seminolecpa
Past President
Do you need 2 pumps on your tank or only one? I know I have seen several with them on both sides but I am not certain if this is just because they are mammoth sided tanks or it is better.
Question for you vortec users
- Thread starter seminolecpa
- Start date
jhale
Guest
I have 3 on my 5' 120. I'm thinking of adding a 4th. I'm using the foam covers on them, they cut down the flow quite a bit. I found I need one in each corner to provide flow to all parts of the tank. the foam covers are necessary in my tank to keep the pipefish intact. I also lost a cbb to one, it got stuck to the side 
I would not use them without the foam in my tank from now on.
I would not use them without the foam in my tank from now on.sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
I use 2 on my 6 foot long tank, because the cross section is rather small 18" x 18" I think they provide more than adequate flow. If you don't have terribly much rockwork you most likely can get away with a single one on a 4 foot or smaller tank though.
seminolecpa
Past President
Sure rub it it that my tank is only 4 feet long. Its not the size of the tank that matters it is how you use it!
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
[quote author=seminolecpa link=topic=3548.msg40466#msg40466 date=1208103588]
Sure rub it it that my tank is only 4 feet long. Its not the size of the tank that matters it is how you use it!
[/quote]
Well I didn't know how big a 72 bow is dimension wise, however I did expect it not to be 6 feet long Besides from what I hear it's not how long it is, it's the girth!
ok... but back to reality, I think 1 would do fine in your tank, mixed with a return pump should give some decent flow. But if you got money, I'd go for 2 one on each side.
I was running one near the backwall, and one near the front wall on opposite sides of my 6 footer, and thought I was getting gyre like effects, however when I sprinkled food in I saw what was happening it was simply one pump having a bit of back flow against the front pane, and the other pump wasn't doing much, so I moved my vortechs more to the middle near the top on each side and the flow increase is definitely more.
Sure rub it it that my tank is only 4 feet long. Its not the size of the tank that matters it is how you use it!
[/quote]
Well I didn't know how big a 72 bow is dimension wise, however I did expect it not to be 6 feet long
Besides from what I hear it's not how long it is, it's the girth! ok... but back to reality, I think 1 would do fine in your tank, mixed with a return pump should give some decent flow. But if you got money, I'd go for 2 one on each side.
I was running one near the backwall, and one near the front wall on opposite sides of my 6 footer, and thought I was getting gyre like effects, however when I sprinkled food in I saw what was happening it was simply one pump having a bit of back flow against the front pane, and the other pump wasn't doing much, so I moved my vortechs more to the middle near the top on each side and the flow increase is definitely more.
seminolecpa
Past President
Still very much in limbo. Running a Tunze 6100 right now with a korillia 3 and a Tunze 6045 nanostream. Have them set up in a racetrack pattern with the Tunze on one side (top middle) and the other two on the opposite side about at the top corners.
Keep coming back to the old addage don't fix what ain't broken. Was planning on putting some more money into upgrading something or adding something just don't know if the some $1,000 would be better spent on something else like a new skimmer or a controller.
Keep coming back to the old addage don't fix what ain't broken. Was planning on putting some more money into upgrading something or adding something just don't know if the some $1,000 would be better spent on something else like a new skimmer or a controller.
Paradox
Guest
[quote author=kurplunk link=topic=3548.msg40479#msg40479 date=1208106401]
I know there is supposed to be no heat transfer between the motor and impeller. I have seen pictures of the vortech causing checking or hazing in acrylic tanks. Is this true? And what is the reason for this?
[/quote]
The older units get hotter then the newer ones. I have one of the first and one of the more recent. The temp diff is pretty significant. Ive seen one RC post about messing up an acrylic tank, but feel it was a pretty isolated incident or at least very rare. He prob had one that was unaligned or maybe he didnt use the rubber spacer in between.
I know there is supposed to be no heat transfer between the motor and impeller. I have seen pictures of the vortech causing checking or hazing in acrylic tanks. Is this true? And what is the reason for this?
[/quote]
The older units get hotter then the newer ones. I have one of the first and one of the more recent. The temp diff is pretty significant. Ive seen one RC post about messing up an acrylic tank, but feel it was a pretty isolated incident or at least very rare. He prob had one that was unaligned or maybe he didnt use the rubber spacer in between.
Paradox
Guest
People often say that thier vortechs just pop off. The only time Ive ever had that happen was because I Left my magnet cleaner too close on the glass near the vortech. The vortech popped off twice that day within 24 hrs. Since Ive kept the magnet away from the vortech, they work fine.
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Vortecs are a nice pump, that does a very nice job, but yes they are expensive, sure you could get away with multiple smaller & cheaper pumps to do the same job (although you are exaggerating a bit on the price of Koralia & Maxijet mods). However real-estate can become an issue inside of a tank, and sometimes people want a bit of a cleaner look, or something, not to mention the Vortech is the ONLY pump to have the motor not inside the tank, now that might not be an issue/care for some, but for others it is. If you have a prop tank where all you care about is growing corals, then I would absolutely say do a modded maxi-jet or something along those lines, but if you have a nice pretty show tank (or are working for one) having a ton of wires going into the tank to multiple power heads probably isn't what you want either.
There are many ways to do the same thing, and Vortech pumps are by no means the ultimate "must have" for a tank. If you have good flow with other products that are good (i.e. not SEIO pumps) and are looking for someplace to spend a wad of cash, I probably would rather drop a $850 on a nice skimmer, than a couple vortechs, but then again it seems every few years there's a latest and greatest way to make skimming better changes
End Result: Vortech pumps are by NO MEANS something that people should ever say "You need" on a tank, unfortunately there has been too much of crap like that going along, it was but a few years ago, that if you didn't have a EuroReef skimmer then you had a crap skimmer (at least that's what they told you)... now? EuroReefs are the "crap skimmers"
To follow up on what Paradox said, I've seen the pictures of the uber crazed tank from a vortech pump, problem with that was it was an older pump so probably did run quite hot, and it was at the limits of thickness to use, so the spacer was completely removed and it was pump motor directly on the acrylic. At that level I probably would suggest a super sized Tunze or something though. But what happened to that guys tank was just wrong.
There are many ways to do the same thing, and Vortech pumps are by no means the ultimate "must have" for a tank. If you have good flow with other products that are good (i.e. not SEIO pumps
) and are looking for someplace to spend a wad of cash, I probably would rather drop a $850 on a nice skimmer, than a couple vortechs, but then again it seems every few years there's a latest and greatest way to make skimming better changes End Result: Vortech pumps are by NO MEANS something that people should ever say "You need" on a tank, unfortunately there has been too much of crap like that going along, it was but a few years ago, that if you didn't have a EuroReef skimmer then you had a crap skimmer (at least that's what they told you)... now? EuroReefs are the "crap skimmers"
To follow up on what Paradox said, I've seen the pictures of the uber crazed tank from a vortech pump, problem with that was it was an older pump so probably did run quite hot, and it was at the limits of thickness to use, so the spacer was completely removed and it was pump motor directly on the acrylic. At that level I probably would suggest a super sized Tunze or something though. But what happened to that guys tank was just wrong.
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Yeah... RIGHT! More like people who have problems with SEIO pumps just don't complain, because they realized they bought one of the cheaper low-pressure pumps out there