Vortech Pump Review's

Willow · #1 02-22-2006, 08:42 AM

reefs.org has a review thread up, beta testers are leaving their comments on how well the pump works. so far the responces are very positive.

http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=80987&start=0

Quote:

In a nutshell... it works as designed. Quiet, controllable, high output, low power consumption pump.

No wires in tank. No one notices the tanks ear muffs as I call them all they see is the nice surge as they cycle on and off.

Gorgonian i have is in heaven.

They are as you can see from the ETM page very well designed and really are unobtrusive.

No they won't eat fish or snails... fish wont go near them even rock sitters like flame hawks and gobies.. the natural soft start also gives them AMPLE time to bugger off to a new rock in the tank.

So high output, non directional flow (ie no shear force here folks), silent, low power, built in speed control, works on existing wave makers., no power cord in tank, elegant design.

What more could you want? No I wont comment on price ( I don't nor do any other beta testers know the final price so please dont ask)... as with anything you get what you pay for.

im pretty sure i will be grabbing one when they come out. it sounds fully controlable and you can dial it down to 30%. i also like the fact you can get a battery backup for it that will run the pump for 24 hours. also they are building a wireless controller for them later.

videos here
http://www.icecapinc.com/video.htm

Willow · #2 02-22-2006, 08:48 AM

in case you don’t want to read the whole thread this is official from the manufacturer.

Quote:

The official Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) for the VorTech MP40 is $345.00. This price is a maximum suggested retail price; we do not impose price minimums. Price will vary from vendor to vendor.

Product will be available in limited quantities from specific vendors sometime in March, 06. Larger quantities will be available in April.

The product consumes between 35 and 40 watts of energy at its highest output, some pumps will operate at higher wattage during break in. Our lab tested flow rate is 3100 gph. During the development of this product we benchmarked it against several other products using a standard procedure to measure the flow rate of the pump. We found that some of our competitors were not hitting their claimed flow rate. The VorTech provides ~25% more flow then the performance we measured from our closest competitor, and does this at 10% less wattage, amounting to a product which is overall ~30% more efficient. Additionally, flow is capable of being turned down to approximately several hundred gallons per hour. This product is capable of being used on tanks as small as 20 gallons. How do we know? EcoTech Marine has been running it on a 29 gallon system for months.

We realize that manufacturers’ statements only mean so much to many of you. Third party testing is in process and will be published in the near future.

We sincerely appreciate all of the interest in this product and are looking forward to the coming months.

Best Regards,

Tim

christyf5 · #3 02-22-2006, 05:00 PM

I read a thread on RC/RDO late last year on this, pretty damned impressive I must say. I guess they unveiled it at one of the reef conferences (IMAC or MACNA or something like that). I was thinking about getting one of the Tunzes with the controller but I think I'll wait to see if these ones are comparable in price. I sure do like battery backup idea as well.