EcoTech Marine VorTech MP10w ES Propeller Aquarium Pump

I have an MP10 and an MP40 and they are amazing. No comparison to regular powerheads. The detritus that was stirred up when they were first turned on was incredible. The syncing is very easy and works very well. The only complaint I have, and I mean only, is they do make a little noise. No way you could put them on a tank in your bedroom and not hear them all night. If you set it to the really turblent moded where they pulse then its pretty loud if you turn them up to 100% on the flow. at 25% its not bad, but at 100% you can really hear them. I jsut don't use that mode except once in a while to really stir the tank up. Probably would need to turn the % down to use the really turbulent mode because it sloshes water around big time.Great product though.

Top notch construction, and setup was easy, as long as you know how to read and follow directions. I have 2 of these pumps on my 150 gallon tank and with them working together, the corals and fish are very happy with the varied flow. All in all a good product.

The wetside of this melted together when I put it in my tank. Contacted ecotech by email and received no response. Called them and they said they would ship a new one out right way, that was a month ago. I'm going to contact them again but this is a lot of crap for something that costs $465 bucks. I should have bought a tunze. Was going to buy 4 new radions but not after this, Vega here I come!

I read very high about the unit and thus ended up buying. The unit listed as suitable for 50 gal, my tank is 55, thought with so much high rated products, 5 gals will not make much difference. The pump works but not as effective as expected. other end of the aquarium seems with very slow water movement.

