Help me decide...

[afboundguy]

I'm looking to upgrade my powerheads... Currently I have two JBJ Oceanstreams 500 gph pumps on a wavemaker in my ~25 gallon cube...

Options are:
1) replacing both to the 1,600 gph for ~$90
2)replace just one and keep a 500 gph to keep the flow either more varied for ~$45
3)get an MP10 for ~$240

I'm leaning towards replacing either one or both of the pumps so I'll have more money for other goodies but I haven't heard anything really bad about the Vortechs other than the possible humming noise which concerns me...

 

[BrianMac]

None of the above

Get a reeflo dart and make a closed loop system. Your tank should look like a toilet flushing

 

[afboundguy]

LMAO... That's great Brian... Like I have room for that

 

[Turbosnail]

None of the above

Get a reeflo dart and make a closed loop system. Your tank should look like a toilet flushing

I would love to see that!

 

[don in mass]

i'll tell you lot's of people spend $1000's on corals and go cheap on what keep's them alive. votex with battery back up would be number #1, unless u have a generator. i learned, if you go cheap in this hobby it comes back to bite you in the a$$. you lose stuff you love, somethings that's been in your tank forever and it dies because you wanted to go cheap.hth a happy new years don

 

[dcforester1]

Get the Vortech, you know you want to get it

 

[JohnK]

i'll tell you lot's of people spend $1000's on corals and go cheap on what keep's them alive. votex with battery back up would be number #1, unless u have a generator. i learned, if you go cheap in this hobby it comes back to bite you in the a$$. you lose stuff you love, somethings that's been in your tank forever and it dies because you wanted to go cheap.hth a happy new years don

Big second on that ^




I'd suck it up and shell out the $ for a MP 40. Run it a low % and it'll be silent, have good resale value if you don't like it, and it'll have the power to crank your cube up into a blender if you ever want that.

Overpowered, YES. Sweet flow with it barely running, YES. I love mine on my 57

 

[yukyuklee]

3rd that! I'm running 2x vortech mp10's on my 20g long and both are wireless and work well with each other... i wish i still had my mp20 though...

Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk

 

[jarrodsanborn]

option 3
get the vortech and keep the 2 500ghp ocean streams.
this will allow you to run the mp10 at a lower max rate, and still have plenty of flow.
i have vortech mp10 on my 75 for randomness, and koralias for flow. works great!


ps, how do you like the ocean streams? are you using it with the jbj wave maker? do they make any noise when alternating/starting?
I have been considering ditching the koralias for the alternating ocean streams.

 

[afboundguy]

The Ocean Streams are pretty nice... They have a small hum to them but nothing outrageous... I was using them 10 seconds alternating between each pump but it wasn't enough flow so I have them both running now...

 

[Bobbofin]

None of the above

Get a reeflo dart and make a closed loop system. Your tank should look like a toilet flushing

Get a MP40, set on full on short pulse and watch the water come out of the tank.

 

[Bobbofin]

i'll tell you lot's of people spend $1000's on corals and go cheap on what keep's them alive. votex with battery back up would be number #1, unless u have a generator. i learned, if you go cheap in this hobby it comes back to bite you in the a$$. you lose stuff you love, somethings that's been in your tank forever and it dies because you wanted to go cheap.hth a happy new years don

Been in this hobby 22 years now. Everytime I cheap out it bites me in the a**. I evidentually end up buying what I should have in the first place and costing me more money in the long run because you pay for the inferior product and the correct one. A great example is return pumps. I used to buy Little Giant 1200 return pumps for around $45. I'd clean them but I only seemed to get about 12- 16 months out of them and be back at PetsMart buying another. I replaced it with a Ehiem 1250 three years ago and no longer have those problems.

 

[afboundguy]

Well budget is a big thing with me as I only spend what I make on sales from the tank which has been nothing lately... I have some Xmas money but we'll see... If I got the MP10 I'd still have to shell out an extra $70-$80 for the DIY battery backup...

 

[inverted]

I think that the ocean streams are okay. They just take up a lot of room in a small tank. If that doesn't bother you I don't see the issue. It's nice to have the best and if money wasn't an issue I would replace the two koralli pumps in my tank with another Vortech, but there are lots of things to spend money on in this hobby, so, we all have to decide where it should go. I don't see why you can't make a battery backup for a JBJ. Granted it's easier for a DC pump, but you can use an inverter. A true sine inverter is expensive, but a cheap inverter isn't. Of course a cheap inverter may shorten the life of the pump, but the pumps are relatively cheap to replace... so who cares really.... ?

 

[inverted]

Been in this hobby 22 years now. Everytime I cheap out it bites me in the a**. I evidentually end up buying what I should have in the first place and costing me more money in the long run because you pay for the inferior product and the correct one. A great example is return pumps. I used to buy Little Giant 1200 return pumps for around $45. I'd clean them but I only seemed to get about 12- 16 months out of them and be back at PetsMart buying another. I replaced it with a Ehiem 1250 three years ago and no longer have those problems.

On the flip side of that, I used relatively inexpensive mag drive pumps for years without issue. I bought a more expensive Iwaki pump, but it wasn't self priming. I did a water change and thought it had restarted, but didn't pay enough attention. A few hours latter, I smelled something and came downstairs to find it smoking. It lost prime and burnt out...

More expensive isn't always better... it depends on the application. While a JBJ pump may have a high failure rate, the odds of multiple pumps failing at the same time is still low. I certainly think you have to look at your budget and realistically look at the odds. Sometimes that's tough though and it can be easier to just be safe and buy better stuff.

 

[afboundguy]

I think that the ocean streams are okay. They just take up a lot of room in a small tank. If that doesn't bother you I don't see the issue.

I wasn't really even thinking along the lines or size... The 500 gph don't really bother me that much sizewise but they are a little large for the size of the tank. The 1600 gph would be 1.6" longer which would more than likely look way to big in my tank...

 

[Woofwoof]

I wouldn't get the vortech. Yes they have great flow but they are noisy, expensive, and most of all ugly! I perfer to have the pump in the tank, the new energy efficient pumps add very little heat to the tank and IMHO the pumps blend in with the tank, they get coraline on them and for my they aren't that noticeable and silent. With the vortech there is no way to make that ugly loud pump sitting on the side of your tank to "blend in". You can make a back up for any pump with a UPS or a battery and an inverter. I can control my korolias with my RKE silently for short money. To get the for effect of the vortech you will need two noisy ugly pumps, then the controller. If I'm gonna put $1000 into my tank with one purchase then it will be for radions (or a bigger tank ). I know vortechs have great flow, and people love them, I'm not trying to offend those who love them, but they are just not my cup of tea and I don't believe that they are the end all be all pumps.

 

[dcforester1]

I hated my Vortechs on my 75, they were always noisy. Now that I have the 120, and 3/4in glass I cant hear them, and I run them without the pin spacer so they don't even get warm. They were so loud in my other tank I bought a new wet side to replace one, and 2mos later I still haunt bothered to replace it. Money is alway a big issue in this hobby, and like in life we all cannot drive a Mercedes or some other expensive car. Buy the best that you can afford, and end it there. I had MaxiJets in my tank for a year before I got an MP40, and they worked fine. You might be able to find a Vortech used and save some $$$. I bought 2 of my MP 40s used, and well you know where I got the 3rd one. If you need some more acans for that tank PM me, I have what you need.

Good Luck

Derek