Vortech Killing fish

[fasteddie222]

My vortech MP10 has killed 3 fish in the past 2 weeks one of them being a purple tang. Has this happened to anyone else? Is there a solution for it?

[ajherrera2]

I doubt that it is your vortech that is causing the issue. Although the fish may end up stuck in the pump, I doubt that the fish swam by and just got stuck. The fish was probably already dealing with something which weakened it, which is what lead to it getting stuck on the pump. I say this because I run 2 MP60s and even my most docile fish (clowns) have no problem staying out of the pumps let alone my tangs. HTH

[ViktorVaughn]

I've had 2 mp10s on my tank for a year, all weaker swimmers in there (clowns, bangaii, firefish) and have had zero problems with them.

[MondoBongo]

how is it killing them? are they getting stuck to the side?

i know my lawnmower blenny likes to sneak inside my mp40 to eat the algae from it when i turn the pumps off to feed. he has almost become pink mist a few times.

[fasteddie222]

They get stuck to the side. I have had my fish for a very long time and they are very healthy.

[BrianD]

As others have mentioned, a healthy fish wouldn't be harmed by the pump.

[nikon187]

fish can handle much more than a mp10 can do ( suction and flow )

[Dmorty217]

Like everyone has mentioned a MP10 won't hurt healthy fish, my MP60 won't either and there is no comparison on flow between the two. The foam surrounds that come with the pump that fit on the wetside is suppose to prevent fish from becoming pink mist. i suspect some sort of disease is present that you are missing

[cakemanPA]

Not to beat a dead horsefish.. but a reasonably healthy fish will not get killed by an MP10. Just doesn't happen

[MondoBongo]

so, i will have to search and see if i can dig it (them?) up, but i swear i recall at least one past thread about healthy fish being injured in a vortech.

totally anecdotal, of course, and certainly not enough to draw any kind of conclusions from, but i know i've seen people stating this before.

[ca1ore]

I had a presumably healthy Naso Tang get pinned to the side of my MP60. Ended up losing it as a result. Fish had been though 12 weeks of QT, was eating well, and had no signs of any underlying health problems.

[MondoBongo]

I had a presumably healthy Naso Tang get pinned to the side of my MP60. Ended up losing it as a result. Fish had been though 12 weeks of QT, was eating well, and had no signs of any underlying health problems.

coincidentally i was just looking at your response here:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1760509

there are a decent amount of reports of allegedly healthy fish being killed or injured by them. it doesn't seem outside the realm of possibility to me.

https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&q=healthy+fish+killed+by+vortech+site%3Areefcentral.com&oq=healthy+fish+killed+by+vortech+site%3Areefcentral.com&gs_l=serp.3...1968.2014.0.2157.2.2.0.0.0.1.119.184.1j1.2.0.msedr...0...1c.1.61.serp..2.0.0.OpdSJHLKW oU

[fasteddie222]

It has never happened to me before until I got my vortech. I have a very healthy tank and very healthy fish. I just read some other forums having the same problem as me. The first day I put my purple tang he got sucked up by the vortech and I was able to take him out.

[cody6766]

I have 2x MP40s and an MP20 in another tank and have never had a fish get stuck. I have a pretty good mix and have had no issues

[BrianD]

It has never happened to me before until I got my vortech. I have a very healthy tank and very healthy fish. I just read some other forums having the same problem as me. The first day I put my purple tang he got sucked up by the vortech and I was able to take him out.

I still have a hard time believing the pump was at fault, and that the fish wasn't already compromised in some way.

[Deinonych]

I've had 2 mp10s on my tank for a year, all weaker swimmers in there (clowns, bangaii, firefish) and have had zero problems with them.

I have MP40s in my tank - never a problem with any of my fish, which also include clowns and firefish (plus a blenny).

[ca1ore]

coincidentally i was just looking at your response here

Well, at least I was consistent in how I recounted the experience :lol:

[trmiv]

I had a occ. clown get stuck to an MP40 once. I freed him in time, and he was fine for months after (until I left the mesh top off one night and he jumped out, but that's a different story). Actually had a small yellow tang get stuck to a Rio Seio years back also. I freed him and aside from a gimpy fin he was fine and went on to live a normal fishy life until I gave him away when I moved cross country. So it's not always sick fish it happens to.

[myram]

The Vortech pumps do come with foam covers to prevent this from happening. Just make sure to clean them regularly so they don't become nitrate factories.

[aquaph8]

I've seen my tiny file fish get sucked to the side of my mp40 and he breaks loose. If he can do it then a purple tang should have no issue.

