Vortech question
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I see the size issue. i personally don't care for the looks of any power head myself. I would think the "undertow" would be relative to the amount of water propelled. The mag 8 suppossedly pushes roughly 3200 gph I am not sure about vortech 40, I think around 3400 gph but for the same money you could move 9600 gph grant it not at variable speeds. The heat issue is a big plus for the vortech at least half the time anyways but the noise is constant. I think Hydor corrected the clicking noise for the magnums as well as the smaller ones.
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I also like the fact that the vortech introduces no current into the tank!!
I had 4x Tunze 6105s on my 210 gallon tank and now I have 4x Vortech MP40wES on my 300, and I can tell you whole heartedly that I prefer the Vortechs.
My 300 has a lot of mature colonies in them, and I was having to play the "Aim Game" with the Tunzes to prevent them from:
a. blowing the skin off corals
b. blowing my substrate around until I had a V shaped valley in the center of the tank.
The Tunzes were fine when I had smaller corals, but they didn't fit with my newer setup. I was even having to only have the right or left two Tunzes come on (mode 1 on the Multicontroller), as the flow pattern with all of them on was just too strong for my substrate. The Vortechs produce such a broad flow pattern that even with all 4 on full blast, the substrate doesn't blow around a all, but the SPS polyps are getting moved around like crazy.
It used to be a big deal or me that the Tunzes were aimable, but with the way the Vortechs move water, it doesn't matter.
And with the Vortechs, the Eco-Smart Nutrient Transport Mode is da bomb!
My 300 has a lot of mature colonies in them, and I was having to play the "Aim Game" with the Tunzes to prevent them from:
a. blowing the skin off corals
b. blowing my substrate around until I had a V shaped valley in the center of the tank.
The Tunzes were fine when I had smaller corals, but they didn't fit with my newer setup. I was even having to only have the right or left two Tunzes come on (mode 1 on the Multicontroller), as the flow pattern with all of them on was just too strong for my substrate. The Vortechs produce such a broad flow pattern that even with all 4 on full blast, the substrate doesn't blow around a all, but the SPS polyps are getting moved around like crazy.
It used to be a big deal or me that the Tunzes were aimable, but with the way the Vortechs move water, it doesn't matter.
And with the Vortechs, the Eco-Smart Nutrient Transport Mode is da bomb!
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I have 6 MP40w's and 2 Mp10ws and they are silent unless I put my ear about 4" from them.
GT, there is far more to undertow than relative flow (although that is important). The porpeller design, the shroud design, and the varibale flowing creates IMMENSE undertow when doen properly, as compared to justa s powerful (or more powwerful) pumps.
To echo Acro's sentiments, people who switch from other pumps to vortechs are AMAZED at the change in flow once they turn them on. There is an enormous difference between water velocity and water flow and displacemnet. IMHO, vortechs move water like none other.
GT, there is far more to undertow than relative flow (although that is important). The porpeller design, the shroud design, and the varibale flowing creates IMMENSE undertow when doen properly, as compared to justa s powerful (or more powwerful) pumps.
To echo Acro's sentiments, people who switch from other pumps to vortechs are AMAZED at the change in flow once they turn them on. There is an enormous difference between water velocity and water flow and displacemnet. IMHO, vortechs move water like none other.
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I'm not sure what the undertow is, please explain.
You're pushing water across the tank away from the pump and sucking it back toward the pump.
In my tank, it's extremely evident in watching featherdusters or my toadstool which, low in the tank, will move in the opposite direction that the vortech is pushing the water.
Think of it as a wave on the beach. Wave comes in and breaks on the shore. That water is going back out to sea (undertow) as another wave crashes over top of it. It's a constant tumbling motion of water.
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Here is an easy way to envision it. Put a mag 36 in your tank and plug it in. It will suck into the pump in the small 1" opening, and jet it out at the small 1" openeing. The velocity will be enormous, and it will be VERY focused, both intake and output. But, it will still push 3600 GPH. Not, bput a wide shrouded propeller driven pump on. The shroud pulls water from all directions, and the wider the prepeller nozzle, the more diffuse the spread of the flow. It will still push 3600 GPH too, but will be distributed.
The "undertow" is the push and pull from the pump to non-directed placed (in regards to the pump direction). It is the principle behgind eductors and flow accelerators, and why propeller pumps and propeller mods are so popular.
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Yes, but you're confusing velocity and flow. They are very different.
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That will happen with any pump with in a closed system . One is more concentrated than the other . If you place a piece of acrylic in front of the vortech 1' away your "undertow" would be quite different I suppose? The venturi effect is why eductors and flow accelerators create more flow. (pressure drop from one side of the nozzle to the other )
bratliff;539740 wrote: Agreed. But with the other PH's I've seen in action, this effect is very localized. With the Vortechs, this effect seems to affect a much larger area of the tank which is why, IMO, these are worth every single (and there are a LOT) of pennies in their price.
Exactly what I was trying to describe... I get a back-flow / undertow / whatever you want to call it - through my rocks & across the sandbed with a single vortech MP40 that I couldn't get with 2 K3's and a K1 all running at once.
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Yes, buts its the extent of the push and pull. The prpeller pump with shrouds (tunze/vortechs) have IMMENSELY more undertow, than the focused steams.
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ya.. for 2 40s you'd be looking at about 800. IMO they are worth it.
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SnowManSnow;539875 wrote: so is this your store?
pm me if you don't mindi may be interested. any rate cut for ARC members?
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no its not. Its just a deal he found.
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