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KMench
Valuable Member
I don't use the foam covers in my tank. My mandarin and other fish have yet to be sucked through the pumps. I never turn mine off, or reduce the flow for feedings. If you remove the foam covers and feed, worst case, the food gets stuck on the side of the powerhead for a second before getting blown around the tank.
Unfortunately, in our quest to put these animals in a glass box for our own selfish enjoyment, we tend to kill a lot in the learning process.
But I must warn you now before you start a thread in the Coralvue forum titled "Beautiful anemone blended in Gyre!" It can happen. Then I will be be there to tell you. "If you just kept those MP40s with the foam covers, you wouldn't be posting this. But until that day, happy reefing!
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CMO
Valuable Member
Yeah, I'm starting to question whether this hobby makes any sense for those that really appreciate the ocean and marine animals. The amount of death involved with this hobby seems very high and a lot people involved with it just don't seem to care all that much.
I mean seriously, this poor blenny was stolen from it's home in the ocean, shipped around the world and then arrived to my tank to be blended to death. what the heck.
Really struggling with this lately.
Good to know. The gyres came mesh sleeves though - wonder if those work to keep out anemones.
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jlanger
Well-Known Member
*** Most of this was written before the last few posts, but the message remains the same.
I will speak up as someone that exclusively uses Ecotech Vortech pumps and keeps many small fish; blennies and gobies are favorites of mine and I keep several.
I had four MP40's on my 120gal that ran very high without any foam guards. I have two MP10's on my 32gal that run continuously without any foam guards. Once a month, a remove the wet sides for maintenance and cleaning; thus the pumps are turned off. The pump's prop is very accessible at all times, so I should plenty of dead fish; right?
But, I have never had an issue with small fish getting sucked into the pumps while running at high speeds. And, yes, the blennies (and other herbivorous fish) do like to insect the pumps for algae when they're turned off. I have even seen some of them resting inside the housing during maintenance. Saying all of that, I have never lost a fish due to being caught in the pumps. Why not??? It is my responsibility to make sure the pump is cleared before turning it back on; it's that simple. I have even seen my Yellow Clown Goby (1-1/4"???) sitting on the housing as the pump is running and it was not getting sucked into the pump.
Calling for a redesign of the housing isn't the all exclusive answer.
How small of an opening are you going to need? There are some very small fish we keep; i.e. cleaner gobies, clown gobies, pipefish, etc. If you're making the openings in the housing that small, it's going to inhibit the performance of the pump itself.
I feel bad for your loss; it's a tough lesson learned. Midas Blennies are awesome!!!
But when one decides to take on the responsibility of caring for these animals, it is their responsibility.
I will speak up as someone that exclusively uses Ecotech Vortech pumps and keeps many small fish; blennies and gobies are favorites of mine and I keep several.
I had four MP40's on my 120gal that ran very high without any foam guards. I have two MP10's on my 32gal that run continuously without any foam guards. Once a month, a remove the wet sides for maintenance and cleaning; thus the pumps are turned off. The pump's prop is very accessible at all times, so I should plenty of dead fish; right?
But, I have never had an issue with small fish getting sucked into the pumps while running at high speeds. And, yes, the blennies (and other herbivorous fish) do like to insect the pumps for algae when they're turned off. I have even seen some of them resting inside the housing during maintenance. Saying all of that, I have never lost a fish due to being caught in the pumps. Why not??? It is my responsibility to make sure the pump is cleared before turning it back on; it's that simple. I have even seen my Yellow Clown Goby (1-1/4"???) sitting on the housing as the pump is running and it was not getting sucked into the pump.
Calling for a redesign of the housing isn't the all exclusive answer.
How small of an opening are you going to need? There are some very small fish we keep; i.e. cleaner gobies, clown gobies, pipefish, etc. If you're making the openings in the housing that small, it's going to inhibit the performance of the pump itself.
I feel bad for your loss; it's a tough lesson learned. Midas Blennies are awesome!!!
But when one decides to take on the responsibility of caring for these animals, it is their responsibility.
OP
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CMO
Valuable Member
Kid? Guess you don't care about all the fish mentioned here meeting a similar end. I'm sure there are many many more out there.
jlanger
Well-Known Member
As with most reviews and comments online, you're going to read more negative posts than positive; it's the way society has become these days. I would assume there's plenty of other hobbyists keeping small fish in systems that are using the Ecotech Vortech pumps; there's just no incentive for them to mention it.
I'm going to assume that you need to physically turn on/off the pump from the Vortech control box, and not a wi-fi enabled controller.
I'm also going to assume that you break eye contact with the tank while turning on/off the pump.
The easiest method to keep the fish away from the pump is to scare the fish so that it retreats to its hole in the rocks. Even then, an extra wave of the hand at the fish should spook it enough so that it remains in the hole for the quick moment to turn the pump on.
A second method is to add some food to the center of the water column away from the pumps. As the fish go to feed, turn the pump back on.
To help reduce your stress involved when turning the pump on, move the control box to a location that is more accessible so you can see the pump the entire time.
I'm going to assume that you need to physically turn on/off the pump from the Vortech control box, and not a wi-fi enabled controller.
