a stupid question, but I often have to figure out how to open a bin. In this case it’s very simple because you just press open where you see the little window.

The salt is contained inside the 22 kg bin in a plastic bag. The pressure lid and the bag completely eliminate the possibility of moisture getting to the salt itself.

We are testing it in our nanoreef, have you guys tried it? What do you think of it? Write to us in the comments.

[Translated by Aisja Baglioni]

We keep hearing the bad and the sad, but now we get to hear some of the good too.  The World Premiere of the documentary “Coral Gardeners”  will be held at the DC Environmental Film Festival, this Saturday, 23 March (Naval Heritage Center, 1pm).

What is it about?

A 20-minute documentary that takes you on a journey, unravelling the crucial role of corals in our ecosystem and showcasing the Soneva Foundation’s Coral Restoration programme in the Maldives where they are committed to coral regeneration and preservation. The film is directed by National Geographic producer Jon Bowermaster and produced by the Soneva Foundation and Ocean 8 Films.

Why watch it?

This film is a reminder of the crucial work needed to protect our oceans for generations to come.

Happy birthday Sicce!!! Sicce is now 50 years and it definitely doesn’t show… actually, the best is yet to come. Let’s trace its history.

Recently Sicce posted a video on youtube and its own blog to celebrate its 50-year career, having been born in 1974. And we give a huge congratulations to this great Italian company that has done so much for Aquaristics.

We have written countless articles about Sicce; the first one was a report of Interzoo in 2008 where, by the way, the company itself asked for our pictures for their promotional content. And we were very glad to share them!

Since then, we’ve written a lot of reviews, especially about pumps, as well as many other reports about Sicce‘s presence at various trade fairs, and we have to say that we have found them everywhere: from Cips in Shanghai to ReefAPalooza and MACNA in the USA, from Zoomark in Italy to Interzoo in Germany. A constant and strong presence! This can only happen if you’re a very solid company.

Sicce’s History

Sicce was founded in 1974 by Paolo Pettenon and became the first leading Italian company in the production of heaters for aquariums. In 1975 they expand the range of their products with return pumps and aquarium and pond filters. In the 80s they introduced the technology of the permanent magnet synchronous motor, that assures over 50% of energy saving, while maintaining the functional characteristics and performances. Then in the 90s they launched the Micra pump, a very small sized pump, that reaches the world’s highest distribution. In the same years, Sicce obtained its first license.

2002 saw the arrival of the electronic control system for pump engines. In the same year, Sicce changed its headquarters, moving to Pozzoleone, where the new location had an area of 70.000 mq. In 2008 Sicce celebrated the 35th year of activity with a party at Nuremberg Interzoo, the most important worldwide fair for aquariums. And we were there!

In 2009 they acquired 3 more important licenses: CO2 Life, a CO2 supply system of aquarium plants, the Voyager line of movement pumps, and an innovative external filtration system for ponds called Green Reset.

Then we arrive in 2014 for the big celebration at Nuremberg Interzoo to honor their 40 years of activity. And we were invited!

And here we are today. What will the future hold? We’re looking forward to finding out!

The Celebration Video

In conclusion, we leave you the beautiful video that Sicce posted to celebreate its 50 years of successful activity!

We thank Sicce for the content and we leave you to the brand history page from which we borrowed the dates for the writing of this article.

It only remains to us to present you some of the people we met during time.

Congratulations!!!

[Translated by Agnese Poggi]

For this video, we are taking you back to Frost Museum of Science in Miami, Florida to give you guys an update on the 100% aquacultured, captivebred exhibit. I was in a reflective mood and was checking out the old footage when I saw how far we have come since the original concept ideas a little over 5 years ago. Check the video out, let me know what you think, what was your favorite part of the exhibit, and if you can guess what I have in mind for the 2nd exhibit.

Happy reefing!

This is one of the questions I am asked most often and which is not answered in any of our previous articles, so it is time to talk about how to choose a skimmer for your marine aquarium.

One of the first questions we may ask ourselves as neophytes is “How do I choose a skimmer?” But it is also one of those questions that comes to mind after a few years of using our skimmer: Which skimmer can I replace my current one for, for better performance?

What a skimmer is and how it works

The skimmer is one of the foundations of the Berlin system and is the one that characterizes it most, as it had never before been employed in the maintenance of a marine aquarium, although its operation had been known about for at least two centuries. The skimmer serves to maintain organic matter at near-zero levels and is therefore critical in maintaining pollutants at levels that allow the growth and maintenance of marine organisms. It acts by extracting surfactants, carbon and hydrogen-based organic molecules, from water.

