First impression of the Maxspect Gyre
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This thing is for sure on my Christmas list, I stop by Brett's today just to see this thing in action and it is nice, the under current is awesome and the flow across his 4 foot tank from this one unit it just sweet, all that's left now is for Jeff to put together a group buy!
If this stays working as well as it is, it's a hobby changer.
If this stays working as well as it is, it's a hobby changer.
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vortech price drop coming soon
competition... if it is well made + a competitive product. = what we NEED in this hobby
competition... if it is well made + a competitive product. = what we NEED in this hobbySnowManSnow;996486 wrote: vortech price drop coming soon
That's my hope as well. Something that performs well, holds up long term, and drive prices down for us all.
Thanks Brandon! It was great to finally meet you in person!
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Great looking tank Brett. Now we will convert you to the sticks! 
Come by and see out oceans anytime.
Come by and see out oceans anytime.
BrandonMason;996554 wrote: Great looking tank Brett. Now we will convert you to the sticks!
Come by and see out oceans anytime.
Thank you Brandon! A few sticks at a time and soon I'll be converted! Lol I'm looking forward to seeing your setups! A lot changes in a year!
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soooo.. how loud are these things... what is the noise level. they HAVE to beat vortechs
There is a slight hum and it gets a little more noticeable as power increases. Maxspec says in the owners manual it will subside after a break-in period. Either I have gotten use to the noise level or it seems to be "breaking in". Lol. I'm sure which.
I've had mine in the tank for a week now.
A few observations:
Prior to running the Riptide I had the Jaebo WP 25s and later the RWs hooked up to the Apex. I ran different modes throughout the day. Most notably at night, I decreased power to about 40%. I would see an immediate drop in my ORP by 10 mV every night once the power heads were in night mode. I'm assuming the oxygen levels decreased as a result.
What's very interesting about the Riptide is I have been manually decreasing the power level down to 3 (about a 40% decrease) at night and ORP now decreases by 2 mV. I suspect the Riptide is boosting oxygen levels. Again, I'm not sure if the Riptide has anything to do with this. However, I've also experienced a slight increase in my pH levels and a decrease in my dinural swings. I had nightly swings of .18 and now it's .09.
I'm definitely not a chemist or expert in anything for that matter. Lol So maybe someone with more knowledge of ORP and chemistry for that matter could chime in.
The output is decreasing as the pump gets dirty. It seems it's like any other powerhead and gradually loses power until it's cleaned again. It's not a huge factor yet. But, I did have to bump up my output to 5 to keep the same flow going. The recommended cleaning schedule is monthly. I believe they included the extra parts to make cleaning easy and getting the pump back in service ASAP. I suspect most will only have this in their tanks and may not have an auxiliary powerhead in case of emergencies. I really don't think the extra parts were included due to expected part failure as others may have suggested.
The magnet holding the Riptide is relatively weak when moving. I have 3/8" glass and if you try to move it quickly or if for some reason it sticks while adjusting it, the powerhead may drop. I understand their is a stronger magnet available for thicker glass. But, IMHO they need to include the stronger magnet for all applications.
Anyhow, just a few observations.
A few observations:
Prior to running the Riptide I had the Jaebo WP 25s and later the RWs hooked up to the Apex. I ran different modes throughout the day. Most notably at night, I decreased power to about 40%. I would see an immediate drop in my ORP by 10 mV every night once the power heads were in night mode. I'm assuming the oxygen levels decreased as a result.
What's very interesting about the Riptide is I have been manually decreasing the power level down to 3 (about a 40% decrease) at night and ORP now decreases by 2 mV. I suspect the Riptide is boosting oxygen levels. Again, I'm not sure if the Riptide has anything to do with this. However, I've also experienced a slight increase in my pH levels and a decrease in my dinural swings. I had nightly swings of .18 and now it's .09.
I'm definitely not a chemist or expert in anything for that matter. Lol So maybe someone with more knowledge of ORP and chemistry for that matter could chime in.
The output is decreasing as the pump gets dirty. It seems it's like any other powerhead and gradually loses power until it's cleaned again. It's not a huge factor yet. But, I did have to bump up my output to 5 to keep the same flow going. The recommended cleaning schedule is monthly. I believe they included the extra parts to make cleaning easy and getting the pump back in service ASAP. I suspect most will only have this in their tanks and may not have an auxiliary powerhead in case of emergencies. I really don't think the extra parts were included due to expected part failure as others may have suggested.
The magnet holding the Riptide is relatively weak when moving. I have 3/8" glass and if you try to move it quickly or if for some reason it sticks while adjusting it, the powerhead may drop. I understand their is a stronger magnet available for thicker glass. But, IMHO they need to include the stronger magnet for all applications.
