vresor Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 The Vortech MP-10 pumps is cool for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is its performance and deminutive in-tank dimensions. Until someone comes up with wireless power for them, the down side is dealing with the power cord dangling down the side of your tank to the motor unit. One attractive option is to mount it on the back glass. Unless you have an all-in-one tank like the Solana in which that can expose the motor to fatally high water problems. Dry docks for the motor are nothing new. StevieT's dry dock for the Vortech was very cool, but currently out of production. After trolling Walmart and other retailers I found this cracker keeper at Garden Ridge for $3. A quick scan of the barcode with ShopSavvy on my Andriod found a six pack of them at Ace Hardware. Their ad suggests they've been sold on TV too. The motor fits perfectly inside the water tight container and it can be trimmed to any "depth" you need. Enjoy. Link to comment
basser1 Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Have you done this? Got any pics? You know what "they" say........ A picture is worth a thousand words! Link to comment
cptbjorn Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 How can they blatantly market that container with a slur on it like that? racist imo. Link to comment
coolwaters Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 How can they blatantly market that container with a slur on it like that? racist imo. LOL u cant completely seal off the motor right? cuz of heating issues? Link to comment
neanderthalman Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 I would assume it's open at the top, which is above the water line on power loss. Link to comment
vresor Posted February 4, 2010 Author Share Posted February 4, 2010 That's right, mine will be left open at the top (as I'm sure any dry dock is). I've tried a few containers, but most are too shallow and don't let the pump mount deep enough on the back wall or are too big and don't fit in chamber 2. The Cracker Keeper (racial slurs aside) is tall enough to allow the right depth with enough freeboard to ensure overflows drain out the back of the tank (on my Solana anyway) rather than into the dry dock. I'll get some pictures up soon. Link to comment
Jerfrog Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 shopsavvy rules! Is it more efficient to have the mp10 mounted on the back of the tank or on the side? Link to comment
mikedege Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 is it big enuf for MP20? Link to comment
neanderthalman Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 shopsavvy rules! Is it more efficient to have the mp10 mounted on the back of the tank or on the side? It will look better mounted in the back..... Link to comment
NaClCrocodile Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 I'd think opening it at the bottom would be safer, no? Water won't be flowing up, and heat escapes, no? I really like this thing though. What's the price diff between the single @ WM and the six pack @ Ace? Link to comment
neanderthalman Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 I'd think opening it at the bottom would be safer, no? Water won't be flowing up, and heat escapes, no? I really like this thing though. What's the price diff between the single @ WM and the six pack @ Ace? wat? ....no..... I think you're misunderstanding the concept. Link to comment
vresor Posted February 6, 2010 Author Share Posted February 6, 2010 The one I bought at Garden Ridge in Columbus was $2.99 (plus the Governor's share). Ace was like $24 for a six pack. Not sure why you'd need six of them; maybe we could get a group buy going? I don't think the Vortech pumps produce better results mounted on the back glass than the side glass. That probably a function of your aquascape. The main thing for me is the aesthetic value of hiding that cord and the cleaning up the side glass viewing areas. Oh yeah, and I doubt it would fit the MP20 or MP40. It's a snug (but ample) fit with the much smaller MP10. Those of you with 20s and 40s will need to go back to trolling the housewares isle or lobby StevieT to put his dry dock back in production! Link to comment
TriggerHappyDude Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 So because of the length of this thing, doesn't it just go all the way down into chamber two, taking up all that needed volume for water and flow? I can understand if this was shorter and fit up above the blue padded area, but I'm not seeing how this works? I had the Stevie T Dry Dock at one time, and although well built, I think it was a bit of a PITA. It would cut off flow from my skimmer and chamber one, to the second chamber, as it pretty much fit right on top of the blue padded area, causing the only flow to chamber two, to be just a few inches right from the glass back of the tank. I was always worried about when/if the power was shut off and the pumps were off, that it would get overflowed, but never tested it, and I guess it wouldn't have or the entire tank would be overflowing...but it still worried me. If only there was a little plastic box that was just a little bigger than each Vortech head and and would allow it to almost float on the back side of chamber 2, allowing the water flow to be normal, that would be a great fit. This thing seems to be that way, but if you cut it to be smaller, then you just have two open ends? Link to comment
TriggerHappyDude Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 The motor fits perfectly inside the water tight container and it can be trimmed to any "depth" you need. Enjoy. How do you explain this? Guess I'm not seeing how its "trimmable"...? I would understand that as crackers are eaten, the stack gets shorter, but how does this do that? Link to comment
Nemo Niblets Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 So this way you can put the vortech underwater? Link to comment
SpankythePyro Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 ^^under water level works just as a dry dock you trim the height of the cracker container with a razor blade, utility knife, band saw.... It doesn't look like it would stop water flow into chamber 2 as long as you didn't have the mp10 sitting down wayyy low Link to comment
p-daddy Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 I just placed an order for these (I bought a couple so I have a margin for error, I could not locate them locally.) When my new Vortech arrives, and these come in as well I will post my results. I am hoping to be able to squeeze this into chamber 3 of my Cardiff, so that the Vortech sits in the top right corner of the tank. If someone beats me to this, even better! Link to comment
p-daddy Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Scratch that, site I ordered them from sent me notice they are no longer available. I just tried to order from Ace too (I sucked it up and went for the 6 pack just to test this, who knows maybe these things will even protect my crackers) and they also discontinued sales of these things. Back to the drawing board chums. Link to comment
nowlan Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 The one I bought at Garden Ridge in Columbus was $2.99 (plus the Governor's share). Ace was like $24 for a six pack. Not sure why you'd need six of them; maybe we could get a group buy going? 24/6 = 4, which is more than $2.99. Is Ace more common store? Im not seeing value here. Link to comment
NaClCrocodile Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 wat? ....no..... I think you're misunderstanding the concept. Doh! Now I see what it's used for. You'd use it in an AIO tank for mounting it in the 'fuge... I was thinking it'd be as a saftey measure to keep the dry side dry in case of splashing. Now it's much more effective and awesome! Link to comment
hannahs Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Just in case anyone is interested, they are also sold here: LINK There would be no need to actually attach this to the wall, right? Since the magnet of the vortech would hold it in place. Link to comment
DirtyC Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 U guys think it be durable to hold 2 part solution?? Plus will it leach out?? Link to comment
ajmckay Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Holy old thread batman... The magnet should hold it in-place, though IMO that opens up a lot of opportunity for misalignment due to small shifts. I would at least put some rubber grippers between the container and the wall or just glue it somehow. Also, if it's water tight then it should hold 2-part just fine... Link to comment
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