Our comments
An electric and adjustable pump is the best option to have in sump. It becomes easy to change the power to better adapt to the aquarium.
For example: when you’re changing the water in the aquarium without partition in sump it’s enough to low the flow rate of the pump in order to have a smaller exchange of water. In this way you can avoid to turn off the return pump: infact if you low the flow rate of the return pump the sump level tends to raise while that of the aquarium does the opposite. You will avoid the risk to leave the pumps without water.
But if you have a sump with a partition this solution isn’t possible.
Moreover from the point of view of the security it’s better to have a pump with a low voltage.
The page of the conclusions is very full of material, even thanks to the comparison that we’re going to do with similar pumps that we’ve measured.
Here’s the chart with all the performances of the pump in the various power steps, with hydraulic head, flow rate, consumption, energetic and ecenomic efficiency. The last velue of the hydraulic head has been calculated from 610 cm.
Comparison with other pumps
It’s more interesting the table below where are inserted the measured values of the other pumps, Eheim, Tunze, Sicce, Corallinea, and Waveline, all pumps that we tested and that you can read again in our page of reviews. They have been ordered by a reference value: the product between flow rate and hydraulic head, divided per 2, that is the area between the two.
We can have a right comparison. In red you can see the esteemed and not measured values. Thay can’t be perfect, but enough close to real ones.
The table contains the value of certain pumps we tested on, expecially the last four: Tunze 1073.50, the Corallinea BQ5000, the Waveline DC6000 and the Vectra M1.
You can see from the chart that if we consider the flow rate per euro the Corallinea is always the best option. If we consider the economic efficiency for just the maximum values it’s more favorable the Waveline DC6000. But in the step between the 6 and the 7 it’s totally equivalent to the Vectra.
But with the Vectra M1 it’s possible to go over the values of the other pumps.
The Waveline is first in regards of the cost a year. The Vectra is quite more expensive in its use than the Waveline but can reach further limits.
Comparison with the declared data
Let’s see now the closeness to the declared data.
Hydraulic head
| pump | hydraulic head | measure | gap |
| Ecotech Marine Vectra M1 |
650 cm | 610 cm | – 6,2 % |
There’s a little gap of the 10%, which is totally acceptable.
Flow rate
| pump | hydraulic head | laboratory measure | gap |
| Ecotech Marine Vectra M1 | 7.500 l/h | 4.944 l/h | – 34,1 % |
We’ve always seen that any pumps has ever reported the promised value. This doesn’t change for the Vectra, and we have a loss of the 34%. We have to consider the pump for its real performances.
Energetic consumption
| pump | consumption | laboratory measure | gap |
| Ecotech Marine Vectra M1 | 80 w | 89,5 w | + 11,9 % |
The energetic consumption is about the 12%. If we’ve considered it for the nude power gap it would be a little higher than 4,5%.
Correspondance with the declared data
Just for having a comparison term, we can give a value for the correspondance to the declared data for hydraulic head, flow rate and consumption.
| pump | hydraulic head | flow rate | consumption | final value |
| Ecotech Marine Vectra M1 | 93,8 % | 65,9 % | 111,9% | 82,6 % |
I suggest you to read these articles for choosing the pump that suits your aquarium the most:
- How to choose the return pump for a marine aquarium
- Automatic calculation of the flow rate of the return pump in the aquarium
Conclusions
The reference value of the Ecotech Marine Vectra M1 at its maximum power is 1.507.920 l*cm/s, and the declared is 2.437.500. Remember that this reference value is the area between the maximum flow rate and maximum hydraulic head (flow rate x hydraulic head /2).
Even Vectra M1 has a considerable loss from the declared data, but we don’t have to consider the pump just for its closeness to them. Just think about what the pump could do and what it expresses: this pump has an high competition, and it’s an usual thing for pumps not to be so close to their declared data, and it has a very good technical efficiency and a consumption, but the power is its point. No other pumps could reach its power.
The cost of the Vectra M1 is high: 399 euro. But if you need high flow rates and hydraulic head is almost perfect. With 399 euro you can buy a low voltage pump, with 12 incremental power steps, and the possibility to stop it for feeding fish and corals.
The construction and the plastic material are awesome, the pump looks so solid and resistant. The pump in Italy is provided by Reefline, which guarantees the best assistance.
PROS
High quality performances even if inferior to the declared ones
Low voltage pump
12 incremental power steps
Well built
Feed Modality which stops the exchange of water between aquarium and sump
Available backup module
CONS
Measured flow rate very inferior to the declared one
High price
| Construction quality |  |
| Quality |  |
| Value for money |  |
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We have to thank Hobby Acquari of Bologna for providing us the Ecotech Marine Vectra M1 pump for our measurements.
