There are a number of threads floating around about the Vortechs, and lots of opinions tossed around within them. It would be nice for future owners (and those using the search function!) to have a sense of how owners like it over all and how people use it.

MP10 here... 29G BioCube.. Would not turn back!! If your researching, you can't go wrong. Vortech makes an excellent product, with awesome customer service.

MP-40W ... got one of my 120 right now ... about to pick up another one ... love them so much! Best powerhead on the market imo.

Is the wave created by short pulse mode actually beneficial to the tank and its inhabitants, or is more of an aesthetic thing?

Reef Crest 80% on my 20H, no regrets whatsoever, will never look at any other power head for an option If i can afford one, otherwise Koralia for the small budget.

I just got my mp10 for my 20L a few days ago and i love it!!!! im using lagoon right now and am debating whether to stick with that or go reef crest. Any reason why you guys like reef crest??

I have mine on reef crest right now at abotu 75%. in my jbj 28gal. I love it. I switch often though. Helps keep the detritus stirred up. I also will crank it all the way up just before a water change so I can get all the gunk off the sand.

Reef Crest @ ~50% in a 10g.

I will never consider another pump for any future tanks. It's Vortech or go home.
Not to mention that their support is 2nd to none and they are only about 15 min from my house should anything arise.

The only thing I dont like is that it doesnt remember your night mode if it looses power. I dont want battery back up because I have it hooked to a light switch with the rest of my pumps so I can flip a switch for feeding.

I use mine to whip the butter for my breakfast toast.

You know I never thought about that, thanks for the advice.

Does it whip it, whip it good?

D3monic: I like the idea about cranking it up before a WC. What's the purpose of 'Night Mode?'

Well I seem to be getting the best growth using it ... why change it at this point ... although I am curious to try reefcrest for a while and see what happens ... I also admit I do love the look of the wave.



Very good

Good vortech, MP20, reefcrest, fullblast, no regrets!

Question for the group. Can any of the Vortechs be aimed or do they all sit flat on the glass? I like the ability to aim my Koralias so they can be placed closer to the back but aimed towards the front.

No they can't be aimed and really because of how dispersed the flow is I don't think they need to be, don't get me wrong the koralias have dispersed flow and not direct, but no where near a vortech.

+1, Agree.

Have an MP20 on my SPS-dominant 20H. I switch back and forth between Lagoon and Reef Crest every other week just to keep it interesting. Usually run it between 60-80% and would never run another type of powerhead. Growth and health are amazing.

Mp10 here......very happy with the pump.....more than enough flow and my corals seem to enjoy it

I love my MP40W! I have it on my 35g (36") tank. Makes the tank really look much more clean (can't even see the wires if you look straight at it).

I also use short pulse at around 75-80% to create some killer waves. Definitely adds to the overall effect (and makes the corals really "pulse"/move), but also makes more noise as water gets dumped over my overflow box.

Here's a youtube video to demonstrate such (the waves are not going at full capacity in this video tho).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIIlxiznCPQ

Anyone else have vids?

An mp40 in a 35 gallon tank? How much flow do you really need?

I just got my MP10 this thing has some power! For those who have a 24 gallon jbj nanocube, I called JBJ and they told me that the glass thickness is 5mm or 0.20 inch therefore the rubber spacer should be used with this tank. They also said that the tank can handle waves produced within it.

Tigahboy, I think I read in one of your threads that you plumbed your tank using the "herbie method," how does this work with the waves created by the vortech? Seems like it would be hard to keep the level in the overflow boxes stable.

75%-80% of an mp40w.


I haven't experienced any probs. The water level stays stable in the overflow box despite the waves crashing in.

Listening to the water splashing into the overflow sounds like someone with an enlarged prostate trying to take a piss.

FYI, Finnex says to use the spacer on the 30G M-Tank as well.

I use an MP20, reef crest random, 100%, in a 40BR. It is one of the best investments I have yet made in terms of gear, imo.



I think it is beneficial, but reef crest random is better in most cases.



Night mode is helpful due to increased polyp extension in some corals at night, particularly in fleshy LPS varieties. I haven't always used it, but it's a nice touch.



I use the herbie method as well. As long as the "average" is where it should be, little fluctuations won't throw a herbie off kilter. Gravity and back pressure create a pretty stable equilibrium with the herbie method, ime.

I have the MP40w on my 125 (6ft) and I love it. Running at 100% Long Pulse mode

For a while I used the vortech on Reef Crest mode but even set at 100% could not get the back and forth flow I was looking for with such a long tank. Short pulse mode falls off right before I found the sweet spot.

Approx 8 seconds of 100% throttle blast is what I needed to get the flow perfect.

I guess I am the only one running in pink mode. (long pulse)

Interestingly the short pulse mode will not throttle up smoothly at 100% It will do it in stages and the controller blinks blue as it speeds up. So I switched to long pulse and it throttles smooth. No staging effect.

Wait, people run it on constant mode? Explain yourself.

Well, mine's in the tank! I've started it off in lagoon mode, because my LPS nearest the vortech were pissed. I'm going to swap them over to reef crest over the next couple of days, once they get used to the new flow.

I've got it set at about 50% right now, because that matches the flow rate I had previously. However, it was amazing how much crap came up off the sand bed and from within the rock work within the first 15 seconds! One of my shrooms got pissed, apparently, because it ended up letting go, and got sucked into the MP10. What a sight!

