I have had a mp10 in the past and now have a gyre 150. Here are my thoughts:
- in terms of flow, the gyre BY A MILE! And I am not comparing the 150 to the mp10 . My xf150 moves more water in my 80inch long tank than a mp40 could even dream off!! It would take at least two mp40s to get near the same results. Unless you do as some like to do and add other pumps to creat "randomness", in which case you basically kill the gyre concept in itself. With just one gyre in my tank I have zero detritus accumulation in my rockwork.
- having said this, for your tank it would not be such a big issue given smaller size.
- modes: with the new controller there is really not much difference between both
- price: gyre
- maintenance : mp10 hands down. You can even have a spare wet side and when you need to clean it just swap them out.
- aesthetics: unless you can hide the but ugly motors plus cables hanguing on the sides of your tank like a couple of Mickey Mouse ears (or one gigantic wart if it is just one) I cannot even begin to understand the comments about the mp10/40/60 being nicer looking! If it is an in wall tank or peninsula that allows you to hide the mp10 great. If not, to me the gyre is much less obtrusive.
Finally flows pattern: you will constantly tamper with the positioning of your mp10 because it is not adjustable. You cannot point it where you want it and given its cone type of flow pattern you will always get dead spots that will keep you constantly tweaking.
To me the gyre wins hands down. Not even a contest. My only gripe is the maintenance which is indeed annoying. Every two months I take mine out, take it apart and dip for 12h in a citric acid solution, and than put it back together.