At this point, let us look at the technical data that can be found about skimmers. We talk about water treated in one hour, air treated in one hour, and diameter of the skimmer body. In addition, of course, to height, cup capacity, and consumption.

But for our choice we focus our attention on the other parameters.

Hourly flow rate: treated water

The first parameter we are interested in is the treated water flow rate. Simply put, each skimmer has a value of water it treats in one hour. Unfortunately, this is not a figure that is always communicated by manufacturers. We in our recent skimmer reviews have started to measure it somewhat, although the value is not entirely accurate.

For the most correct choice, it is necessary to think about what we would like to breed, and therefore what level of pollutants we want to keep in the aquarium. A good starting point may be to consider a skimmer that has an hourly flow rate of treated water between 3 and 4 times the volume of one’s aquarium. You can go down to 2 for soft coral and LPS aquariums. I do not recommend going beyond that to avoid excessive water depletion.

At present, the best advice is to stay close to 3 times the volume to achieve the best balance of water cleanliness and welfare of the housed animals. The number can go up to 4 for SPS aquariums and down to 2 for LPS aquariums.

Let us now look at the skimmers in our tanks of the month, just to get an idea of how the best aquariums are equipped. Of course, these are ones where the water flow rate is known and stated.

• Jm_Reefer, aquarium volume 500 liters, water treated 1,800 l/h: ratio 3.6;
• Alexander Silvioni, aquarium volume 1,500 liters, water treated 4,000 l/h: ratio 2.66;
• Luca Perini, aquarium volume 300 liters, water treated 1,400 l/h: ratio 4.66;
• Jonathan Betti, aquarium volume 600 liters, water treated 2,300 l/h: ratio 3.83;
• DaniReef, aquarium volume 400 liters, water treated 1,150 l/h: ratio 2.87;

Efficiency and treated air

There are different schools of thought in skimmer construction. Those who prefer more treated air, and those who prefer more contact time. Hard for me to say which is best, and all manufacturers always state treated air.

Normally, however, we can stay close to a ratio of 2 between aquarium volume and treated air. So a 300-liter aquarium may have an intake of 600 l/h and so on. And in fact even analyzing our aquariums of the month we can always find that value. The differences are mostly given by different philosophies in the construction of the skimmers themselves.

• Jm_Reefer, aquarium volume 500 liters, air treated 1,000 l/h: ratio 2;
• Andrea Minnella, aquarium volume 300 liters, air treated 600 l/h: ratio 2;
• Alexander Silvioni, aquarium volume 1,500 liters, air treated 1,500 l/h: ratio 1;
• Luca Perini, aquarium volume 300 liters, air treated 700 l/h: ratio 2.33;
• Federico Lavezzi, aquarium volume 325 liters, air treated 1,500 l/h: ratio 4.6;
• Jonathan Betti, aquarium volume 600 liters, air treated 1,400 l/h: ratio 2.33;
• DaniReef, aquarium volume 400 liters, air treated 800 l/h: ratio 2.

The diameter of the skimmer body

Another useful parameter to consider is the diameter of the skimmer body. Obviously, the argument is valid where it is cylindrical and not square or rectangular. Generally, if we consider skimmers that were developed at the same time, we can say that for an SPS aquarium, a diameter of 18 cm can be chosen for 400-liter aquariums. Going down 2 cm for LPS aquariums.

In a 300-liter aquarium, a 16 cm diameter is enough for SPS but also a 14 for LPS. And so on. This is because most manufacturers start from similar calculations and therefore the values of pumps, diameter and height are quite homogeneous anyway.

Again we can see the choices that were made by the owners of our aquariums of the month.

• Jm_Reefer, aquarium volume 500 liters, diameter 20 cm;
• Andrea Minnella, aquarium volume 300 liters, diameter 14 cm;
• Alexander Silvioni, aquarium volume 1,500 liters, diameter 25 cm;
• Luca Perini, aquarium volume 300 liters, diameter 18 cm;
• Federico Lavezzi, aquarium volume 325 liters, diameter 16 cm;
• Jonathan Betti, aquarium volume 600 liters, diameter 20 cm;
• DaniReef, aquarium volume 400 liters, diameter 18 cm.

And even in this case we can see how the correspondence is rather maintained.

Other important features

Given a choice I prefer the high drain. This is because all the treated water can be sent to the rising pump compartment, achieving perfect filtration of all the falling water. The cleaning of the glass, automatic or not, is another of those features that have now become indispensable, but also the possibility of having an external drain from the glass to be able to obviate even prolonged essences. Ease of maintenance and last but not least noise, although the latest skimmers are much improved in this respect.

