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Broke my new Maxspect Gyre already


Rob A

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Just a few days of operation and a tiny snail got into the inside of the impeller. It is bigger than the gaps between the blades so It broke one of the blades in the process. I haven't started it up since so I don't know if it will vibrate or be out of balance now.3c652d86f3d2920e605fb9ed208e352c.jpg

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(edited)

It has an extra pair of blades but I haven't looked at them yet. I assume one is an A and one is a B.

Edited by Rob A
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The snail was returned to the tank. I don't know if it was still alive after being spun for who knows how long. But if he is, let's hope he doesn't try to take a ride in the pump again.

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Too bad, not a great way to get into the new year. How frustrating!   :mad:   

 

Maybe Maxspect or CoralVue would like to hear your experience and send you a replacement for free if you contact them.

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Hopefully you have changed it out with a spare that comes with the pump... it's not too tough a swap... still sucks to have to use a spare that quick

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This has definitely made me rethink my strategy for the new build

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Stinks that it broke, but it seems like a really nice thing that they include spares with the purchase.  I don't know of other powerheads that include spares.  They likely do it because they know the design of the blower-style cages has more fragile blades than a normal propeller shaped one.  One of the design compromises.  They even mention checking the blades for breakage on their maintenance blog post:

 

http://blog.coralvue.com/ctvt-maxspect-gyre-maintenance-troubleshooting/

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I think it's a little nassarius snail. I also recently got 100 hermit crabs that came with tiny shells similar to this one. I also pulled an astrina star out from between the fins. Here is a closer pic of the snail.

dc2e455745df2d639554a5a828be38e2.jpg

I should clarify...the snail only broke one end of the blade. It was making a noise from rubbing against the cage. When I tried to get the snail out I broke it completely out. Either way, I assume it was toast unless a spot of glue would have held it together. It's running now with the broken rotor and doesn't seem to be vibrating. I'll probably swap it out to be safe.

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Sure does. I keep pulling those out of my display as they are more of a predator than nassarius. I put them in the fuge, but they can probably get back up to the display when reproducing.

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Also look at the collumbulid (spelling?) Which looks like a well but is a good snail to have..

 

Still suprised it got in there and even more that it broke

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Looks like a dove snail.  Harmless. I'd still be contacting Maxspect directly.  The worst they can say is no if you ask for a replacement rotor.

Edited by FirstContact
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I have a ton of hermits and other snails with tiny shells so I think a lot of them could cause this problem...but maybe they have to be lined up just right to get forced in between the rotor blades.

I just registered my pump on Friday and then I wrote a review (which isn't posted yet) so I want to wait a few days and see what happens. I praised it for the flow but expressed concern about this possible problem with tiny critters.

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