Vortech powerhead

[rudy]

Who else has these? I quite frankly can't stand it. The glass on my tank is 5/8s and I have to keep this thing at the lowest setting or it sounds like a jet engine It is slightly better when I align the magnet however still really loud and within 10 minutes it slips down and is loud again so the rating on the glass thickness is crap. It is in an in wall tank and there are plenty of other things that should be louder than this but it is all you hear. It is not much good having a powerhead that is capable of doing 3000gph down to 300.

Basically put it is the worst $500 I spent for my tank. Go with a SEIO on a big tank.

[i have crabs]

thats bunk, i was planin on buyin a few of them. mabey ill try them in the reef wich is only 1/2" glass but the 300g i think is 5/8 so mabey ill look into something different like mabey those polario powerheads or mabey 20 mj1200's

[victornguyen]

i have them on mine... glass is half inch. pretty much silent

[niloc16]

i had 2 and they sucked. were very noisy and when i took them apart i found they were rusting inside and the metal disc had been grinding on the cover, so who knows where that metal went

[hawk]

Every month or so mine would slip and become noisy, it is also on 5/8". About six months ago I took it apart and removed the plastic spacer that is suppose to be removed if using the unit on 3/4". It has worked flawlessly since. So quiet and unobtrusive I am considering buying another.

[rudy]

I just tried to take the spacer off and to tell you thetruth it is louder...perhaps there is something wrong with it.

[rudy]

So this piece of crap...I took it out to put the spacer back in. It has literally welded together and will not come apart period. I am taking it back tommorow. I have been prying to get the sucker apart for the last hour.... This must have been a dud.

[rudy]

After about 10 minutes with some grips and some help from Dennis at golds it broke free. He gave me a replacement which I put on the tank. It is not nearly as loud so the other must have been a dud. I would not call them the quietest powerhead around but works a lot better than the last one

[Phanman]

good to hear that its better. For $500 I would hope so...

[Joe Reefer]

Try a stream pump next time your thinking about slapping a few hund on a pump.

[rudy]

good to hear that its better. For $500 I would hope so...

Golds is always good for honoring anything they sell. That is not meant to be a plug, that is just reality.

[Phanman]

Yup Golds is awesome that way... always stand behind their product thats for sure.

[niloc16]

i wish they are were that good with warranty stuff :twised:

[albert_dao]

Try a stream pump next time your thinking about slapping a few hund on a pump.

LOL! I've had to send in four of the last ten :P

[Joe Reefer]

Albert: Where they nanostreams? It seems the tunze quality moniker has went down a little since the nanostreams were released. I hope this isnt going to apply to there whole line of products right away.

[Chin_Lee]

my opinion and experience - I have 5 tunze streams (6060/6080/6100/ 6100/6100) and all have been going strong for 2-5 years.

[albert_dao]

Albert: Where they nanostreams? It seems the tunze quality moniker has went down a little since the nanostreams were released. I hope this isnt going to apply to there whole line of products right away.

Nope, regular streams.

[Joe Reefer]

Even so I will echo what Chin said: I have 4 tunze streams (6060/6000/ 6100/6100) and all have been going strong for 2-4 years. 2 of the 4 were purchased used, so who knows how long they were really used.

[Skimmerking]

IME if you are going to look for some power go with the maxi jet mod with the 2600 gph the 1600 has a crap load of flow for my 120. I will be doign a few of those on my next tank that is 5 ft long.

[Waxx]

I tried the Vortech, and I didn't like it either. Every time I had it set perfectly (which took way too long BTW) it would be all loud and rattling the next day. I finally got fed up with it.

Luckily the guy at our LFS is really good and he let me exhange it for a Tunze 6100. Since then I have added another 6100 and the 7095 controller and I couldn't be happier with them.

The flow from the Vortech was pretty awesome when it was working though.

Overall, I'm glad I made the switch to Tunze and when I upgrade I'll add more.

Tyler

[Stones]

Sounds like most people aren't too happy with their vortechs. Personally, they have been the greatest additions to my reef tank since upgrading my skimmer.

I run 2 vortech's on opposite ends of my 90 gallon reef and both operate at about 80% of max flow. The glass is only 3/8" thick on my tank so that might make a bit of difference for noise, as mine are nearly silent. They do take some adjusting however to get them to quiet down, and they also need to be cleaned as soon as they get noisy as that usually indicates sand has entered the drive shaft assembly. Aside from that, mine have always operated nominally. I can't wait until I get the wireless wave drivers for them to further randomize the flow in my tank.

[rudy]

Iam going to totally change this review to an undeniably kick *** status.

I left on vacation for 4 days and the GFI tripped. Could have costed my rays but they are still alive thanks to the vortech back up battery...and the vortech.

The sound is gone, it is dead silent, the powerhead is amazing. Finicky, but amazing get it on good and you wont have a complaint