Well, now that you have chosen the right skimmer for your aquarium, all that’s left to do is to choose the return pump.

[Translated by Aisja Baglioni]

We have been playing around with the Amtra Stream Sump 4000 return pump for some time, and we have found its performance to be incredibly good and very close to what the company itself claims.

Amtra is not the company you would normally think of when you want to buy a new return pump, so we approached this new Stream Sump 4000 with a lot of curiosity. Let’s keep it short. Not only did we find no weaknesses, not only is the performance remarkably similar to what the company claims, but we found spectacular ease of maintenance and an extremely low noise level. You just have to go ahead and read our review to find out all the data we discovered.

The pump is adjustable by 9 steps and runs on 24V, excellent technical features that could make it the choice as a rising pump for a large number of marine aquariums. We really liked the choice of colors, and especially the impeller colors, as well as the transparent volute. The pump comes with two pairs of hose connectors of different diameters. (I recommend you never use the smaller hose holder.)

The pump is an alternating current centrifugal pump, but operating at low adjustable voltage. We measured, as our usual, head, flow rate and consumption.

For the head we used the usual perfect static method. For the flow rate we used the flow meter DigiFlow 6710M and for the consumption we used the RCE PM600.

The video review of the AMTRA stream sump 4000

Before we begin our review, with all the technical data, we direct you to our very complete video review, where we not only talk about the pump and its performance, but also tell you what the head is, and most importantly, we dwell on the differences between technical and measured values. We advise you on how to size it, and we physically show you our tests for the first time. A somewhat long video but a must-see, indeed. And we would love to hear what you think about this new format.

	European Version 100-240 V 50/60 Hz DC 24 V
Maximum flow rate:	4,000 l/h
Maximum consumption:	43 watt
Head:	4.2 meters
Width	7 cm
Depth	14.5 cm
Height	10 cm (body only)
Official price	159.99 EUR

The Amtra stream sump 4000 is stated to have a very good energy efficiency of 93 liters per watt consumed and an economic efficiency of 25 liters per second per euro (but the on-road price is much lower as we will see at the end of the article) and thus a benchmark value of 8,400 l*m/h. A value that is good for most Italian tanks.

At a relatively low cost, you can buy a very solid and very safe pump given the low voltage operation, dimmable on 9 steps, and starting with very good basic features. Very good energy efficiency, average for the economical one, but very good if we consider its on-road price. Let us now see what our lab tells us, and how this fits within the values we have measured so far for all the other pumps.

The construction

The pump is simple, and has the classic cylindrical development. It comes in an innovative, almost iridescent blue livery with a very bright orange impeller and a transparent volute, that then allows the impeller to be inspected without having to open the pump. For ease of maintenance the cap screws on and off by hand, a great thing let me tell you. In seconds you can open the pump and close it again, without the use of tools, and without screws that could oxidize over time. In the video you can see how quickly it can be done.

Inside the package you will find the pump and two pairs of hose connectors of different diameters. I recommend you NEVER USE the smaller hose holder.

The impeller is modern with 6 curved blades. And this makes a difference from the old similar pumps with similar flow rate – it makes the pump much more efficient.

The orange impeller drives me crazy. I don’t know what you think of it, but seen inside the clear volute it is a sight to behold.

How to control the Amtra Stream Sump 4000

The main feature of this pump is that its flow rate can be set to 9 power steps. Basically, through the built-in controller, we have the ability to set the flow rate (and head) to 9 pairs of values by decreasing or increasing the revolutions of the motor, which we remind you is 24 V. There is also a button to stop the pump for 15 minutes to feed fish and/or corals. The pump flow rate is shown in the small liquid crystal display that indicates the mode of operation with 2 or 3 dashes and the operating speed.

There are 2 modes of operation. Constant flow with two dashes or wave generation with 3 dashes. Honestly, in my opinion, wave generation is not needed in a reef marine aquarium. But there are perhaps many situations, unknown to me, where it might come in handy. In the wave generation mode, the flow rate decreases by about a third.

The pump connects to the controller and power supply via a pair of connectors. The power supply is generously sized.

Head Test

The first test we did was to measure the head. As you know, head is the ability of the pump to elevate water above a certain level. To do this, we measured the water level reached inside a rubber hose.

As you can see in the previous photo, we secure the pipe to the balcony. Then we turn on the pumps we need to measure, and after waiting 10 minutes for them to stabilize, we measure their head. We repeat this for each power step. In the video you can see an excerpt of this working methodology. We then present the table that we extrapolated from the data we measured.

