And now the moment we've all been waiting for... well, at least I have!
Today I recieved (1) of my (2) Ecotech Vortech MP10w ES powerheads. I ordered from DrsFosterSmith and of course, as stated before, no issues with any service, and all was great. Shipping was fast, packaging was typical and good. MP10 box was immaculate condition.
The instructions for set-up were extremely easy and gave notes to link to Youtube videos for further assistance.
Literally, plug and play, pulled it out of the box slapped it in the tank and I was off.
Things to note:
The Vortech seems to be doing well in the exact location that my Koralia was. I wasn't sure if a relocation was necessary, and it's not.
I was able to "Auto tune" the pump and within 30-45 seconds of having the pump in the water, I had a very nice wave. (Though I did not keep that setting)
All of the modes are easy to cycle through and the booklet included has graphical representations of each Mode and it is color coded to show the actions of Multiple powerheads in the tank and even locations for them.
The pump is louder than I thought while making a wave / pulse modes, but using on the Ecosmart Modes, it is very quiet even at highest setting. It is mostly the "ramping" up and down that causes a more audible sound.
At full tilt, I could, and did, shut down the other (2) 750 koralias and the difference was negligable at best. Very powerful.
The radion software doesn't "Show" the MP10w being connected. You simply check a box, and it is paired. I reset the time on the radion to mimic night mode. Mine starts night mode at 9:00p. At 9:00p the lights went out and the MP10w automatically turned itself into nightmode as well. It is supposed to run in nightmode for 10 hours before returning to normal. However, with it hooked to the radion I'm not sure if it will start back at 6:00a when I have my Radion start or if it will go until 7:00a. Either way, I'm thrilled.
The looks are fantastic and the difference of obtrusion into the tank is fantastic. I will upload pics to follow.
The driver is very nice and easy to use. I mounted it inside my stand with the supplied velcro strip. It actually came with (2) strips, but I didn't need both.
The power cord and driver cord are very long so you have huge options for mounting.
So far, that's all I can say. It has only been (2) hours!
