Tunze Turbelle 6105 Powerhead

Anemone and coral need water flow to help wash away waste and detritous, so I spent some time earlier this summer thinking about what type of flow I wanted to add to the aquarium.  Ultimately I decided to buy a Tunze Turbelle stream 6105, as pictured below.

I was quite intrigued by the Vortech MP40's.  The LFS did a good job of selling me on it.  I liked the minimum footprint it takes inside the tank and how the power cord is not visible inside the tank.  I also really liked the controller and the various programs to easily choose from.  However, I decided against the MP40's for two main reasons:  the noticeable whirring noise level and the power cord on the outside of the tank.  On the power cord, while I like how clean the inside of the tank looks without the power cord, I was worried that having the cord on the outside of the tank was not ideal with young kids running around.  On the noise level, I've already made some strides to reduce the noise level of my tank as it currently stands, so the last thing I wanted to do was to add more ambient noise.  Some YouTube videos gave me a good idea of how much sound to expect.

In leaning towards a Tunze, I considered both the Tunze 6105 and the newer 6095.  I actually used the Vortech flow calculator to determine how much flow I would need.  A single MP40 outputs 1000-3200 GPH.  For my tank dimensions, the site recommends 2380 GPH for SPS and 1428 GPH for LPS.  A 6095 produces 528-2510 GPH, while a 6105 can generate 792-3434 GPH. So eventually I should be able to get by with a single 6105 or two 6095.  I decided if I could get by with a single power head, that would be better then two.  Plus, I could mount it on my overflow chamber on one side of the tank, and it would not be as noticeable because both the power head and overflow chamber are black.  You can see what this looks like below.

When I got the 6105 power head, I set the jumper on the minimum setting and I was still getting more than enough flow for the anemone.  I've been really happy with how quiet it's been.  However, if I had to do it over again, I would probably have gone with a single 6095 to begin with because it's much smaller than the 6105.  Then, add another 6095 in the future.  For now, I'm not too worried though, and it's possible my 6105 may ultimately prove to be the right choice long term as I add more coral.  We'll see.

You may also notice some algae on the sand bed.  The chaeto morpha in my sump has really overgrown and I need to prune it.  Hopefully that will help.