Katmanblue
New member
Just for those that are interested; since after much research and agonizing, I purchased the MSX200 for my 90gallon tank--I received it on Tuesday the 18th. It is fairly easy to assemble, and I am a complete noob about those things so if I can do it, anyone can. I will say that the "footprint" is a major factor when considering the purchase of this unit, not so much how wide it is or how much room it takes up in the sump, but the actual mechanics of getting it IN the sump. I had a limited amount of "head room" to get it in under the stand and into the sump (29 gallon tank). Basically I had to assemble it in the sump.
The only other "issue" was the dreaded clack clack noise of the SICCE pump. It worked fine for about 15-20 minutes and then started making an awful racket like there was something in the impeller. I took it apart, verified it was clean and then put it back in. Same thing--after a few minutes of quiet operation it started the awful grinding type noise. I did what any rational aquarist does, I logged onto RC to see if this was a common issue. On the thread in this forum (MSX club), there was a suggestion to align the pump with the impeller oriented in a horizontal position as opposed to a vertical. Bang. No noise at all. As an aside, I had also sent an email to MSX--they responded very quickly and assured me there is a normal break-in period with the pump but if it still gave me problems after a couple of weeks they would fix or replace. Cant ask for better than that.
Anyway, all is well so far--I'm still cycling so very light bio load so I cant brag yet about the tons of gunk it's pulling
but so far I have no complaints.
Stay tuned.....
The only other "issue" was the dreaded clack clack noise of the SICCE pump. It worked fine for about 15-20 minutes and then started making an awful racket like there was something in the impeller. I took it apart, verified it was clean and then put it back in. Same thing--after a few minutes of quiet operation it started the awful grinding type noise. I did what any rational aquarist does, I logged onto RC to see if this was a common issue. On the thread in this forum (MSX club), there was a suggestion to align the pump with the impeller oriented in a horizontal position as opposed to a vertical. Bang. No noise at all. As an aside, I had also sent an email to MSX--they responded very quickly and assured me there is a normal break-in period with the pump but if it still gave me problems after a couple of weeks they would fix or replace. Cant ask for better than that.
Anyway, all is well so far--I'm still cycling so very light bio load so I cant brag yet about the tons of gunk it's pulling
but so far I have no complaints. Stay tuned.....
