The Voyager 4 from Sicce is a “stream style” water movement device that is very much unlike any other product in the aquarium market today. “Voyager” is the official name for the new line of pumps that Sicce plans on bringing to the U.S. market. We’ll confess that we conceived the “Hexjet” moniker which we believe more adequately describes what this pump is and does. Moving right along with our impressions of this uniquely designed product, for the wattage and the price, the Voyager delivers well on water movement but the type of flow it produces is not what you’d expect. It’s odd that the flow exits the 6 nozzles with relatively low velocity but the Hexjet arrangement pulls in more water than it actually pushes, very much like an eductor or MTM nozzle. The flow is not forceful yet at 36″ away from the water pump there is still significant water movement with some particles easily reaching flow speeds of 5-6″ per second. At 16 watts of power consumption and an MSRP of $89 the Voyager 4 will likely deliver water flow similar to a modded MaxiJet 900 but the Voyager’s superpower is silence. Without exaggeration, the Voyager is bar-none the quietest in-tank water movement device we’ve ever seen. We literally turned off everything in the room and we could hardly make out a squeak from the Voyager 4. The silence is no doubt aided by the low power use and a very sturdy magnet coupling system that also features an O-ring base for further noise dampening. One of the more ingenious designs of the Voyager 4 is a built-in cooling system for the motor block; part of the strainer draws water all around the epoxy covered motor, keeping it cool and preventing localized heat from causing precipitation of calcium carbonate. Huge thanks to Jon Warner of Warner Marine for letting us fondle one of the only Voyager water pumps in the country for over two weeks. Be sure to follow the break for gobs more pics of the HexJet aka Voyager 4 water pump.
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