What size Jebao SCP/Ice Cap gyre pumps?

Sparky27

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 23, 2021
Messages
157
Reaction score
129
Location
Plainfield
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I am in the process of building a 36"x36"x20"h. Roughly 110gal. I am interested in the gyre style pumps. My questions are what size to get how many and where to install them in the tank? Cubes can be difficult to get full coverage of flow. Its 110g but only 3' long and its 3' front to back. Planning on a mixed reef. SPS up high LPS/Zoas lower in the tank.

From what I have read the Jebao models dont allow you to turn them down very low where as the IceCap does. Do I need 1 or 2? If 2, then should they be placed on opposite sides from each other? Same side to cover the 3' front to back? I know aquascape matters but I havent done that yet so its a blank slate. Thanks in advance.

Jebao SCP-90 2700-3300gph
Jebao SCP-120 4300-4600gph
IceCap Gyre 4k 1268-4000gph
 
OP
OP
Sparky27

Sparky27

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 23, 2021
Messages
157
Reaction score
129
Location
Plainfield
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I never considered that correlation. Definitely helpful info. Thank you.
 

Gtinnel

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 20, 2020
Messages
21,075
Reaction score
29,650
Location
Charleston, WV
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I use two of the jebao scp 150s in a standard 6 ft 125 gallon tank. I have one on either side in a master/slave configuration so that they alternate turning on and off. I unfortunately have mine placed vertically because there is not enough room beside my corner overflows for them to be horizontal. I usually run them at the lowest power setting or close to it because if I run them close to high I can't keep them from moving my sand, although I'm sure that might not be the same if they were horizontal at the top. If I were buying them again I would've probably bought a smaller size.
Normally I would always recommend placing them on opposite sides of a tank, but with your tank being 3'x3' I suspect that even with two you may have a hard time creating enough turbulent flow if they're the only WaveMakers you'll be using.
 

DaddyFish

“5 percenter”
View Badges
Joined
May 6, 2020
Messages
1,238
Reaction score
1,717
Location
Dallas NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
+1 for the Jebao rating. The number represents the maximum length to the opposing surface that it will resonate to (typically the length of your tank). So a 120 will resonate up to a 48", 90 up to a 36" tank.
You could use two 90s paired on opposite corners and hold Niger Trigger surfing competitions.
 

Rmckoy

7500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 24, 2013
Messages
8,369
Reaction score
11,239
Location
Ontario Canada
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have a cp-150 on one end of my 6’ 230 gal
And a scp-180 on the other .
I didn’t know of any controller that I can sync them together but they’re both running around 50%
 

Gtinnel

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 20, 2020
Messages
21,075
Reaction score
29,650
Location
Charleston, WV
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have a cp-150 on one end of my 6’ 230 gal
And a scp-180 on the other .
I didn’t know of any controller that I can sync them together but they’re both running around 50%
With my two scp 150's they can be set to cycle turning on and off alternating from each other from the controller, no other equipment is needed. In that configuration the only settings are how much they pump and how long it takes before the alternate being on, so you can't ramp them up and down.
I don't know anything about the older cp versions so that may prevent you from running them that way if you wanted to.
 
OP
OP
Sparky27

Sparky27

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 23, 2021
Messages
157
Reaction score
129
Location
Plainfield
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
+1 for the Jebao rating. The number represents the maximum length to the opposing surface that it will resonate to (typically the length of your tank). So a 120 will resonate up to a 48", 90 up to a 36" tank.
You could use two 90s paired on opposite corners and hold Niger Trigger surfing competitions.
Mounted horizontally or vertically? ‍
 
OP
OP
Sparky27

Sparky27

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 23, 2021
Messages
157
Reaction score
129
Location
Plainfield
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I use two of the jebao scp 150s in a standard 6 ft 125 gallon tank. I have one on either side in a master/slave configuration so that they alternate turning on and off. I unfortunately have mine placed vertically because there is not enough room beside my corner overflows for them to be horizontal. I usually run them at the lowest power setting or close to it because if I run them close to high I can't keep them from moving my sand, although I'm sure that might not be the same if they were horizontal at the top. If I were buying them again I would've probably bought a smaller size.
Normally I would always recommend placing them on opposite sides of a tank, but with your tank being 3'x3' I suspect that even with two you may have a hard time creating enough turbulent flow if they're the only WaveMakers you'll be using.
Perhaps 4 of them? 2 on opposing sides?
 
OP
OP
Sparky27

Sparky27

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 23, 2021
Messages
157
Reaction score
129
Location
Plainfield
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
my assumption is that 2 MP-40QDs while enough “flow” might not give me the coverage across the depth of the tank. Unless I mounted 2 on the back wall. But then I wouldn’t get the Tidal Swell type flow I’m looking for.
 