MJ, you won't regret spending the money.

After using my MP20 for a couple of years, it has my glowing endorsement,. It is one of the best equipment purchases I have made, in terms of what it did for my tank.

I've already seen a massive improvement in my corals' appearance, especially the lower flow corals like my frogspawn. They love the highly diffuse flow! I'm also badly in the need of a WC and filter floss change, because it has whipped up so much crap that my Koralia's left behind!

Oh I loved it when I say what it kicked up, makes my tank that much more cleaner.

got one...its nice...but my first impression is that some hype involved here...I'd purchase it again, but it really is just like a powerful korelia with a circut board that ramps the speed up and down...

that's my initial impression after playing with it for about 2 hours last night, setting night mode, and going to bed.

I have a mp40w on my elos mini throttled down to like 10% on short pulse. Obviously it's a bit overkill so I will be downgrading to a more practical mp10. After my experience with the reliability of these pumps, the ability to fine tune customization, and ecotech's customer service, I will only use Vortechs as my main source of water flow in my aquariums!

Oh yeah, and nothing beats the peace of mind you get with the battery back up pack!

What has been everyone's experience with the break-in time? From my understanding, it differs between the MP20/40 and the MP10 because of technology and material changes.

I've had my MP20 running for 2 months now and it started to stall yesterday. I took out the wet portion and found nothing that was making the propeller seize. I rinsed and cleaned it but it still stalls after running a minute. I get that blinking red and green light. Eventually, it just powers off.

Anyone experience this?

Been playing around with my new MP10 in a Finnex 30gl. I removed the back partition planning on attaching rock to it and modding the fuge but decided not to put it back thus providing more room. Overflow box to a sump instead.
With the extra room and not real happy with what I was getting out of the MP10 in this sized tank I placed a throttled down maxijet 400 with sureflow mod on it pointing to the front glass and crossing the MP10 flow. The MP10 is on short pulse wave and attached to the side of the tank. The waves and water movement are stupendous. They both sit about 4" down from the surface.
I believe the corals I will be adding soon are going to be thrilled with the water movement this is creating.
Eventually I want to get another MP10 and place it on the opposite side.

Any particular reason why most have it on reefcrest mode? I'm trying it out now as well. I miss the wave action from the short pulse tho.

I love these pumps. Just ordered another MP10. I will probably run both on short wave and get the max random flow in the tank.

I played around with each setting. The wave was cool, but it created sound surges with the overflow. I like reef crest because it has higher highs and lower lows in the flow velocity. So there is more of a cleaning force behind each peak and trough of flow with respect to getting flow into the cracks and valleys of the rock-work.

I used to run short pulse for wave motion on my tank (for about a year or so)... only recently have I converted to the reef crest random mode. I tried out lagoonal random mode as well and I like both. The reason why I switched over to the reef crest random is similar to militant jurist's reasoning in that there is greater variability in water movement as opposed to a constant "left-right" wave motion (i.e. short pulse - wave). There will be times of low flow mixed in with times of high flow, and everything in between is just pure turbulence generated from the previous wave of water's movement coming into contact with the next burst of movement... further generating more random flow.

question for vortech users:

1) could you place it on the back wall of a tank? I have a cube, and it seems to me that it shouldn't matter if i wanted to place it in the back to make it less visible.

2) will it be problematic with my fiji pink caribsea sand bed (0.5-1.5mm particles)? i don't want a sandstorm.

1. sure, as long as there no water back there. The outside of the Vortech is NOT waterproof.

2.My MP20 full blast in my Solana barely moves my fiji pink, So I run it about 80% and its fine.

hope this helps, Mike

Good points, guys! I'm going to leave mine on reefcrest for now. It is indeed a lot less noisy without having the waves crashing into my overflow box.




+1. I have my mp40 on 75% and my fiji pink sand is fine.

mp10, reef crest ~60% i LOVe it (oh and its in my 15g)

re: #1, there's no water back there -- haha. i didn't think about this when i posted my question, but i have a cadlights 39g pro, which has an overflow chamber in the middle, but is just glass on the back.

thanks for the input, all!

I've got an MP40w in a 2'x1.5'x1.5', been experimenting with it to try and find the best mode how I like it. Most often have it on Reef Crest at about 60% throughout the day while I'm at work then test out Short Pulse to shake things up a bit. The amount of water it moves on anything above 60% is absolutely insane - I'm surprised I've not actually exploded the end panel out of my tank. And up until my frags bleached out (see journal about that one..), they absolutely loved it. My Angelfish loves it too.

All in all, not a bad little unit. I'm looking forward to getting another when I've got the bigger system to experiment with them in sync/antisync.

Does anyone run the sponge filter thing that comes with the Vortech? My MP40W's output seems much reduced with the sponge in place, so I stopped using it (also one less thing to clean).

I could never get mine to do anything but 1/4" wave in my 90 with short or long pulse, so I just use reef crest. Sometimes I do 100% power, sometimes 50%.

Hey Guys. I've been contemplating getting one, and my question is which one? I have a 29 gallon biocube, and I'm debating between a 10 and a 20. My questions are: Is the 20 too much flow for this tank, or will I only be able to run it around 50-60%? If the 20 is not too much flow, is it worth the extra $80-100? Thanks.