The head goes from 111 cm to 430 cm. The trend is rather low and linear until the 5th step, where it starts to increase. The last 2 steps increase the head considerably. The maximum stated head is 420 cm, so the two values are practically the same. Nothing to add, and in this case bravo Amtra.

Flow Test

Measuring the flow rate was easy thanks to the flow meter DigiSavant DIGIFLOW 6710M. First, we connected our connecting tubes to our flow meter. In the video we explained our procedure in detail.

We tried to make the meter fit snugly against the pump outlet. The measurement is expressed in liters per minute. Then simply multiply the result by 60 to get the liters per hour.

Of course, we point out that the measurement is valid within the conditions under which we made the measurements. The connecting pipe so designed may have induced leakage in the system.

The system thus designed gave us the following values:

The maximum flow rate was 3,690 l/h (or 61.5 l/m*60), just below the 4,000 l/h declared. The pump thus achieved 92.3% of the declared value under the test conditions. An excellent result, the best ever measured in the DaniReef LAB for a centrifugal pump with variable flow rate. Indeed, consider 66% for the Ecotech Marine Vectra M1, 67% for the Waveline DC6000, 70% for the Hydor Seltz D6000, 86% for the Rossmont RX 3200, 82.6% for the Rossmont RX 5000, and 82.3% for the ASF NewJet NJ2000, just to name a few of the pumps we’ve been testing lately. And remember that we have also had the opportunity to try pumps with flow rates less than 50% of the stated… Later on, we will show the comparisons with all the return pumps we have measured.

When you have to employ a return pump pay attention to the following aspects that can lower, sometimes drastically, its flow rate. Use the biggest hose nozzle that comes with it. Always use a pipe that is wide enough. The pipe should be as short as possible and make as few 90-degree turns as possible. Otherwise, the expected flow rate will decrease even more dramatically.

Energy Consumption Test

The detection of instantaneous consumption was made possible through the use of the convenient tool RCE PM600 which is also capable of measuring Cos(fi) (or phasing). The result is given in watts.

The following graph illustrates the measurements.

The stated maximum consumption of the Amtra Stream Sump 4000 is 43 watts, and according to our measurements we are at a maximum of 44 watts, practically a 2.3% more than the stated value. Again we can say that the value is practically the same.

Considering a consumption of 44 watts, and an energy cost of 0.27 euro per kwh, we could employ this pump continuously for a full year at its maximum performance with a consumption of about 402 kwh, from which comes a cost of 109 euro per year, or 9 euro per month. A practically negligible cost.

Given the size of the pump and especially given its flow rate, it was not possible to conduct our usual noise test. But in our video you can appreciate the almost total silence of the pump.

To decrease noise, 4 small soft rubber feet are given that fit into the slide, which in turn fits under the pump body. With the dual purposes of decreasing vibration and noise.

The results far exceeded our wildest expectations. The pump proved to be perfect in fulfilling its promises, and this is a detail that happens extremely rarely, especially when it comes to flow rate, a value in which we often fall short of the declared data. But not in this case – all the values are practically coincident with what the company declared.

The conclusions section is really full of material, partly because of the comparisons we are going to make with similar pumps whose performance we have measured over time.

Comparison with other pumps

The comparisons with all the other pumps I have been able to measure to date are very interesting, namely with ASF, Eheim, Hydor, Tunze, Sicce, Corallinea, Waveline and Ecotech Marine, of which you can see the aggregate data in the following table.

We sorted the table by what we defined to be the reference value of the pump-that is, the product of the flow rate times the head divided by 2. Thus obtaining the area subtended by the two quantities. This we believe is the only method for comparing homologous pumps. If the reference value deviates greatly, the pumps, in our humble opinion, are not comparable.