OP
OP
Sparky27

Sparky27

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 23, 2021
Messages
157
Reaction score
129
Location
Plainfield
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
my assumption is that 2 MP-40QDs while enough “flow” might not give me the coverage across the depth of the tank. Unless I mounted 2 on the back wall. But then I wouldn’t get the Tidal Swell type flow I’m looking for.
I could be using the term wrong. What I am referring to is when one pump speeds up the one on the opposite side slows down and then they flip the other way which makes the intersection of the opposing flow move from left to right and back again throughout the day.
 
OP
OP
Sparky27

Sparky27

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 23, 2021
Messages
157
Reaction score
129
Location
Plainfield
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I would go for vertically unless your tank is something like 24" deep or less. Vertical mounting yields wicked circuation, but the lower end has to be a good 6-8" off the sand surface.
Confused, you said verticallly but it sounds like you meant horizontally.
 

Gtinnel

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 20, 2020
Messages
21,075
Reaction score
29,650
Location
Charleston, WV
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Confused, you said verticallly but it sounds like you meant horizontally.
Not to speak for someone else but it sounds to me like he was talking about vertically. He recommended vertical placement if your tank is tall enough, and to make sure if vertical that the bottom is at least 6 inches from the sand.

I had to place mine vertical because of my corner overflows and I don't have enough room to keep them high enough off the sand to turn them up really high. Although even at their lower settings they still easily move enough water for my tank.
 
OP
OP
Sparky27

Sparky27

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 23, 2021
Messages
157
Reaction score
129
Location
Plainfield
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Ah got it. My tank is only 20” tall so I think I’ll have to mount them horizontally.
 

Weasel1960

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 22, 2020
Messages
2,139
Reaction score
9,995
Location
Monticello, WI
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Looking to understand this concept as I plan my equipment list and am considering Jebao pumps. You guys are saying that the 120 gyre style pump pushes the water about 48 inches yet you have 2 smaller ones on a 48 inch tank for opposing flows? Why? Isn’t the point of that style pump to send water to far end of the tank and returns it back along the bottom. How do you complete the circulation, sounds like you would have a settling point in the middle somewhere if using smaller pumps that don’t reach the full length.

Wouldn’t it be better to have one gyre that gets full length of tank with some smaller heads that could then supplement circulation for your random flow?
 

DaddyFish

“5 percenter”
View Badges
Joined
May 6, 2020
Messages
1,238
Reaction score
1,717
Location
Dallas NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The best part about using two gyres is when they interconnect or interact with each other to synchronize the flow. One pump "pushes" while the other pump "pulls". They can also be randomized to cause opposing wave forces to collide at different points along the tank length, creating some very interesting and strong spots of turbulence. Think of it as the ability to randomly move a conventional powerhead around the tank, same effect. You can also certainly get good flow using just one appropriately sized gyre pump.

I have one tank setup with a single gyre mounted vertically. The aquascape is a large shipwreck center piece and the flow around that tank is to say the least impressive. I can turn up the power on that pump and easily create 3" waves at the opposite end.

There's a Niger Trigger in that tank who spends most of the day surfing a few inches from the gyre. Every so often he miscalculates when the "random" kicks in, and he'll get blown all the way across the tank before he recovers. It's his favorite thing in life and gives him the effect of living in a much larger tank.
 
Last edited:

Weasel1960

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 22, 2020
Messages
2,139
Reaction score
9,995
Location
Monticello, WI
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The best part about using two gyres is when they interconnect or interact with each other to synchronize the flow. One pump "pushes" while the other pump "pulls". They can also be randomized to cause opposing wave forces to collide at different points along the tank length, creating some very interesting and strong spots of turbulence. Think of it as the ability to randomly move a conventional powerhead around the tank, same effect. You can also certainly get good flow using just one appropriately sized gyre pump.

I have one tank setup with a single gyre mounted vertically. The aquascape is a large shipwreck center piece and the flow around that tank is to say the least impressive. I can turn up the power on that pump and easily create 3" waves at the opposite end.

There's a Niger Trigger in that tank who spends most of the day surfing a few inches from the gyre. Every so often he miscalculates when the "random" kicks in, and he'll get blown all the way across the tank before he recovers. It's his favorite thing in life and gives him the effect of living in a much larger tank.
Thanks. When you say ”pulls” I am assuming that means it is reversing the normal direction of the pump?

What is best approach for deciding pumps. I understand the 10x, 20x, etc rules based on coral types etc. How best to decide on how many pumps and where? Almost sounds like you need duplicates of everything just so you have correct flow during non “random” periods?
 
Back
Top