Alex’s IM 150 EXT

[Alexander1312]

I have high hopes for this device.

Will send out the first Fauna Marin ICP on Friday, since I bought it, to determine how closely it matches my salinity readings. The moment of truth. MTC.

It feels very premium, and despite my poor eyesight, I can easily read the readings.

Handheld Salinity Refractometer

Order your Handheld Salinity Refractometer online today with VEE GEE Scientific and receive free shipping and fast delivery.

www.veegee.com

 

[Turkeysammich]

480 USD for an MP40 (https://premiumaquatics.com/product...2&_sid=a07ae45ff&_ss=r&variant=47329565933810).

I have/had two running on the back of the tank, frankly, only ‘for fun’ since the gyres do the heavy lifting.

I bought them when the tank was set up in late 2023.

The left dry side started making a very loud noise a couple of days ago, which was super annoying, so I removed both of them now.

What a waste of money.

I also spent quite a lot of money on various wet-side cages - a waste of even more money.

RIP MP40 - unsubscribe Ecotech continues. Versas are the last one standing.

View attachment 78121

You can change the bearings in them. Or don’t run them over 75%. Should reduce noise. Let me know if you need help. There’s YouTube videos on it.

 

[L/B Block]

I have high hopes for this device.

Will send out the first Fauna Marin ICP on Friday, since I bought it, to determine how closely it matches my salinity readings. The moment of truth. MTC.

It feels very premium, and despite my poor eyesight, I can easily read the readings.

Handheld Salinity Refractometer

Order your Handheld Salinity Refractometer online today with VEE GEE Scientific and receive free shipping and fast delivery.

www.veegee.com

View attachment 78122

Let us know how it goes with this -still happy with a hydrometer -although hard to read sometimes

 

[Alexander1312]

You can change the bearings in them. Or don’t run them over 75%. Should reduce noise. Let me know if you need help. There’s YouTube videos on it.

Thank you. I might look into this. What I fogot to mention is that these never run higher than 50%.

 

[Alexander1312]

Let us know how it goes with this -still happy with a hydrometer -although hard to read sometimes

Yes, hard to read and unfortunately not as accurate as it was often stated.

 

[L/B Block]

Yes, hard to read and unfortunately not as accurate as it was often stated.

How did you figure out the lack of accuracy?
I’ll have to make sure I keep the reading next time I ship off an ICP sample

 

[Darkxerox]

Thank you. I might look into this. What I fogot to mention is that these never run higher than 50%.

Did they get dropped ever? They're pretty fragile unfortunately. Also they often need to be broken in when first bought which isn't super clear in their instructions. Try swapping the wetsides too and see if the noise improves.

 

[spuri87]

thanks for sharing your MP40s review @Alexander1312 .. I was always on the fence, but guess for now I will stick with gyres.. specially coz I dont have enough space at the back and don't want to put them on the sides with wires and dry side.. wish I did some research and left some more space at the back, cleaning the back wall is a task for me now!

 

[fishy408]

480 USD for an MP40 (https://premiumaquatics.com/product...2&_sid=a07ae45ff&_ss=r&variant=47329565933810).

I have/had two running on the back of the tank, frankly, only ‘for fun’ since the gyres do the heavy lifting.

I bought them when the tank was set up in late 2023.

The left dry side started making a very loud noise a couple of days ago, which was super annoying, so I removed both of them now.

What a waste of money.

I also spent quite a lot of money on various wet-side cages - a waste of even more money.

RIP MP40 - unsubscribe Ecotech continues. Versas are the last one standing.

View attachment 78121

Some MP10/40 bearing comes with little lubrication. This might be the reason why you are hearing the loud noise on the dry side. I used Molykote to lubricate and it was quieter afterwards. Below are videos before and after when I experienced the problem.

Before:

After:

 

[MichaelB]

Some MP10/40 bearing comes with little lubrication. This might be the reason why you are hearing the loud noise on the dry side. I used Molykote to lubricate and it was quieter afterwards. Below are videos before and after when I experienced the problem.