Pump	Head	Scope	Reference value	Consumption	Price	Efficiency	Economic Efficiency	Annual Cost
Eheim 1250	195 cm	1205 l/h	1175	23.8 w	98 €	50,6 l/h*w	12,3 l/h*€	56 €
Newa Jet 1700	200 cm	1638 l/h	1638	31,2 w	43 €	52,5 l/h*w	38 l/h*€	74 €
ASF NewJet DC 2000	290 cm	1770 l/h	2566	25,2 w	99 €	70,2 l/h*w	17,9 l/h*€	60 €
Sicce Syncra 3	296 cm	2375 l/h	3515	42,3 w	100 €	56,1 l/h*w	23,7 l/h*€	100 €
Rossmont Riser RX 3200	281 cm	2766 l/h	3886	53,7 w	115 €	51,5 l/h*w	24 l/h*€	127 €
Eheim 1260	350 cm	2434 l/h	4260	62,1 w	155 €	32,2 l/h*w	15,7 l/h*€	147 €
Tunze 1073.50	436 cm	2143 l/h	4672	38,8 w	180 €	55,2 l/h*w	11,9 l/h*€	92 €
Sicce Syncra 4	380 cm	3709 l/h	7047	94 w	160 €	39,5 l/h*w	23,2 l/h*€	222 €
Corallinea BQ5000	404 cm	3504 l/h	7078	83,2 w	120 €	42,1 l/h*w	29,2 l/h*€	197 €
Rossmont Riser RX 5000	364 cm	4128 l/h	7513	83,7 w	145 €	49,3 l/h*w	28,5 l/h*€	198 €
Waveline DC6000	392 cm	4008 l/h	7857	50,2 w	283 €	79,7 l/h*w	14,1 l/h*€	119 €
AMTRA Stream Sump 4000	430 cm	3690 l/h	7934	44 w	159 €	83,86 l/h*w	23,1 l/h*€	109 €
Hydor Seltz D6000	450 cm	4194 l/h	9437	53 w	125 €	79,1 l/h*w	33,5 l/h*€	125 €
Ecotech Marine Vectra M1	610 cm	4944 l/h	15080	89.5 w	399 €	55,1 l/h*w	12,3 l/h*€	212 €

It can be seen from the table that from the economic point of view, i.e., with respect to the flow rate generated per single euro, this pump Amtra is in the average of affordable pumps. But as far as technical efficiency is concerned, considering only maximum values, this Amtra Stream Sump 4000 is the best ever measured to date. Almost 84 l/h per single watt!!! So if the pair of values you need match, or are at least close to this pump you have no excuse not to buy it. Besides, it is an adjustable pump – what else would you want from a pump?

The Report with Stated Data

Let us now look at the comparison with the manufacturer’s stated data.

Head

pump	head	measurement	deviation
Amtra Stream Sump 4000	420 cm	430 cm	+2 %

The head measure has very little deviation. The pump delivers what it promises.

Flow rate

pump	scope	laboratory measurement	deviation
Amtra Stream Sump 4000	4.000 l/h	3.690 l/h	– 7,8 %

The deviation between measured and declared flow rate is close to 8%, very few times have we seen an outcome so close to the declared values. Chapeau! The differences are often closer to 40%.

Energy Consumption

pump	consumption	laboratory measurement	deviation
Amtra Stream Sump 4000	43 w	44 w	+ 2 %

The power consumption is about 2% higher; we can say that it is perfectly coincident with what is claimed.

Correspondence to stated data

Finally, just for comparison, we can give a match value against the data stated by the house for flow rate, head, and consumption.

pump	head	scope	consumption	Final Value (in absolute value)
Amtra Stream Sump 4000	102 %	92%	102 %	98,7 %

Conclusions

The reference value of the AMTRA Stream Sump 4000 return pump is 7,934 l*m/h, where for comparison the declared reference value is 8,400, a loss of just under 6%. Recall that the reference value is the area subtended by the flow and head values. In practice we are going to do the operation of (flow rate x head/2).

The 6% loss is really an excellent value, given that virtually all direct competitors are doing worse, much worse.

For our aquarium we always have to consider what it actually expresses, not what it should have expressed with respect to the stated data. But in this case the two values considered are virtually identical. An excellent added value when choosing.

Disclaimer: We thank Amtra for providing us with the Amtra Stream Sump 4000 pump for this review.

[Translated by Aisja Baglioni]

Richard Ross currently works as an Aquatic Biologist at the Steinhart Aquarium in the California Academy of Sciences, maintaining many exhibits including the 212,000 gallon Philippine Coral Reef. He has kept saltwater animals for over 25 years, and has worked in aquarium maintenance, retail, wholesale and has consulted for a coral farm/fish collecting station in the South Pacific. Richard enjoys all aspects of the aquarium hobby and is a regular author for trade publications, a frequent speaker at aquarium conferences and was a founder of one of the largest and most progressive reef clubs in Northern California, Bay Area Reefers. He is an avid underwater videographer and has been fortunate to scuba dive in a lot of places around the world. At home he maintains a 300 gallon reef system and a 250 gallon cephalopod/fish breeding system, and was one of the first people to close the life cycle of Sepia bandensis. When not doing all that stuff, he enjoys spending time with his patient wife, his incredible daughter and their menagerie of animals, both wet and dry.

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