Poll Wave Pumps / Power Heads

[TanksNStuff]

I use a VorTech. Main reasons are:
1. Motor and all electrical parts are outside the tank - no risk of stray voltage to harm my livestock
2. Due to #1 above, very little heat is added to the water column
3. Many different settings built in and wireless control allows me to control it remotely through my RA controller
4. Wide flow for such a small pump.
5. Many complain about the noise, but I don't find it to be that bad. I don't even notice it unless I'm trying to.
6. The battery backup option is nice and gives me some peace of mind in a power outage.

I only see 2 negatives with them:
1. Can't direct the flow (although it's more of a wide flow than a narrow stream.
2. Cost. With all the features that make it great though, it's hard to go with anything else.

 

[fatoldsun]

2 MP40Ws on a 90. They are finicky and can be a bit loud if they're not lined up right. They are pricey but their customer service is good. I have both with a battery back up and I got all of it second hand at about 40-50% cost. The wetsides I got were the old design with the bad magnet. For the cost of the magnets (I think $44 at the time) I sent my old wet sides and they sent be "re-built' (actually they were brand new) wetsides - I was way out of warranty and they still took care of it. Same thing with a power supply that went bad. I sent in the old one and thought I'd get it back repaired for a charge (since it was out of warranty) and they sent me a new one, no charge. So at least my experience is you get what you pay for.
They're also easy to clean - just the wetside in a vinegar bath once a month and a quick clean with a tooth brush and they look as good as new after I guess close to 18 months.
Next I may upgrade to ES and I think I have to replace a bearing on one of my drysides - it tends to shut down in the reef crest mode because it tricks itself into thinking the wet and dry sides came apart

 

[jpelzer]

Not sure why I'm so negative on Vortech, but if you got what you paid for, they would have replaced the magnets for free (since it was a flawed design) and the power supply wouldn't have failed. They should have a 1% failure rate, but they're closer to 25%.

 

[ThatGuy]

2 Grech 1300 because they're cheap.

 

[Daniel]

Not sure why I'm so negative on Vortech,

I was that way until I brought my two MP40W ES and made me believer. They are very good pumps.

 

[Baxreefs]

I like a combination of Tunze (6100) & Vortech (1 MP40 & 1 MP20) and I even have a Korillia 1400 sweeping the bottom of my BB display that is controlled by my DA controller.

The variability is awesome!

As a result of using three out of four options, I voted "OTHER"

 

[fatoldsun]

Not sure why I'm so negative on Vortech, but if you got what you paid for, they would have replaced the magnets for free (since it was a flawed design) and the power supply wouldn't have failed. They should have a 1% failure rate, but they're closer to 25%.

I agree with your comments re. the failure rates but in fairness i got mine long after the warranty expired. Had it been earlier they would have sent a kit to replace the magnet yourself. It's a very easy swap. I bought mine years after the warranty so I'm not sure how reasonable it would be to have expected the replacement now. I think what they offered was fair. In spite of it being years later they offered to rebuild them with new magnets for just the magnet cost and ended up sending 2 new wet sides which are about $100 to buy.
Now the dry side bearings are another story. If they fixed that issue 90% of the complaints people have would vanish.