- Hey, it's Thomas here.
And today we're gonna be checking out
the only circulation pump I've ever seen
that uses maglev technology,
the Tunze Stream 3 and yes,
this is a beastly pump,
but made for bigger tanks.
Heck, it even has claws.
And there's nothing else out there quite like it,
except for maybe one little Nano Pump,
but we'll get into that.
As reefers, we know how critical
of a role water circulation plays in our reef tanks,
and that getting enough of the right kind
of water movement is as important
to our corals as lighting, dosing, or nutrition.
There does seem to be a sort of sweet spot in our hobby,
where tank size and the amount of gear options
that are available to us intersect.
If you have a really small tank,
you have far less options than somebody
with an average-sized tank.
And if you have a really large tank, same thing,
you have less options.
But, if you're on the larger end of that scale,
this is definitely a pump you should have your eyes on.
Tunze's Turbelle Stream 3 is an incredible
DC-controllable circulation pump
that uses maglev technology,
that involves zirconium oxide bearings,
and a brushless magnetic drive motor
to levitate the massive and frankly,
demonic-looking Impeller to create tons of flow
while eliminating contact points between moving parts,
which results in an incredibly silent,
more efficient, and very low-maintenance flow pump.
It uses the same capable, yet simple Turbelle controller
Tunze users have come to love,
but if you prefer,
it also has zero-to-10 Volt compatibility.
It comes with three swappable flow guards
to change the behavior of the flow the pump creates,
which adds to its flexibility.
Plus, this pump carries a 60-month warranty.
Yup, five years.
And I love me a nice long warranty.
It really shows that this beast of a pump is built to last.
In my humble opinion, it is one of,
if not, the absolute coolest pieces
of pump technology we have in the hobby.
And it makes it all the more bewildering to me
as to why I don't see more hobbyists using this pump,
which leads me to believe that more hobbyists
just don't really know about this pump,
and how dang awesome it is.
So, let's fix that and get it out of the box.
In the box, you'll find
the Stream 3 Pump attached
to the Turbelle Controller, the Magnetic Mounts,
various Flow Attachments, including the Rectifier,
the Flow Deflector, and the Honeycomb attachment,
which is already on the pump.
The Foam Guard, the Power Supply and Power Cable,
as well as the user manual,
the Quality Control Card,
and Adhesive Strips for mounting the controller.
The Stream 3 is a larger pump sitting
at 3.7 inches-by-2.7 inches-by-7.2 inches long or tall,
depending on how you orient the pump in your tank.
So yes, this pump is on the larger side.
However, something to consider,
is that Tunze tends to be quite modest
with their flow ratings compared to
other pump manufacturers.
So, while the Stream 3 has a flow rating
of roughly 4,000 gallons per hour
with a minimum flow of 660 gallons per hour,
that can be controlled
with the included 7090 Turbelle controller.
When you consider its power consumption
of between 3.5 to 50 Watts,
that nearly 4,000-gallon-per-hour flow rating
is likely to be notably stronger than
other propeller pumps with similar flow ratings,
which becomes even more apparent
when you notice that Tunze rates the Stream 3
for tanks between 75 and 800 gallons.
800-gallons tank volume. 800.
On that note, if you are going to use it on smaller
four-foot tanks, or like a three-foot cube,
I would highly recommend using the Flow Deflector,
not just so you can hide it more easily,
but also, so you can use the surface
of the water in your aquarium to help dissipate
and distribute the flow without having
to turn the pump down too dramatically.
Speaking of mounting and mounting options,
the Stream 3 uses a pair
of Tunze's waterproof magnetic mounts
with silicone buffers to hold it firmly
on panels up to 15 millimeters
or two-thirds of an inch thick,
while absorbing whatever tiny vibration is produced
by this maglev pump.
The pump can be mounted in just about any orientation,
even on the overflow box,
thanks to those external magnets also being waterproof.
And when coupled with the Water Deflector,
it can act just like a jumbo version
of the much smaller Nano Stream 6040
with the ability to be pointed
in virtually any direction.
There are also a couple other attachments
that change the flow characteristics of the pump
that I'll touch on shortly.
