Two MP40's or four MP40's???

jlinzmaier

jlinzmaier

Premium Member
I have a 400 gallon tank and I orginally set it up with 3 closed loops using reeflo hammerhead gold pumps (approx 5,500 gph). I ran the closed loops through ocean motion 4 ways to get more flow throughout the entire tank.

Those of you who have a big tank most certainly know how joyful the $600 electric bills are:) I'd like to take the closed loops off line and use Vortech MP40's instead. I think I'll get much better flow and better upwelling of settled detritus with the MP's opposed to my current flow pattern not to mention each vortech will use less than 1/10th of the electricity that the hammerheads draw.

I've never used vortechs before but after seeing them in other tanks I'm kicking myself for not going with them in the first place. I spent $500 on each reeflo hammerhead pump (total of 3) and $350 for each OM 4-way (3 of them). Not to mention the additional 10 holes I had drilled in the tank and the crapload of money spent on valves and other plumbing parts. With that amount of money I could bought four MP 60's and never have to worry about the electricity use or the settling of detritus.

Since I've already wasted so much money on the hammerheads and OM 4 ways I thought I'd check here to get some opinions before I make any decisions. My tank is 8 ft long 3 ft wide and 28 inches high. I was thinking of using four MP 40's (two on each end). I'm wondering if I could get by with using just two on the end opposite of the overflow.

Any thoughts?? Vortech experts please share your thoughts:)

Jeremy
 
I am no expert (although I am an owner of an MP40 and an MP10), but I would think you would need two MP60's in an 8 foot tank. The flow from the MP40 will die off after 5 or 6 feet and won't be able to reach all the way across the tank. Also, what's the thickness of your glass?
 
Two MP40s will not be enough. 4 should work, although I would put one on each end and two along the back wall. 2 MP60s might work.

You might also consider the Tunze 6095s for your end pumps and put 2 MP40s along the back. The Tunzes push water farther into the tank than the MP40s.
 
I have 2 MP60s (1 on each end) and 1 MP40 on back wall, on my 8' 450g tank...corals and everything is doing great


FWIW, you should be able to get 'good $' for the used hammerheads and OMs, on RC
 
Thanks for the replies everyone!!

My glass is 3/4 inch so the MP 40's should be fine in that regard.

I assumed the two MP 40's on one end wouldn't be sufficient but I posted this up here hoping I might hear they would be sufficient.

My tank is viewed lengthwise from both sides so I don't have a "back wall". I thought about using two MP 60's vs four MP 40's (the cost is just about the same). I would prefer to use four MP40's opposed to two MP60's. Reason being is that there will be less direct blasting flow from an MP40 than an MP60. I was thinking that by using two MP 40's on each end I could get enough of a cumulative effect to get good wave action but not have any one particular area getting such strong directional flow which would require significant changes in my aquascaping and coral placement.

Sound logical??

Jeremy
 
jlinzmaier said:
My tank is viewed lengthwise from both sides so I don't have a "back wall". I thought about using two MP 60's vs four MP 40's (the cost is just about the same). I would prefer to use four MP40's opposed to two MP60's. Reason being is that there will be less direct blasting flow from an MP40 than an MP60. I was thinking that by using two MP 40's on each end I could get enough of a cumulative effect to get good wave action but not have any one particular area getting such strong directional flow which would require significant changes in my aquascaping and coral placement.

Sound logical??
Click to expand...
IMO you're not going to get any wave effect on an 8' tank with 4 mp40s...I run my 60s at about 70%, and the 40 at less than 50%, and have considered removing it, because I don't think it's a big plus!
 
I have a 7 foot tank and use two MP 40's. One on each end, up top on one side and toward the bottom on the other. I get a very nice conveyor belt type of flow where there is good draft along the bottom, that gets picked up by the undertow of the top pump and pushes it toward the other end in a loop that does a pretty good job of keeping junk in the water and feeding it to the overflows. I have penductors on the return which blows junk out from the back corners and pushes to the front of the tank where it get pulled into the conveyor belt. So due to my scape, & return config two work great for me. Your results will vary depending on the other variables.
 
I would think with 4 mp40's you would get good flow throughout but would not be able to get wave motion, if you want a true wave I would think mp60's would be needed for that long of a tank. If it were me I would prefer 4 mp40's as you will be able to play with placement of 4 units over just 2.
 
I have an 8' tank with (2) tunze on one end and (2) MP40s on the other. One of the main reasons I went with the MP40 is because of the battery back up. If you are looking for just a wave motion you can get it with just (2) mp40s on the same end of the tank working in sync.
 
I just hooked up one of my old tunze waveboxes just for kicks. I'm getting almost a half inch wave across the entire length of the tank. Too bad the waveboxes are so large.

I was pretty impressed to say the least:)

Jeremy
 
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