Vectra pumps M1 and L1 are two returning pumps by Ecotech Marine.

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We have the smaller Vectra M1 and we measured hydraulic head, flow rate, consumption and cos(fi). We couldn’t be so specific for what concerns the head because of its high values, so we measured the maximum value. But the Vectra M1 is an electric pump with a digital external controller, so we would have wanted to measure each value of the 12 incremental levels.

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

The first thing that amazed us about the Vectra M1 is the quality of the materials, the assembling and finishes. The technical data declared are very noteworthy, so the price of 399 euro could be high, but it is related to its declared performance.

Techincal Characteristics of the Ecotech Marine Vectra M1

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The Vectra M1 has a declared energy efficiency of 93,75 liters per watt. So it’s a efficiency of 18,8 liters per second each euro. It’s possible to say that it has a reference value of 2.437.500 l*cm/h.

With 399 euro you can buy one of the best pumps on the market. It’s an electric pump, very modern and it’s possible to control it with its controller and/or with ReefLink (review). We’ve had pumps with better energy and economic efficiency, but they didn’t have these head and flow rate. This is certainly the most powerful pump we’ve ever tested.

We liked the option of buying a separate backup form without buying all the group of products, which is, anyway, our suggestion.

The construction

The pump is very beautiful and with a simple design, white with electric blue pieces.

The package contains the pump, the transformer, the controller and the pipes. There are no hose connector. The entrance of the water is a inch (19 mm) and the exit 3/4 of a inch (25 mm). The pump is ment to be directly connected to the pipes in PVC.

We disassembled the pump to see its rotor.

It’s very well built and we noticed some affinities with the rotor of the Waveline DC6000 (review). The rotor is in yellow plastic: we considered it a little weird when we revviewed the DC6000, but it seems to be something usual.

The rotor is solid and well built.

This typology of rotor seems to promise a very quiet work, and you will see thats true.

The controller of the Vectra M1

The controller is the cassic type of the Ecotech Marine product line. The central potentiometer increases and decreases the flow rate and the hydraulic head. There are also three buttons: mode, set and option/pwr with their functions:

• Mode: changes the modality of the pump: Constant Speed Mode, Feed Mode and Speed Lock. With the first modality it’s possible to change hydraulic head and flow rate, while with the Speed Lock the potentiometer is blocked. The Feed Mode is a good option which decreases the flow rate of the pump to a chosen value. In this way it’s possible to create a null flow rate without emptying the aquarium.
• Set: sets the parameters.
• Option/pwr: turns off the pump.

It exists various combinations of the buttons to be able to set all the parameters (and for this there’s the instruction manual).

Moreover, the pump can work in Closed Loop modality, in order to use it as a Vortech and it has three typologies of operation:

• Lagoonal: The speed simulates the currents of a lagoon.
• Reef Crest: The flow has many and drastic changes to create Reff currents.
• Gyre: Alternates maximum and minimum values.

During the use, the potentiometer of the controller switches on with the color of the set modality. The white led on the upper part enlight depending on the flow rate.

Moreover, associating it with the ReefLink it’s possible to use the EcoSmart Live program to set the pup and the modality.

On page two all our measurements