vortech mp40 placement

i ordered a mp40 es yesterday and hope to have it on wed. i was wondering about placement in a 90 gallon.

i have a corner overflow and was wondering if it would loose any efficiency if it was placed on the same side of the tank as the overflow. just cause the side is only about 9 inches wide on that side. this would look the best and also be the "quietest", but dont want to defeat the purpose of getting this particular pump.

is there an ideal depth??

i attached a picture of how the tank is laid out. (although mine is the "mirror" image with the overflow on the right)

 

haha, opps that tank picture was the 55 i upgraded from


here is the new tank:

 

I have an MP10 on my 25 gallon tank that is happily making waves. I have it around 1/3 of the way down from the top. To get the best results it needed to be as close to the center of the glass as possible. Mine is a few inches off center because of my rockwork but its close enough. There wasn't anything in the manual about an ideal depth, or if there was I missed it, but I'm really happy with where mine is at.

~Will.

 

You're probably going to have to play around with it a little bit. I doubt there is any definitive best place for it due to differences in rockwork and sand type etc.
Right now I have mine on the side of my 75g with the overflow like you mentioned and it's working fine although I am planning on adding another one to the other side.

If I were you I would try it out on both sides and see which one works best. I would mostly just be concerned with keeping the sandbed in place and trying to eliminate dead spots around the rock where detritus might collect and be difficult to remove.

You might find that the side without the vortech on it will collect more detritus and be more susceptible to cyano etc that likes low flow areas.

As for depth, it will depend how high you turn it up. I have to turn mine up full blast on the 75g in order to get good movement, so I would assume you will have to as well, but it will depend on your rockwork and what you're keeping etc. This also means it needs to be a little deeper otherwise it will splash water out of the tank when it hits it's peak power.

You might find it tricky to put it in a place where you can turn it up full power and not blast a rock directly. Just try it out, there's no surefire way to do it.

 

yeah i guess the only way to find out is to try. thanks.

the retianing clip is only to route wire right???? its not like a back up in case the wet/dry sides seperate?? will i be able to move the rubber gasket around till i get it in a spot i want??

 

If the wet side separates, the dry side will just hang by the cord holder. So ya, you need it and it needs to be above it.

My 40 is on the same side my overflow is. It isn't a corner overflow, but it is off set to the same side. Well there is a bit of a slick on the other end cause it cant make it to the overflow. I can watch it get pushed around by the 40. It still makes it to the overflow since it is on reef crest, but you might have trouble with yours in the corner.

 

The cord attachment piece is a regular adhesive so you can't move it around as far as I know, but I've never tried it. They are really cheap though so if you need to remove one with a razor blade or something you can buy the exact same piece at Home Depot or probably other places. I think they give you some extras in the box as well, at least that I remember so don't worry too much about it.

 

The magnet holds pretty good, you can play around with the placement all you want without the adhesive standoff. Just remember to use it after you find that sweet spot in your tank.

~Will.

 

I've had issues with one of my MP40s separating regularly during the first couple weeks of use on my old tank. Eventually it broke in but I could not figure out why it was doing it.

I would find a way to secure it somehow if it were me. You could probably find another way to rig it up temporarily or something if you don't want to use the adhesive piece. I wouldn't want my $400 pump dropping on the ground.

 

very good point. maybe ill just zip tie it to one of the legs on my light fixture. till i find a good place fot it