What is the best powerhead for a reef? Mp40??

Gwitness · Feb 13, 2014

If money isn't an object what would be the best powerheads for a reef?? I have a 180 and I was leaning towards 2 mp 40s and I was wondering are u really getting your money worth with them?? And are there any negatives to them?

Bradsreeeftank · Feb 13, 2014

I never understood the point of buying a 500 doller water proof fan, but if moneys no problem then knock your socks off.

DSP · Feb 13, 2014

Oh no doubt Vortech Pumps! There exspensive but there awesome! Worth every penny imo, And I actually just sold my mp10 and I'm gunna use the cheaper WP series only because my budget wouldn't allow for bigger Vortechs for my new build right now, If I had the extra money there's no doubt I would have went Vortech again.

Gwitness · Feb 13, 2014

Haha I agree and always thought that also....but are they really that good and worth the money or not really?

DSP · Feb 13, 2014

Yes there really that good you won't be disapointed one bit

Bradsreeeftank · Feb 13, 2014

What does it do different than my 40 dollar koralia?

Bry · Feb 13, 2014

My opinion is they are worth it. They continue to have one thing the others absolutely can not give you... A clean look with no wires in the tank.

I'm trying to decide between MP40s and MP60s for the 96" long 300gal being delivered next week.

DSP · Feb 13, 2014

Bradsreeeftank said:
What does it do different than my 40 dollar koralia?

Go do a search on YouTube and check them out, They can replicate the ocean like no other pump, they acually will make a wave in your tank if you want them to and that's something a Koralia can't do, There's quite a few different settings that you can use to replicate a natural Reef, A YouTube video will explain it way better then I can haha, But they have way more features and settings then a koralia has

Gwitness · Feb 13, 2014

Thanks for the replies everyone!! They can definitely are great and I'm glad to hear they are worth the money!!! I was already leaning on getting them but now I am for sure!!! I have seen the YouTube videos also and they look unreal! What about the wet side going bad? I've heard they go bad and they are like $100 to replace??

Bry · Feb 13, 2014

Also nice that they communicate with each other when you have multiples on your tank and can run synced or unsynced. All changes to flow and strength can be made from the comfort of my easy chair without sticking my hands in the tank to redirect a power head or change flow rates if it's even an adjustable power head.

Bry · Feb 13, 2014

Maybe I've been lucky, but I have a year and a half on my MP40s with no issues on the wet side. They get cleaned every couple of months.

Also, so far, no major noise issues for me. They aren't as loud as the overflow or protein skimmer running under the cabinet.

Gwitness · Feb 13, 2014

Okay well that's good to know!! I'm assuming you just clean them with white vinegar?

Bry · Feb 13, 2014

Gwitness said:
Okay well that's good to know!! I'm assuming you just clean them with white vinegar?

Only done that a couple of times, usually just a scrub and rinse with RO water

YHSublime · Feb 13, 2014

The Vortechs are nice, but for the price you could get 4 JB's. I use a combo in my 150, I had 2 mp-40's and I had 2 JB-40's. I sold one of my MP's and now I use the other one on a battery backup for emergencies. I run both the JB's at 100%.

Echotech has great customer service from what I hear, and their pumps have withstood the test of time, the Jeabos have not, but like I said, you could get x4 for the price of 1 vortech. The JB's are also bulky, but similar in size to the tunzes, so take that FWIW.

Bry · Feb 13, 2014

Don't get me wrong.. I sometimes wonder if I've just been lucky with my MPs compared to some of the threads that are out there. I'm really torn on what to order for my new build.. But I also don't want to run 6-8 power heads to get the flow I need and could get from 2-4 MP40s or 60s

It's the one area of my build I just can't decide on.

YHSublime · Feb 13, 2014

Bry said:
Don't get me wrong.. I sometimes wonder if I've just been lucky with my MPs compared to some of the threads that are out there. I'm really torn on what to order for my new build.. But I also don't want to run 6-8 power heads to get the flow I need and could get from 2-4 MP40s or 60s

It's the one area of my build I just can't decide on.

It is an easy decision. Let me help.
If you can shell out the $1000 for powerheads, then get the vortechs.
If you can not, then get 3 JB-40's (run 2, keep a spare on hand) or x2 JB-60's

If money were no option, I would run all vortech, and I would probably run Radion's instead of my Evergrows, but that's a whole new discussion that I won't start here.

Diesel · Feb 13, 2014

Vortech pumps are the world for your reef tank, clean look, unbelievable possibilities in moving water and after a year or two the wet site
goes bad you just replace the wet site, can't go wrong with these.
The only part that ppl have a problem with is the price.
I have five running on my tank and would buy them again in a eye blink, no doubt.
It's like having a Ferrari for the price of a BMW.

gtbarsi · Feb 13, 2014

Bradsreeeftank said:
What does it do different than my 40 dollar koralia?

If you are considering a move from a koralia, then I would go with a Jaebo... They have all the performance of a Tunze at a fraction of the price. From a size perspective the pump takes up less space than the koralia.

As a comparison I had a $45 koralia and went to a WP25, the difference was night and day. The flow is about 100x of what the koralia generated it makes it across the entire tank. The wave function is awesome, and I no longer have issues with food or detritus build up at all. Feed mode is really nice in that I can hit it, target feed, and anything that was left over gets kicked up as soon as the pump goes back on and it is like a 2nd feeding. As a result my water conditions are better.

The light sensor is nice as well in that it automatically switches to a simple flow a low level when the lights are out letting the fish rest better. In the morning when the lights come on the pump switches to wave maker. Everything seems to love the wave maker, the current seems to be an endless source of activity.

Both the Tunze and the Vortech have similar function but at much higher cost. Even if I had to replace my Jaebo pump two or more times it would still be less than what I would have to shell out for one of the others.

KorL · Feb 13, 2014

I've tried all the popular pumps... ecotech, tunze, koralia, jebao.

I really like and recommend either ecotech or tunze if you don't mind spending the extra $. They're well worth it. Comparing MP40 to tunze 6105, the mp40 moves a lot more water. But the tunze 6105 are almost silent