They're super cool,
but it is important to note that Tunze does provide
some minimum distances that the pump needs
to be away from the substrate,
depending on how it's oriented to prevent it
from accidentally sucking up the substrate,
and clogging or blowing it all over the tank,
due to the powerful nature of the pump.
When mounted vertically,
like you would mount it
with the Flow Deflector I was just talking about,
the bottom of the pump body should be
at least two inches off of the substrate.
And if mounted horizontally,
which is what you're likely to do
with the other attachments,
you'll want the intake strainer
or cage around the Impeller,
to be roughly eight inches or so off of the substrate.
Now, for bare-bottom tanks,
those same distances will be less critical.
However, it is a good idea
to also use the provided Foam Guard
around the Intake Strainer in systems
with smaller fish and inverts,
especially if it is mounted closer
to the bottom of the tank.
If you do want to run the pump horizontally,
or down the length of a large aquarium,
Tunze provides a couple of attachments
to manipulate the flow to best suit your needs.
First off, you can run the pump
without any attachment at all,
and it'll provide a strong, broad, fanning-flow pattern
with the highest possible flow rate.
If you want a bit more punch,
you can add the honeycomb attachment
to create a gentle and more uniform flow,
while also protecting fish
or other inhabitants from entering the face of the pump.
For applications where you want as much punch as possible,
for example, to get flow from one end
to the other end on an eight-foot tank,
the Rectifier attachment will create
an intense directional-flow with a lot of velocity.
And like I mentioned earlier,
the Flow Deflector attachment is a great option
for hiding the pump or sneaking it
into odd or interesting spots
while also being able to direct the flow
of the pump perpendicular to the access of the rotor,
which is just a fancy way of saying,
it's gonna come out at an angle,
away from the Impeller,
instead of straight out, like you would expect.
The 7090 Turbelle controller will be very familiar
to anyone who has had the pleasure of working
with a Tunze DC pump.
You can dial in constant flow from 660
to 4,000 gallons per hour,
or set up a pulsing effect
with the ability to adjust
both the minimum and maximum speeds,
as well as the frequency of the pulse.
You can also use the auto-adjust feature
to dial in standing waves if that's your jam,
plus you have a feed button,
which is pretty standard these days.
The Stream 3 can also be controlled
via a zero to 10 Volt with a third-party controller
provided you pick up the appropriate Tunze link cable.
It is important to note, however,
that the minimum speed the pump can run,
is around 660 gallons per hour
or around 15% intensity.
So, don't let it go lower than that,
or the Impeller will stop rotating
and the pump will need to go through its startup sequence
to get the Impeller levitating again,
which does take a few moments.
For that same reason, you'll want
to avoid any on-off-style timers
or outlets on your third-party controller
and stick to either the 7090 controller
that comes with the pump,
or a properly set-up zero-to-10 Volt port.
Something I really dig is that the Stream 3
is compatible with Tunze's safety connector,
making it battery backup ready, which is awesome.
It can also use other accessories like the photo cell
for automatic night mode,
and Y cables for hooking up more than one Stream 3
to work in-sync or in anti-sync.
When it comes to maintenance,
the Stream 3 is gonna be pretty dang easy,
considering it has less parts to worry about.
However, the process of installing
and removing the Impeller is completely different
from any other pump I've worked with in the past.
So, I highly recommend reading pages 46 through 50
of the user manual
so you can get familiar with it.
It only takes a second to do,
but knowing how to do it
is gonna make a big difference.
Mind you, they do say maintenance
should be done once a year or possibly more,
depending on how quickly it builds up
with precipitate or Coralline,
but still that's pretty dang low maintenance for a flow pump
and likely due to its frictionless design.
So, it might be a good idea to practice removing
and reinstalling the Impeller at least a few times
before you accidentally lose the user manual
and then have to try to remember
how you're supposed to do it when you go
to clean the pump an entire year later.
A year's a long time to remember something.
Who am I? Where am I?
What's going on?
Oh, right.
See what I mean?
Look, if you love digging into the latest pump technology
and the beastly Stream 3, claws and all,
matches your monster-reaping mantra,
you can pick one up for yourself
by clicking right here.
If you dare.
(upbeat music fades)