Anyhow, just a few observations.
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I've had mine up and running for about four or five days now.
I wasn't sure I liked only the circular flow in the tank that never changed direction. So I actually set up my two old tunze powerheads on the opposite side of the tank to create a reverse Gyre. I run the riptide for three minutes then turn it off and run the powerheads on the opposite side for three minutes. So I have alternating flow everywhere in the tank every three minutes. In a perfect world I would have two riptides but until I see how this one performs a while longer I'm not going to ditch all my other powerheads just yet
Here are my comments so far.
Good things:
Visually it takes up less real estate then other pumps for sure. Especially since you can mounted very close to the water surface.
Water flow pattern in the tank is very even with much less hotspots like other powerheads.
It's very powerful, if you have it at maximum and pulse mowed your tank will definitely be rocking.
Bad things:
So far, above level five there is a whirring noise that starts to get annoying especially at higher power levels
The reverse mode is all but useless, there's so little power behind turning the impeller in reverse that I honestly don't know why they included that. I would say 10% or less of the full forward flow when in reverse mode.
I noticed as it started to get dirty or break-in I had to turn it up one or two levels to get the same flow I had as the first day.
The magnet seems to hold okay, but it is weaker than I would have expected.
If you have it close to the surface or pounding the surface too hard you tend to get a fair amount of air bubbles mixed into the tank from surface tension disruption.
I wasn't sure I liked only the circular flow in the tank that never changed direction. So I actually set up my two old tunze powerheads on the opposite side of the tank to create a reverse Gyre. I run the riptide for three minutes then turn it off and run the powerheads on the opposite side for three minutes. So I have alternating flow everywhere in the tank every three minutes. In a perfect world I would have two riptides but until I see how this one performs a while longer I'm not going to ditch all my other powerheads just yet
Here are my comments so far.
Good things:
Visually it takes up less real estate then other pumps for sure. Especially since you can mounted very close to the water surface.
Water flow pattern in the tank is very even with much less hotspots like other powerheads.
It's very powerful, if you have it at maximum and pulse mowed your tank will definitely be rocking.
Bad things:
So far, above level five there is a whirring noise that starts to get annoying especially at higher power levels
The reverse mode is all but useless, there's so little power behind turning the impeller in reverse that I honestly don't know why they included that. I would say 10% or less of the full forward flow when in reverse mode.
I noticed as it started to get dirty or break-in I had to turn it up one or two levels to get the same flow I had as the first day.
The magnet seems to hold okay, but it is weaker than I would have expected.
If you have it close to the surface or pounding the surface too hard you tend to get a fair amount of air bubbles mixed into the tank from surface tension disruption.
I think if you listen for it you can hear it. It does get more noticeable the more you turn it up. I think the water crashing around the top of tank may hide some of that. Lol
Have you tried running it vertically yet for an extended period of time? That's a great idea on the timer, I may setup something similar through the Apex. It's always good to have a backup powerhead in there in case of emergencies. 2 riptides definitely would be nice on a controller and I can't imagine what kind of flow you could create with one mounted vertically and one mounted horizontally with each set at different power levels.
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Tagging along. I'll be curious to see the results!
I've had mine in operation for nearly three weeks now without any other powerheads in the tank. I have continued to manually adjust the power to 30% at night and 60% during the day running on pulse mode.
I did a water change yesterday and went to blow off my live rock for diatris and sand. There really wasn't any accumulations anywhere in my tank. Previously when I ran 4 Jaebos powerheads, I would see a small pockets in areas that lacked in flow. I'm really impressed with the flow Im getting out of the Gyre and at 60% it is pretty quiet. However, it gets noticbly louder as you increase power from that level on.
The magnet holding the pump in place continues to be an issue. You need to be careful about moving the Gyre too quickly as it may become disengaged from the magnet.
My life stock and coral have adapted well to the change in flow. I did have move some corals around the tank looking for a stronger or weaker flow to accommodate their preferences.
So far after the first three weeks in service, I'm still sold!
I did a water change yesterday and went to blow off my live rock for diatris and sand. There really wasn't any accumulations anywhere in my tank. Previously when I ran 4 Jaebos powerheads, I would see a small pockets in areas that lacked in flow. I'm really impressed with the flow Im getting out of the Gyre and at 60% it is pretty quiet. However, it gets noticbly louder as you increase power from that level on.
The magnet holding the pump in place continues to be an issue. You need to be careful about moving the Gyre too quickly as it may become disengaged from the magnet.
My life stock and coral have adapted well to the change in flow. I did have move some corals around the tank looking for a stronger or weaker flow to accommodate their preferences.
So far after the first three weeks in service, I'm still sold!
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Hope I get one for Christmas, I'm going to give it a try.
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