48" Tank - Is 1 MP40 enough?

[Easto]

I have a 48" tank and 1 MP40 waiting to go in.

I plan on having mushrooms, Zoas, Palys, LPS, and at this time I am not too interested in getting into SPS right now.

Do you think an MP40 is sufficient for water movement or am I going to need to pick something else up?

I don't have my tank up and running yet, still finishing my stand.

[Piscez]

I had one at each end in my 48" 120gal but ran them at very low speed as to keep the noise level down, they get quite loud at higher speed. One MP40 could run your tank at higher speed as long as you don't go over board with rock creating a lot of dead spots, depends on your noise tolerance really, good luck.

PS personal preference really but you may want to consider Jaebo RW8 I have a single RW15 in my 6ft 220gal running at 40% power with great flow.

[jordsyke]

I would have another pump, More flow keeps detritus in the water column, also, corals like more flow. Adding another mp40 will help with dead spots as I don't htink 1 will get them all

[mike31154]

Shouldn't be a problem to start the tank with one pump, but in the long term it will definitely benefit from additional flow for reasons already mentioned in previous posts, detritus, rock work, dead spots. You'll need to run the single MP40 at the high end of it's power setting which will be audible for sure. It will also make placement of your softies more of a challenge, to keep them from getting blown around. You'll see that for yourself once you get it up & running.

Once you're ready for more flow, you'd be foolish to not get another VorTech due to the features that allow the pumps to communicate & work together. I have 3 MP40's on my 4 foot 77 gallon Hagen. Started with one new, just before they improved the magnets. Added 2 used MP40s over the course of a couple years to spread the $$ hit. I'm able to run them at a lower speed as a group in EcoSmart Tidal Swell Mode to keep pump sound at a lower level. Also use Night Mode to slow things down, more for sound damping rather than trying to simulate what may happen at night in the ocean.

Have no experience with the new quiet drive pumps, so can't comment on that. I don't find mine that noisy, but there are other things such as air pumps & light fans adding to the ruckus around my tank, so the pump sound is a non issue for me.

I just snagged an MP10 that was on sale. This will replace the MP40 that I have at the center of the back glass. I run that one at an ever lower speed since my Hagen is a narrow tank. The MP10 will suit that position better I think & the footprint will be smaller.

[Karsten]

I had one on a 4 foot tank. You basically have to run it full blast or you will have a dead spot and all the crap pile up on one end.
I added a second one and it was well worth it.

[Easto]

Thanks.

Now I need to hunt down a 2nd used MP40.