maxspect gyre vs ice cap

[coralbeauties]

I have several ice cap gyre pumps in my 210 that work great but will trap air inside the pump impeller and get noisy. If I clean the impellers of the slime algae buildup they are quite again but just for a couple of weeks or less. I have been told the maxspect dont do this. If the designs are basically the same why will one make noise but not the other?
thanks
Jeff

 

[Ranjib]

I’m not sure about this. I thought they are same , just branded differently in different market. Let’s see what others say

 

[coralbeauties]

I’m not sure about this. I thought they are same , just branded differently in different market. Let’s see what others say

I was also under the impression that ice cap paid maxspect for the design so also figured that they were the same.
Jeff

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ive had both and prefer the ice cap unit. Nice display and quiet

 

[Jonreefer]

i dont know why you would think algae would be like whoa lets not grow on the maxspect version. who told you that is silly. I think the main difference is the maxspect have more powerful pumps and they offer a few features the icecap doesnt like offering master and slave pumps where you can sync them or desync them and such. I have the Icecap 1k and i think its fantastic for the price. I honestly would never consider the maxspect over the icecap because of price. If you want to help with bubbles setup the unit in a program mode that it will run backwards for a few seconds and it will kick out bubbles

 

[coralbeauties]

i dont know why you would think algae would be like whoa lets not grow on the maxspect version. who told you that is silly. I think the main difference is the maxspect have more powerful pumps and they offer a few features the icecap doesnt like offering master and slave pumps where you can sync them or desync them and such. I have the Icecap 1k and i think its fantastic for the price. I honestly would never consider the maxspect over the icecap because of price. If you want to help with bubbles setup the unit in a program mode that it will run backwards for a few seconds and it will kick out bubbles

I didnt mean that the maxspect wouldnt grow algae on it. Just the fact that my ice caps can get crazy noisy and people swear that the maxspects stay quite. I'm just trying to figure out what possibly could be different. My tank is in my basement and I can hear them at the top of the stairs easily. How do you program them to run backwards? there is a guy in our local club that turns his off every 20-30 minutes with his apex to clear the air.
thanks
Jeff

 

[shred5]

I didnt mean that the maxspect wouldnt grow algae on it. Just the fact that my ice caps can get crazy noisy and people swear that the maxspects stay quite. I'm just trying to figure out what possibly could be different. My tank is in my basement and I can hear them at the top of the stairs easily. How do you program them to run backwards? there is a guy in our local club that turns his off every 20-30 minutes with his apex to clear the air.
thanks
Jeff

There people on both sides, there are people who say Icecaps are noisy and those who say they are quiet and vise versa with the gyre.

I think with both part of it is expectations. I also think both are quiet compared to my mp40's.

I had one gyre that got loud but I had messed up a part. The gyre are not the easiest to take apart and put back together and I sometimes think people wreck a part or put them together wrong.
I have had gyres since launch and I had never a issue except the one which was my fault.
Also as far as reviews go people that have issues or think they have issues are far more vocal than those who do not.

My cousin just asked me about the Icecaps because he heard they were noisy because of a few reviews. I told him that I do not trust reviews and usually problems are blown out of proportion. He bought the Icecap version and it was quite. If you are getting air in them they are too close to the surface and of coarse that will make them louder or you need to make sure no air is with them if putting them in the water.

I think another thing is at over 80 percent most seem a little louder but I never run mine over that.

I can find out who makes the IceCap brand of gyres.. IceCap brand I beleive is now owned by Coralvue.. I beleive allot of Icecap is rebranded and some products Coralvue hires someone to manufacture.

 

[Jonreefer]

I didnt mean that the maxspect wouldnt grow algae on it. Just the fact that my ice caps can get crazy noisy and people swear that the maxspects stay quite. I'm just trying to figure out what possibly could be different. My tank is in my basement and I can hear them at the top of the stairs easily. How do you program them to run backwards? there is a guy in our local club that turns his off every 20-30 minutes with his apex to clear the air.
thanks
Jeff

my icecap 1k even at full 100% with my ear 2" from the tank I cannot hear it.
there is the mode in the controller you can program the reverse gyre mode. it lets you program full forward speed and how long it stays at that speed and also the ramp up and ramp down time and then it will let you program how much power for reverse speed and ramp up and for how long it will run at that reverse. the mode on the controller on my 1k has a little forward and backwards icon next to each other

 

[coralbeauties]

There people on both sides, there are people who say Icecaps are noisy and those who say they are quiet and vise versa with the gyre.

I think with both part of it is expectations. I also think both are quiet compared to my mp40's.

I had one gyre that got loud but I had messed up a part. The gyre are not the easiest to take apart and put back together and I sometimes think people wreck a part or put them together wrong.
I have had gyres since launch and I had never a issue except the one which was my fault.
Also as far as reviews go people that have issues or think they have issues are far more vocal than those who do not.

My cousin just asked me about the Icecaps because he heard they were noisy because of a few reviews. I told him that I do not trust reviews and usually problems are blown out of proportion. He bought the Icecap version and it was quite. If you are getting air in them they are too close to the surface and of coarse that will make them louder or you need to make sure no air is with them if putting them in the water.

I can find out who makes the IceCap brand of gyres.. IceCap brand I beleive is now owned by Coralvue.. I beleive allot of Icecap is rebranded and some products Coralvue hires someone to manufacture.

My tank is fairly clean but I have some micro bubbles that are coming off the rocks and I believe the ice caps are trapping those bubbles. It is worst as the impellers get a slime coat build up on them. I have two in my frag raceway and so far they are real quiet. It is a much cleaner system with no live rock, fish, or algae. Has to be why some experience noise and some don’t. I will have to try and program as Jonreefer suggested.
Thanks
Jeff

 

[shred5]

Ok Coralvue does own Icecap but that is well known.
Icecap Gyres are made by Maxspect but are not exactly the same as the Maxspect gyres.
Agreement between the two companies..

 

[Hemmdog]

I have maxspect gyres. Haven’t cleaned them in 6 months, no sound, no issues. The controller has more features than the icecap one as well.

 

[Deiblerj]

Just came across this thread. I’m thinking of getting the icecap 1k because it’s so cheap but that also has me worried!

 

[coralbeauties]

I’m sitting in my kitchen now next to my basement door and I can hear my icecaps ramping up to 100% now as I sit here. Regret selling one of my mp40s
Jeff

 

[Deiblerj]

Ugh...I was about to pull the trigger on the icecap dang!

 

[Jeff Jarry reef]

I have the maxspect 350 and I like it alot. What I heard was that maxspect has the diverters on top to help keep algea from growing on the propellers and ice cap don't have diverters. But I don't know which one I best. And it's very quiet too.

 

[Deiblerj]

The 1k icecap just has such a nice price tag. I have an mp40 but realllly don’t want to dish out the money for another lol

 

[coralbeauties]

I dont know if maxspect do it but every time I put my icecaps in feed mode the impellers stop and quite a bit of air come out of them. If I clean them they will become quite for a bit. They are suppose to be the same design as the maxspect so I dont understand why they would make more noise.
Jeff

 

[Deiblerj]

Lol these mixed opinions are not helping me!

 

[Jeff Jarry reef]

My maxspect don't do that when I do feed mode.

 

[Jeff Jarry reef]

I don't know about the icecap but I'm very happy with the maxspect all I can say. I wish I could be more helpful.