Powerheads for 3 foot tank?

[beatle]

I bought a used RSRXL300 about 3 months ago.  It came with several pieces of Current equipment, including a DC return pump and a couple of the 1050gph powerheads.  After adjusting to a few app quirks, they've been pretty good so far - silent with decent flow for a minimal tank.  But one just died this weekend.  The tank is new so I still have almost no coraline algae causing problems, and it did not respond to a cleaning or power supply swap.  I'm guessing it's just a failure.  Judging from the reviews, this does not surprise me since many say the pumps only last a year at best.

 

Anyway, I am looking for a replacement.  A new Current pump is a little over $80 - pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things, and it'd let me keep the convenient feeding mode that turns down the return and cuts the powerheads off with a single button.  I am also considering others though, including gyre pumps.  A gyre would be nice if I could get away with just one on the end.  Was starting to lean towards the Red Sea ReefWave 25 or 45.  I have a bunch of starter corals that are doing fine so far - hammer, torch, zoas, palys, toadstool, acans, galaxea, gsp, mushrooms, and a plating montipora.

[YHSublime]

Gyres have great flow, but I find them cumbersome to navigate and they have lots of delicate parts that require frequent cleaning. 

I like the Vortech MP's, but they come at a higher price point. 

You could always go with the Jebao wavemakers, at the price point you could get about 4 of them to x1 vortech. 

With only softies and lps, you don't need a powerhouse of flow. 

I've heard a ton of mixed reviews on the Nero's. 

The possibilities are endless, everything mentioned above has the features you'd like to see. 

[newbie2014]

+1 for the  vortech. 
Besides from not having cords in the tank, the ease of maintenance is mind boggling. Less than a minute to swap out the dirty head with a clean one. I clean mine every 3-6 months.
Of course, as pointed out, that convenience comes with a price. 

[beatle]

I don't mind paying for good stuff.  I remember the MP40s from over a decade ago.  None of them seemed silent to me though.  I could hear them spin up and down from a couple feet away.  The lack of cords in the tank seems nice if I could mount them exclusively to the back wall, or if I could run just a single pump on one side.  Otherwise the external cords seem more like a distraction, especially from where I normally sit and check out the tank.

[newbie2014]

My 2 newer (3yrs) MP10s are silent at 60% reefcrest mode. The oldest one (6yrs) has a faint whine when seating close to the tank. 

 

Another brand I would go with would be Tunze. I've never had their powerheads, but from what I've heard their reliability is unmatched. They come with cords, but at least you only have to clean them once, or maybe twice a year. 

 

Good luck with your search. 

[beatle]

I had Tunze pumps in my 120 back in 2012.  It's true, you couldn't bust 'em.  The ones I had were used and appeared to have led a hard life, but they were still kicking after I gave them a good cleaning.  I'm actually considering a Tunze wavebox since I like standing waves and was able to get one pretty easily just using the two Current pumps, but I hear they're also kind of noisy.  Would a single MP40 be able to get me a standing wave?

[howaboutme]

I have 2 MP10's on my 30" and they are silent. I also route the wires down as opposed to up. The key is to put the zip wire holder just below the pump so if the pump demagnetizes, the dry side just slumps over. EM wants you to hang it wire up because they want to prevent the pump from falling down and breaking if it does become demagnetizes (which it does at times).

 

I've also used AI Neros. I can't vouch for longevity but I liked them for their smaller footprint. They (nero 3's) are a tad bit smaller then the MP10's. Tunzes are great but take up too much room on smaller tanks.

[cdw79]

I have two Nero's on my tank (same model, XL300) on either side and they do a good job. Plenty powerful for SPS, in my limited experience at least. I've had them for a year and they've held up fine, though the con is they don't work with the battery backup like (I think) the MP40's do? So that's less than ideal. But I really like the low profile look, they're easy to clean, and they suit my needs. If you have AI lights the integration in the same app is nice too. 

[AquaHaus]

You would need mp40’s as the 10’s wont hold. The issue becomes if you push more than 30-40% on the sides you’ll spin sand, if back mounted will push water over the rimless front. So you’ll never need more than 50%

For installs of these tanks I like vertically mounted reefwaves or smaller maxspect gyres on either side of the overflow.


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[Origami]

2 hours ago, AquaHaus said:

You would need mp40’s as the 10’s wont hold. The issue becomes if you push more than 30-40% on the sides you’ll spin sand, if back mounted will push water over the rimless front. So you’ll never need more than 50%

For installs of these tanks I like vertically mounted reefwaves or smaller maxspect gyres on either side of the overflow.
 

Great observations. Adam's installed a lot of tanks for clients. These newer XL300's apparently have 19mm thick glass - well beyond what the MP10QD is rated for. I wouldn't have expected it to be so thick, but that's where Adam's experience comes in!

[FishingandReefing]

I have 2 MP10's on my 30" and they are silent. I also route the wires down as opposed to up. The key is to put the zip wire holder just below the pump so if the pump demagnetizes, the dry side just slumps over. EM wants you to hang it wire up because they want to prevent the pump from falling down and breaking if it does become demagnetizes (which it does at times).
 
I've also used AI Neros. I can't vouch for longevity but I liked them for their smaller footprint. They (nero 3's) are a tad bit smaller then the MP10's. Tunzes are great but take up too much room on smaller tanks.

100% agreed on the longevity. Had a Nero 5 died. Currently having issue with a Nero 3. They wanted $145 for the “repair” smh


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[beatle]

I actually ended up snagging a couple of used Current powerheads on CL for the price of one new one.  At the time I just couldn't justify the big investment in flow, at least not at this stage of the tank with very few SPS.

 

Note that on my tank, I measured the side and rear glass at 10mm and the front glass at 12mm.  Mine must be a G1.