Two or Three Vortech mp10s vs one mp40?

[ironwill723]

I was considering fish and coral selection for the new tank. I know I want a tang or two and definitely soft and lps corals.

 

[surge19us]

If your not going to have any SPS one mp40 will be sufficient for what you are planning.

 

[Mike31154]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15396525#post15396525 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jb61264
Wow...2 MP40's in a 75...do you have them dialed down a bit? how do you have them set up?

Your quote appears to have been for the member with two in a 120, but I do indeed have two MP40W in a 75. Also started with only one running for about a year, then added the second a couple of months ago. When I had only the single pump, for the majority of the time I ran it in short pulse mode at 100% using the longest pulse duration I could get with the original firmware. I purchased the first VorTech a month or so before they started shipping the Gen 2 models...arghh. Anyhow, the mode I was using provided a nice back & forth flow and undertow throughout most of the tank. I did find the flow was lacking at the far side of this 4 foot tank though. I have no sump and the only other flow is minor, from a canister filter output blowing at an angle from the far corner, negligible really. I run the canister empty except for a little carbon.

Now that I have two MP40W, along with new firmware (yay), I use the new long pulse mode and have the pumps dialed down to around 75%. I use the Master/Slave configuration with the Slave running in anti synch mode. To me this has a number of advantages:

1. More even, moderate flow throughout the whole tank
2. Less wear on the pumps since they're not ramping up to full bore any longer
3. Less noise for the same reason as 2. BTW, the new pump is a tad quieter than the original, neither is obtrusively loud though
4. Redundancy, if one craps out or needs cleaning, I have a backup. Customer service is A1, but it still takes a week or two turnaround time for me to send it east and receive it back in western Canada
5. More flexibility with flow since the drivers are able to communicate with each other. Synch, anti-synch, random modes....
6. I now use the 'Night' mode since with two pumps there will still be plenty of flow. The firmware with the original driver did not have this option and it's unlikely I would have used it with only a single pump anyway. Not sure dialing down the flow that much at night is necessarily a good thing.

Good luck with your decision, but remember, the MP10 is really designed as a device for nano set ups and using a bunch of them on a larger system means more electrical cords, plugs required etc..

 

[jb61264]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15396845#post15396845 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mike31154
Your quote appears to have been for the member with two in a 120, but I do indeed have two MP40W in a 75. Also started with only one running for about a year, then added the second a couple of months ago. When I had only the single pump, for the majority of the time I ran it in short pulse mode at 100% using the longest pulse duration I could get with the original firmware. I purchased the first VorTech a month or so before they started shipping the Gen 2 models...arghh. Anyhow, the mode I was using provided a nice back & forth flow and undertow throughout most of the tank. I did find the flow was lacking at the far side of this 4 foot tank though. I have no sump and the only other flow is minor, from a canister filter output blowing at an angle from the far corner, negligible really. I run the canister empty except for a little carbon.

Now that I have two MP40W, along with new firmware (yay), I use the new long pulse mode and have the pumps dialed down to around 75%. I use the Master/Slave configuration with the Slave running in anti synch mode. To me this has a number of advantages:

1. More even, moderate flow throughout the whole tank
2. Less wear on the pumps since they're not ramping up to full bore any longer
3. Less noise for the same reason as 2. BTW, the new pump is a tad quieter than the original, neither is obtrusively loud though
4. Redundancy, if one craps out or needs cleaning, I have a backup. Customer service is A1, but it still takes a week or two turnaround time for me to send it east and receive it back in western Canada
5. More flexibility with flow since the drivers are able to communicate with each other. Synch, anti-synch, random modes....
6. I now use the 'Night' mode since with two pumps there will still be plenty of flow. The firmware with the original driver did not have this option and it's unlikely I would have used it with only a single pump anyway. Not sure dialing down the flow that much at night is necessarily a good thing.

Good luck with your decision, but remember, the MP10 is really designed as a device for nano set ups and using a bunch of them on a larger system means more electrical cords, plugs required etc..

Thanks for the info Mike...I have a Mag 18 as my return pump from a 55 gallon sump/fuge to my 75...I have about 4' of lift so I calculated roughly 1300 gph using the Mag 18 flow charts...I split my returns so I guesstimate about 600-650 coming from either one of them which by themselves gave some small ripples on the surface. I am thinking I might add a couple Koralias with a wavemaker to get some random flow going.