Vectra L1 pump from Ecotech marine

The Vectra return pump is a new product from Ecotech Marine that was just leaked in a single image. The spy shot appears to show a typical DC pump body, a Mean Well power supply, a QuietDrive driver, and the box for the Vectra which is well in line with Ecotech Marine’s product packaging.

There is no accompanying information with this image but we can still glean quite a bit of details from decades of experience with aquarium products. First of all, the driver shown in the Vectra return pump image is a Mean Well HLG-150H-36A; this driver is rated for 36 volts and up to 150 watts of power.

Mean-Well-HLG-150H-36A-150W-36V — This is the Meanwell driver shown in the image with the new Ecotech Marine Vectra return pump. It is rated for 150 watts of power at 36 volts DC

The body of Ecotech Marine’s unannounced Vectra pump is similar to many other controllable DC pumps on the market, with a large volute, but with inlets and outlet equipped with a low-profile style of union valve. The box and the sticker on the Vectra return pump appears to show ‘Vectra L1’ as the official product name, so perhaps more return pumps will accompany this pump at launch, or maybe this is just the first such product currently in development from Ecotech Marine.

If we use comparable DC pumps currently on the market as a benchmark, we can assume that with that 150 watt Mean Well driver the Vectra return pump could push up to 15,000 liters per hour, or nearly 4,000 gallons per hour. The main factor that will differentiate this pump from the slew of other DC pumps currently flooding the aquarium market is the QuietDrive technology. With QuietDrive the Vectra has the potential to be whisper quiet, even more than the refreshed lineup of Vortech pumps, if that’s even possible.

With QuietDrive controlling technology the Vectra should also benefit from increased efficiency, and a very fine level of control that goes hand in hand with EcoSmart Live, and be well beyond the current 6 to 10 speeds that most Chinese relabeled DC pumps have been content with. That is all we have to go on so far about the QuietDrive Vectra return pump, and we’ll just have to wait for a formal announcement from Ecotech Marine to confirm this new product(s), its pricing, availability and full feature set.

Jake Adams

Jake Adams has been an avid marine aquarist since the mid 90s and has worked in the retail side of the marine aquarium trade for more than ten years. He has a bachelor’s degree in Marine Science and has been the managing editor of ReefBuilders.com since 2008. Jake is interested in every facet of the marine aquarium hobby from the concepts to the technology, rare fish to exotic corals, and his interests are well documented through a very prolific career of speaking to reef clubs and marine aquarium events, and writing articles for aquarium publications across the globe. His primary interest is in corals which Jake pursues in the aquarium hobby as well as diving the coral reefs of the world.