**Vortech Owners** Are they worth it?

This is a question to all owners of Vortech MP Pumps. I am designing a 170+ Gallon tank, 72x30x20 (30" wide). To get my flow, I have figured on a Reeflo Snapper Return, 2 MP40's and 2 MP10's. That totals a lot of both flow and money. I can (for the most part) accomplish the same thing with 6 Evo 1400's and a couple of 750's properly placed...and controlled to create a more randomized flow...and I can buy all of this with BigAl's sale for less than 1 MP40.

I plan on housing mainly LPS with some SPS at the crest.

What are your suggestions?

 

My personal opinion is if you can deal with all the powerheads in the tank go tht route.its cheaper and if 1 power head should go bad the others are still going.mp40s are nice and work well.I pln to have 2 in my 220.

The problem with getting opinions on them though is people who have spent the small fortune on them are not likely going to give much negitive feedback.this my be concious or not.

Why am i going with mp40s?having 2 powerheds as opposed to multiple powerheads is less chance my sea hares and anemones can get sucked into 1 of them.I will be using foam aswell as a custom guard to help prevent any accidets.

 

I'm very happy with mine, but it is absurdly priced, so, I'm hesitant to say it's "worth it". I'll say instead, if you want a wavemaker, it is the best bang for the buck IMO.

The Hydors, with a wavemaker are almost as expensive and not even in the same league. You could get a generic wavemaker, but the only pumps that really seem to work well with these are the maxijets, which have an awful flow pattern. The tunze are really nice and I don't think you could go wrong with them, but when I priced everything out, they would have actually been more expensive for my setup.

So, IMO, the Vortech is a nice luxury. I've had tanks without wavemakers though that did fine, so I can't call it a necessity. So far, I see it more like a nice toy that probably does have some positive benefit on livestock. it's easy to adjust the flow if my livestock dosn't seem happy, or if I notice a dead spot etc...

 

I don't personally have a vortech pump. But I do have Koralias and I know they do work on wave-makers. What about a JBJ wave-maker controller? How many pumps would you need? Each controller can handle 4 pumps.

Edit: I see now that they don't offer that controller(JBJ) any more and Hydor makes their own, which only handles 2 pumps(see link below)...

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578 4586 18915&pcatid=18915

 

They are the best money you will ever spend. I've run every size on multiple tanks. We even run one on a coral flat now to keep the SPS in tip top shape!

I could type on forever about it, but instead I'll just send you to my review of the MP10:
Elite Reef | The Marine Reef Aquarium Source: Vortech MP10

 

Should add one more thing about the vortech, which is part of the reason I decided on it. There are no wires in the tank and all my equipment is in the sump. So, I do not need any type of ground probe in the main display and therefore there is zero risk of stray voltage for my livestock. I have mixed feelings on ground probes in a display, since they can induce currents, but also can save your life. So, I do have a ground probe in the sump, but I don't have as much livestock in the sump (except refugium).

 

At that price, I would just go ahead and get the Votechs. lol.

 

The visual aspect would also be really nice.

Great write-up, Mike.

 

Hydor makes one that handles 4, but even two hydors with the controller costs as much as a vortech. On Marinedpot, the two way wavemaker is $240 and the 4 way $350, plus pumps. To get to the same flow as the vortech you need Hydor Magnums, at least a #5 and your talking another $130 each for the controllable ones.

From what I understand, the The normal Koralias on a JBJ type controller, sometimes start and reverse or get stuck etc... For the JBJ or reefkeeper lights, etc... It's best to use a pump that can handle being started and stopped all the time. I researched this a lot, and while some people seem to use other pumps, the only ones that really seem to consistently do this well are the maxijets.

 

Thank you. Tons more on there!