I got my MP40W ES a few day ago so I decided I would do a multi stage review on it, I am going to start at my day one experience and come back and add more as the Months Pass.If you're looking at the Vortech you most likely fall into one of four categories:1) You hate seeing Wires or man made items in your tank2) You want a Wave type action in your tank without lifts and buckets3) You always buy the best for your aquarium4) You got Cash to blow!I can also guess that you have probably read up and watched a bunch of YouTube videos and reviews about Vortech pumps.First let me say the Vortech's are the best made pumps you can buy, they have tremendous flow and are nicely designed. With that said let me address some of my little gripes and the over hype about Vortech's pumps.(Day One)When I got mine and opened the Amazon shipping Box my first reaction was Wow Vortech uses a nice looking box for their pumps. Then I opened the box and my draw dropped and my anger swelled as I looked at a jumbled bunch of parts thrown in the box like it was packed by a two year old. I had expected nice foam inserts holding the Pump and controller, at $450 dollars I think it's fair that you should expect that, so my first reaction was that the seller had shafted me and sent me a used pump. Luckily I decided to go on YouTube and find an unboxing video before I vented and to my surprise this was the Normal packing style for a Vortech! (LOL first time one of those videos has been useful).So I give Vortech two big thumbs down on the internal packaging.The second let down was the Manual or should I say lack of. Once again at this price one would expect a nice printed up Manual but instead you have to go online and print your own : Vortech does include a little quick start guide which is really not going to be of much help.Ok so lets skip one hour ahead, I got the pump installed and its time to switch her on, I figure from all the YouTube videos that I better block the output with my Hand as this Baby might throw water over the edge of my 90 Gallon Tank. Well it's kind of a Whaa Whaa moment as the pump hits full speed and nothing in the Tank goes flying, but I must say the power does feel like it has potential, I figure that without two pumps you will never achieve massive wave action unless you have a much smaller tank than my 90G. (BTW I have no idea why you must plug it in with the controller set to full power; but I decided to just do what the manual stated.)So now the pump is up and running, time to take another look at the Manual which pretty much looked like Greek to me before I got the controller so I figure with the unit in hand it will be a lot clearer. WELL it's NOT! The manual is very very confusing, the use of Bright / Dimmed LED's in various color combos' is more akin to using Morse code than anything else. To say its confusing is an understatement. Anyway I fumble along getting the hang of this thing when I realize that changes I am making are not working, so I go back to the Manual only to find near the end that they state if you want to make changes to a setting you have programmed you must first erase the original settings, or all the settings! Not sure which as it's not very clear, but since I am just starting I figured just erase all and pray that later on I can just erase select presets.(Update 2 weeks Later)You need to erase certain settings but not the flow control settings, these settings can be over written or recalled. Once you change modes the unit defaults back to factory setting for that mode but a double press of the set button brings back your saved setting.(End of Update)At this point you wondering do I like the pump or hate it. So let me address the Pros and Cons.Pro's and Con's1) Flow: A+ Rating, it moves huge amounts of water with a beautiful undertow that cleans out all the crap stuck in your tank, but forget everything you have seen on YouTube, if your expecting huge Waves with one pump on a 90 Gal+ tank you can forget it. What you will get is about 1" waves, I found this out by using the Auto setting and letting it find the resonant frequency for my Tank and thats with the unit at 7" below the water line, any higher up and the bottom of my tank would lack movement. That brings me to another point. I highly recommend you don't put waves in your Tank, they will destroy your tank overtime as its a huge stress on the Aquarium. Notice in the Ecotech demo that the 30 Gallon tank is actually rocking the whole table.BTW a recent independent study was done on multiple powerheads using state of the art test equipment and it was found that the MP40W actually moves 600 Gallons per hour more than advertised and the MP10W moves 1000 GPH more than advertised. So if you have a Tank that you thought was too big for an MP10 you should do some further research.2) Construction: A- Rating, It's put together really well, but not as good as I had hoped because the chord going into the motor was actually pulling out of the sleeve and I could see the individual wires. Some Crazy glue should fix that but its an issue that should not have passed by QC, luckily its not in the going in the water so no big deal. The Motor itself is well constructed, the controller feels solid but a little awkward to use because the buttons have almost no tactile feel, so you have a hard time knowing when a command has been accepted by touch, you have to look at the LED's to see the Flashing sequences.3) Ergonomics: C- Rating, the user interface is a disaster designed by someone who really likes LEDS. This is a unit that begs for a simple two line LCD screen. Most of your frustration will come with trying to figure out how to program the unit and while I am sure that after a couple of days anyone will figure it out, it's always going to be a "Dig Out The Manual" type system every time you want to make major changes. Another major oversight by Ecotech is the Lack of a keypad lockout, if you have kids like I do, this is a major oversight and is indeed my biggest fear with this pump. How hard would it have been for EcoTech to just add a key combo to lock and unlock the key pad? BTW Echotech whats up with the white double sided tape to hold down the powercord? If it had been black tape it would be hard to see but with white tape it shows up like a neon sign. (Note to Echotech, use black tape)4) Noise: I am sure you have heard all the YouTube banter about noise. What I found is that some of it is true, I can hear the pump from 2 feet away but I hear almost nothing as I move further away, thats in a room with normal ambient noise, TV etc. My system also has some noise coming from OceanMotions diverter and noise from the overflow. I tested it with these off and I could now hear the Vortech at 6 feet away and it's somewhat noticable even at 30 feet away in a quiet room. Is the noise Loud,,,NO it's just a slight whirring sound, a sound that goes from almost silent at less than 50% speed to noticable at full speed. I should add that pulsing the pump on/off really adds to your ability to notice it, the human brain really picks up on noises that fluctuate. All in all I doubt anybody looking at your tank would ever notice it but if you have an absolutely silent reef system I suggest you hear one in person and decide before buying it. Personaly what I think is more important than the sound is that you and your visitors won't notice 7 inches of pump sticking out in your tank and a power cord in the water.5) Updates: Yes it's firmware updatable but in a move that I have never seen before EcoTech says you have to update the Firmware using another unit thats running the newer firmware, the units will talk to each other wirelessly, then you can make the new one update the older one's firmware !!! The only other option is to send it back to Ecotech and they will update it for you!! OhhhhKayyy... Thats a new one that I could rip into all day but let me just ask EcoSystems, can you please come up with a USB WXM PC dongle that can update the units via PC. So hopefully when you add firmware that can do a parental lock on the keypad I can get it without shipping my unit away for a week.I STILL LOVE IT:Overall I still give the Vortech high praises, because at the end of the day I wanted a pump that moved vast quantities of water in a surge fashion, not pin point like some other powerheads, and one that eliminated all dead spots in my Tank and also lifted the detritus off the bottom and from behind rocks and I also wanted a pump that had a low visual impact on my Tank. In this regard the MP40W ES is an A++ Pump, it does all of this with power to spare.I Will be back with More.Update (3 weeks Later)I am even happier with the pump, it makes a huge impact on the well being of the Corals and other critters, all the coral polyps really extend when they got the extra high flow rate. The Vortech has had no impact on extra heat in the Tank and the unit is very power efficient.I hooked up a backup power pack and it's very nice to know that I have an extra 30+ hours of backup pump in case of a major power outage, it also works great when you need to service any electrical systems in your house, as you can cut power to your system and not have to worry while you do upgrades.I suggest you print out a copy of the programing diagram and stick it near the pump control because as I predicted this Morse code LED programming system requires looking at the manual to figure out what color goes for what mode.Update (4 weeks)Pump is working great, but it did suck in a green Chromis and well it was not a pretty sight. I could but the filter sleeve on but as anyone who owns one soon finds out this sleeve quickly becomes a filter and like any filter with this much water running through it you have to clean it just about everyday, thats just too much work and all the rest of the fish are smart enough not to get too close.At this point I am using it at a max speed setting of 7 and that is more than enough flow, now I just wish I could afford another vortech pump to create a more exotic flow pattern.Last Update (6 months)Well the impeller shaft seemed to be binding up even though I cleaned it monthly.I did a long dip cleaning in a fairly high concentrate of vinegar and the shaft freed up but on reassembly the Plastic locking nut just stripped it's threadings also the magnet felt a lot less powerful than at the start so I called Vortech and they shipped out a new wet side prop system. I also found out they sell a kit for about $20 that contains an extra prop, two shaft and nuts plus washer and bearings. I highly suggest you buy this kit when you purchase your unit because the Plastic nut is not going too last long no matter what you do. I was told by Vortech that the magnet is not losing its strength but it's just my own perception that's at fault, I will buy into that because I honestly did not take detailed notice of it at the start and I figure the forums would be full of complaints if that was true. For $20 I can live with having to change out those parts every 6 months to a year, I prefer the pump to be working at it's optimum and that's not a bad price. Plus as any Aquarium owner will tell you having spares is a must..