I'm also going to assume that you break eye contact with the tank while turning on/off the pump.
The easiest method to keep the fish away from the pump is to scare the fish so that it retreats to its hole in the rocks. Even then, an extra wave of the hand at the fish should spook it enough so that it remains in the hole for the quick moment to turn the pump on.
A second method is to add some food to the center of the water column away from the pumps. As the fish go to feed, turn the pump back on.
To help reduce your stress involved when turning the pump on, move the control box to a location that is more accessible so you can see the pump the entire time.
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CMO
Valuable Member
Good suggestions. My switch is very close to the vortec where this happened as shown below so I'm serious when I say 10 seconds tops (he died by the left side vortec closest to the switch). Did I scare the fish into a hole, no, but it was well away from the power head prior to my initiating the canceling of feed mode in fusion.
This is the only warning I am going to issue, follow the ToS, do not use vulgarity, do not attack other members and stay on topic. From this point forward, there will be no warnings issued, you will just be banned from the thread. Thank you
I had a midas blenny get blended by an mp10 4 years ago. I thought he was going to die but luckily he survived and is happily living in a friends 300 gallon reef.
My current midas luckily shows no interest in the mp40s when they go off.
My current midas luckily shows no interest in the mp40s when they go off.
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CMO
Valuable Member
Thanks for sharing and glad to hear your's made it through okay. I think it's about time we add a death / incident count to the main thread to see what we're really dealing with here. Keep the stories coming people.
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CMO
Valuable Member
Incident noted in related general reef discussion thread:
"I'm sorry for the loss of your Midas. My lawnmower blenny did the same thing about a year ago but it is EcoTech"s MP60. He lived and still is! How, I dont know! He stayed on the sandbed for 3 days poor guy! "
"I'm sorry for the loss of your Midas. My lawnmower blenny did the same thing about a year ago but it is EcoTech"s MP60. He lived and still is! How, I dont know! He stayed on the sandbed for 3 days poor guy! "
Newtybar
Active Member
Everyone is losing track of the real issue here.
A life is a life...and as reefkeepers I would think we as a community value our livestocks' lives. If it is possible for a life to be lost by something that can be addressed, why are so many against it and blaming it on the operator (real cute with the ID 10t error)?
Let's focus on the real issue...how do we prevent this from happening EVER? If not ever, how can we reduce the casualties? I think it's great the OP decided to call this out and try to address the issue.
Maybe the answer is a mandatory screen, maybe the answer is a warning label, I don't know. Maybe just offer an accessory.
The laissez-faire attitude of "meh it's just a fish, buy another" is everything that is wrong with this hobby. These living beings aren't just ornaments to make our houses look cooler.
A life is a life...and as reefkeepers I would think we as a community value our livestocks' lives. If it is possible for a life to be lost by something that can be addressed, why are so many against it and blaming it on the operator (real cute with the ID 10t error)?
Let's focus on the real issue...how do we prevent this from happening EVER? If not ever, how can we reduce the casualties? I think it's great the OP decided to call this out and try to address the issue.
Maybe the answer is a mandatory screen, maybe the answer is a warning label, I don't know. Maybe just offer an accessory.
The laissez-faire attitude of "meh it's just a fish, buy another" is everything that is wrong with this hobby. These living beings aren't just ornaments to make our houses look cooler.
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CMO
Valuable Member
Couldn't have said it better myself. And good point on the warning label. I just reviewed the ecotech manual and see no obvious warning that fish may be injured by this pump.
I was beginning to wonder about the future of our world based on some of the responses here. I guess there is still hope. Thanks for posting.
mta_morrow
Of course I have room for 1 more fish!
How many people have had a small fish go down an overflow and get shredded in the main return pump, or killed cause it got stuck in the plumbing? Or killed somewhere else after it went through the overflow?
Perhaps there should be warning labels on the back wall of every tank saying "danger - small fish can fit through the overflow slots" And make a federal law just like mattress tags that cant be removed or you go to jail.
They can also post on the back wall of every tank - warning, there is no lid on this so your fish may jump out.
Maybe we should start a thread in every tank manufacturers forum and see how many people lost fish because they didn't have a lid on the tank. Probably alot.
I think my view is obvious.
Perhaps there should be warning labels on the back wall of every tank saying "danger - small fish can fit through the overflow slots" And make a federal law just like mattress tags that cant be removed or you go to jail.
They can also post on the back wall of every tank - warning, there is no lid on this so your fish may jump out.
Maybe we should start a thread in every tank manufacturers forum and see how many people lost fish because they didn't have a lid on the tank. Probably alot.
I think my view is obvious.
Just ordered these so I don't have to watch a fish get blended ever again. And no more washing sponges either which is nice. Got them from Anemone Protection Guards on facebook.
Thank you for letting us know of this product. Just sent them a message.
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CMO
Valuable Member
Actually yes. I think there should be warnings included with tanks to inform people that fish may be able to get into the over flow and or jump out of the tank. The average person is not aware of these things. I just read an article that stated that for every one fish that makes it into a home aquarium 6 died. We should all be trying to move the hobby to become more humane for the animals we claim to care about. I just don't understand how a suggestion to try and make a product safer for marine life is causing so much outrage....
