The aquarium industry has seen its fair share of high end controllable powerheads over the years, and it seems like this technology is finding its way into our return pumps more and more these days. For the longest time, aquarium keepers have had to rely on constant speed pumps to serve as the primary source of water movement between the display tank and its associated plumbing, or even closed-loop setups. These pumps came in a variety of shapes and sizes, but were very limited in functionality. And in a world of constantly changing technology, relying on single function products is quickly starting to lose ground to using equipment that can adapt and change to better suit the hobbyist’s needs. Because of this increasing demand for more control, companies are designing new products to meet the need and the latest offering to aquarium keepers in the world of controllable water pumps is a fancy new set of high flow, high pressure controllable sine wave pumps from Deltec. Already well regarded for their protein skimmer line, Deltec surprisingly has few products designed to just move water. But that hasn’t stopped them from going over the top with their new E-flow water pumps.
Being offered in three different models, the Deltec E-flow pumps use a brushless DC motor that allows them to run almost completely silently. On top of that, they are protected by an overload circuit that shuts the pump off if the impellers becomes blocked off. Once the blockage has been removed, the pump will turn back on automatically. In terms of controlability, the E-flow pumps come stock with a control panel that can be used to adjust water flow speeds. And once that flow is dialed in, there’s no need to fear about power outages causing the pump to revert back to a factory setting as the control panel will start back up in the last saved setting. But the fun doesn’t stop there.
Later this year, a separate multifunction controller will be available to control up to four pumps at once. This controller will operate much like our powerhead controllers by allowing the pumps to operate in multiple different wavemaking modes. The estimated release date for the controller is late April 2012 and we expect the pump and controller combo to really give traditional closed loop setups a run for their money. Of course, this setup will be far more cost prohibitive than a closed loop, but the energy savings will definitely be a much talked about selling point.
As we mentioned before, there will be three Deltec E-flow models available. Each of these models and their respective specifications are listed below.
Deltec E-flow 16
Technical data
- Minimum/Maximum water flow: 5000/14000 lph (1300-3700 gph)
- Minimum/Maximum power consumption: 20/180w
- Maximum head height: 9.0 meters (29 feet)
- Performance selection: 17 stages
- Inlet size: 50 mm (2″)
- Outlet size: 40 mm (1.5″)
- Price (from D-D The Aquarium Solution): £1099.99 (~$1730)
Deltec E-flow 12
Technical data
- Minimum/Maximum water flow: 5000/11400 lph (1300-3200 gph)
- Minimum/Maximum power consumption: 25/130w
- Maximum head height: 8 meters (26 feet)
- Performance selection: 12 stages
- Inlet size: 540 mm (1.5″)
- Outlet size: 40 mm (1.5″)
- Price (from D-D The Aquarium Solution): £959.99(~$1510)
Deltec E-flow 10
Technical data
- Minimum/Maximum water flow: 5000/9000 lph (1300-2400 gph)
- Minimum/Maximum power consumption: 20/80w
- Maximum head height: 6.0 meters (20 feet)
- Performance selection: 7 stages
- Inlet size: 40 mm (1.5″)
- Outlet size: 32 mm (1.25″)
- Price (from D-D The Aquarium Solution): £1099.99 (~$1730)
Information and images sourced from D-D The Aquarium Solution and Advanced Aquarist