[CHSUB]

i have lost 1 very health tang to my mp60 and watched 1 get stuck that i saved. when i allow the mp60's to get algae on them the tangs eat off of it. when it powered up the tang got pinned. if i keep it clean they stay far enough away. however, an mp10 seems to small to have the same effect?

[fasteddie222]

Btw the fish that have gotten stuck are small. The purple tang was like 1.5inches long

[JoelA7]

I've had a peppermint shrimp get stuck to the exterior of mp40 2x and it survived both. My bicolor will go inside if it's turned off so I no longer turn them off for feeding except feeding corals in the middle of the night when it's in bed.

[Devi]

Will putting the foam, (the pump comes with) around it help? I didn't use the foam, but my clowns are crap swimmers, and insane. I watch them do the dance of death with that damn MP10 for several minutes at a time. They seem to be enjoying themselves, but when that thing ramps up to full speed...

[ssavader]

My suggestion would be to simply turn down the pump velocity a few "clicks"and we if that remedies your problem. A close looking over for subtle signs of disease would be very reasonable as well. I have used three of these in my tank for years with no problem- fish will often nipple on growth on the intake grate.

[fasteddie222]

Thanks guys. I didn't even know the mp10 came with the foam haha. I am going to try out a couple of new things. Maybe start getting stronger fish. Thanks everyone

[ajespo85]

I've seen and heard of people making "cages" to put around their MP's. I've seen cheap and easy ones made out of egg crate, or other plastic screens. As long as the flow isn't blocked, you should be fine. I have heard of MP's killing fish that get too close.

[DieselJunkie]

Not sure how any fish gets stuck to a MP.

I have a young (2 inches) small (fearless) blenny that will swim up and lay flat on mp40 (running at different modes through out the day up to 85%) to graze on whatever he can find. He always swims away with no problem. The only thing that worries me is his tail falling into the grates and into the impeller.

[Sams Reef]

Not sure how any fish gets stuck to a MP.

I have a young (2 inches) small (fearless) blenny that will swim up and lay flat on mp40 (running at different modes through out the day up to 85%) to graze on whatever he can find. He always swims away with no problem. The only thing that worries me is his tail falling into the grates and into the impeller.

I have a bicolor blenny that does the same thing, but this morning his tail did get caught.:mad:

[Dr Colliebreath]

I have a copperband butterflyfish that hasn't eaten in 4 .5 weeks. It spends most of its time 2-3 inches from a MP40. Despite its presumably weakened condition, it has no trouble with the Vortech. I also have 3 fish that swim circles around a MP40 with no problem.

Like many others, I think the fish would have to have a problem before getting sucked into the Vortech's broad flow.

[DieselJunkie]

I have a bicolor blenny that does the same thing, but this morning his tail did get caught.:mad:

:( I'll be so bummed if that happens. I probably need to wrap these before it does. I have had a starry and lawnmower in the past and they were just big grumps.

This little guy will swim up and perch in my hand. I can literally just slowly reach and touch him in the tank. (maybe he is just a little slow?) :crazy1:

[hogfanreefer]

I can't imagine a fish being caught in the intake of the pump. I did lose a small two spot tang when I had the pumps turned off to feed (via Apex). I saw him swim partially inside the MP40 and was reaching for my computer to turn it off when it came on. Killed him instantly. I now use my Ecotech feed mode which just slows them down not turns them off.

[Scorpius]

My tailspot blenny was just busy eating algae off my MP-10 and got sucked in and killed. Sad day. :(

[ThRoewer]

My suggestion would be to simply turn down the pump velocity a few "clicks"and we if that remedies your problem. ...

That's kind of what I do with my Jebaos. I get them at least one size larger than required and then run them at around 50%. Also I control them with my APEX to have them pulsing in a wave mode which gives fish a chance to break loose should they ever get stuck.

If a pump is running at constant speed and a fish actually gets stuck to it, even a healthy fish may have trouble to free himself.

[kenpau]

If you had mentioned that one fish had 'been killed' by your MP10 then I'd probably put it down to a tragic accident, but 3 fish in two weeks sounds like something is not right, pretty much any fish should be able to swim away from an MP10, unless they're too weak to do so.
I have 4 MP40s and had exactly the same happen with a Dispar Anthias, it looked completely healthy, I was looking for signs of ich or lympho but there was nothing, it may of been week for a reason that wasn't obvious to the eye. Since then I haven't lost any of my 18 fish to the killer vortechs!

[Deinonych]

My tailspot blenny picks algae off my MP40s. Every time he does it, I feel like he has a death wish. He's able to do it without getting sucked in, though. Mine run in lagoon mode, so the speed varies.