Like we said in the opening we tested a Tunze Turbelle 6020 behind the rocks because we didn’t had an available nanoreef for the testing.
We inserted it behind a big Pocillopora damicornis and we must admit that in the first days of use it was creating a water flow that moved all the sand that was hidden behind the rocks, it also caused the fall of a Pavona cactus on a Fungia… Fortunately this had no consequences on the two animals.
Like we can see on the photo the pump is vertically mounted, directly on the magnet. On the top it has a little cap that can be used to direct the water flow.
The pump can be also used without cap to use a direct flux but if so it should be installed horizontally and with a flux which is parallel to the glass. In that case we would have no possibility of influencing the flow direction: In this configuration this pump is a bit limited. But normally we buy such a pump because of its peculiarity, also when it could be reused also as a normal pump.
There is also the possibility of placing this pump in the sump, with the water flux directed on the glass, in order to avoid the sedimentation of particulate and direct it to the skimmer and avoid deposits.
The magnet
The Tunze Turbelle NanoStream 6020 uses a circular magnet to fix itself on the glass.
In the upper picture we can observe the two parts of the fixation system. The internal one with the blue silent blocks (typical for Tunze) can block every vibration. We also really liked the blue circle on the outer part of the magnet.
The magnet can hold the small Tunze NanoStream 6020 on glasses up to 12 mm, that will be surely enough, considering the suggested size of the tank.
Noise
We really wanted to measure the noise produced by this pump, but we could not hear any noise nor measure any sound difference in the aquarium with this pump on or off. Therefore we can say that, this pump is inaudible.
Energy consumption
Like always we measured the energy consumption of this pump by measuring the current used by the pump.
The measured current was 0,022 A, for the little Tunze Turbelle NanoStream 6020. Unfortunately we couldn’t measure cos(fi) and therefore the calculation can not be exact.
The calculation of the power will therefore be as follow:
- Tunze Turbelle NanoStream 6020 pump with 2.500 l/h water flow: 0,022A x 220 V = 4,84 watt
The calculated consumption is 21% more than the declared one (4 W), but cos(fi) will be lower than one, and therefore we expect this pump to have actually the declared consumption.
If we keep the consumption to 4 watt, and an energy price of 0,27 euro per kWh, if we use a NanoStream 6020 always on for one year we will have a total consumption of 35 kwh, the same would be if we use two NanoStream 6020 alternated every 6 hour. This corresponds to 9,4 euro per year, which means 0,78 euro monthly.
It’s easy to disassemble the pump, in the upper picture we can observe the different parts.
Here we can observe the propeller, which is not bounded with the axle that can be found in the interior of the pump’s body, the two screws are blue, as Tunze’s standard.
Above the propeller we can find a small protection grid. Since the pump is really small we don’t have further grids.
Normally, the protection grid is mounted to avoid fishes to go into the pump. Since the pump is small we can’t avoid to mount it. Furthermore this grid is not so fine and some small fishes could enter the pump even with this grid.