This power head/wave maker is definitely worth the money. It has replaced all internal pumps and powerheads in my 36 long tank. Because most of the unit is located outside of the tank, where all the heat is dissipated, my tank has also dropped quite a few degrees- which i had been trying to achieve for quite a while.its reasonably quite, the slight noise is nothing to complain about.one thing. i purchased the wireless device "wES". its doesn't mean there are no wires! it means it can control other units wirelessly. I never had any intention of buying another one for my 30gallon. so if you plan on buying only one. dont pay extra for the wES model.do it.

I FINALLY MADE THE PLUNGE AND BOUGHT IT.TRIED IT NEXT TO A HYDOR 8 AND IT DIDNT PRODUCE THE STRONG FLOW OF THE HYDOR.THE SETTINGS MAKE UP FOR ITS FLOW DOWNFALLS PRODUCING SOME OF THE SMOOTHEST PATTERNS I HAVE EVER SEEN. ALMOST 5 HUNDRED FOR A POWERHEAD IS SOMETHING I WOULD HAVE NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD DO.THIS MACHINE WORKS AS ITS SUPPOSED TO SUSPENDING ALL WASTE TO DISCHARGE INTO OVERFLOWS.THIS IS WHAT IT WAS DESIGNED TO DO AND IT DOES IT FLAWLESS.I HAVE IT ON A 155 WITH A HYDOR 8 ON THE OTHER END AND ITS WORKING LIKE A CHAMP.IM EAGER TO GET A SECOND MP40 TO GET THE FULL EFFECT OF THIS WELL DESIGNED PUMP.I WISH ECOTECH WOULD DROP THE PRICE THIS WAY ALL REEFERS CAN ENJOY THIS DESIGN,ITS A GREAT ADDITION BUT THE PRICE CREATES ALOT OF PEOPLE TO TRY OTHER COMBINATIONS THAT WILL NEVER MIMIC THIS PUMP.IF ECOTECH CAN FIND A WAY TO BUILD THIS PUMP AT A MUCH LOWER COST THEY WILL CORNER THE MARKET WITH THIS DESIGN.I FEEL ECOTECH IS OVERPRICED AND NOT LOOKING OUT FOR THE REEFER THATS ON A BUDGET AND CANT AFFORD THIS PRICE.THIS HOBBY HAS SOME OF THE MOST DEDICATED PEOPLE THAT WANT A PIECE OF MOTHER NATURE OF THERE OWN TO WORK THERE BUTTS OFF,PUT IN ENDLESS HOURS,SPEND HARD EARNED MONEY TO KEEP IT THRIVING. ECOTECH CREATED A HELPFULL WAVEMAKER/POWERHEAD AND SHOULD BE SENSITIVE TO THE EXSPENSE OF THERE PRODUCTS KNOWING WE ARE DEDICATED AND WANT THE BEST FOR OUR SYSTEMS.WE DONT NEED A GREAT PRODUCT THAT IS VERY USEFULL,THAT WE CANT AFFORD AND MAKES US SECOND GUESS THE FUTURE OF THIS HOBBY.