Before:

After:

Didn't know these things could be serviced. I have a mp10 rattling like crazy

 

[Turkeysammich]

Also. The jebao dmp wet sides work for the mp. They are quite too cuz they have suction cups

 

[Alexander1312]

How did you figure out the lack of accuracy?
I’ll have to make sure I keep the reading next time I ship off an ICP sample

Continuous lower salinity in my ICP vs what I measured with the Hydrometer when I took the sample - I do intentionally measure Salinity, Alkalinity, CA, NO3, and PO4 at the time of ICP sample taking to compare the accuracy of my home tests and establish a calibration factor in the future.

There are two concerns a devil's advocate could raise: a) Did you measure correctly? and b) How do you know the Fauna Marin ICP is measuring salinity correctly?

Re a): I started using a dedicated Hydrometer glass cylinder and tried out various conversion apps - since I care about Salinity in PSU and need to convert SG to PSU - to make sure I avoided as many as possible testing errors, properly consider temp adjustments, etc. All pretty much yielded similar results (though there are some differences). Also, lots of folks in the German club I am in use the TM and other Hydrometers, and it is widely known that they very often deviate by +1 to -1.5 PSU, but sometimes, rarely though, you get one that is spot on. It's okay to apply a calibration factor to your own future measurements once it's established, but mine is -1.3 PSU, and it bothers me how inaccurate it is.

Re b): I do not know if they measure correctly. But the conductivity meter they use is a pretty nice device, and they, more than others, advocate dialing in salinity first before anything else, and put in a lot of effort to get reasonably accurate results in all their ICP tests - if not for others, then for managing their own coral farm.

Overall, is a salinity deviation in the +1/-1 PSU range an issue? Probably not, but it is for me, hence the effort I put in and hopefully the refractometer helps putting this perennial issue to bed.

 

[Alexander1312]

Did they get dropped ever? They're pretty fragile unfortunately. Also they often need to be broken in when first bought which isn't super clear in their instructions. Try swapping the wetsides too and see if the noise improves.

I do not recall that I ever dropped them, but I cannot swear on my life that I did not. I dropped my gyres for sure, and they still work like a charm. So if dropping a 480 USD device once is their death sentence, then another reason for me to stay far away from them.

Regarding breaking them in. Yes, I also used to run MP10s, and both the MP10s and the MP40s went through the recommended multi-week break-in protocol.

Swapping the wet sides will not help, as the dry side makes this loud noise even without anything attached to it.

 

[Alexander1312]

thanks for sharing your MP40s review @Alexander1312 .. I was always on the fence, but guess for now I will stick with gyres.. specially coz I dont have enough space at the back and don't want to put them on the sides with wires and dry side.. wish I did some research and left some more space at the back, cleaning the back wall is a task for me now!

Many people run the MP40s for extended periods without an issue, but Dong I believe first mentioned that theres is a built flaw with them which makes them constantly degrade until they break down.

Adding them to the back seems like a good idea. I just cannot tell if this is the ideal flow (I have ‘flow dyslexia’…), so I never relied on them for my main flow when I moved them from the sides to back.

Obviously, I am a gyre fan boy, so I will argue in favor of them despite their downsides - cleaning, impeller degradation, adjustment of flow as they get dirtier etc. However, I do think if you need powerheads, I would use the wired ones - Reef Octopus or Tunze, as this is better value for money.

 

[Alexander1312]

Some MP10/40 bearing comes with little lubrication. This might be the reason why you are hearing the loud noise on the dry side. I used Molykote to lubricate and it was quieter afterwards. Below are videos before and after when I experienced the problem.

Before:

After:

Just to confirm - you are referring to lubricating the wet side, correct? I have been doing this for quite a while since @Darkxerox recommended this at one point I believe, and it is a very good practice to run the wetside very quite.

 

[Alexander1312]

Also. The jebao dmp wet sides work for the mp. They are quite too cuz they have suction cups

I thought about the DMP immediately but I am not keen on going down the knock off path with any of my equipment (light, pumps, skimmer etc).

Yet, my issue is with the dry side, not the wet side, so this might not address my issue unless their dry side works with my wet sides?

 

[fishy408]

Just to confirm - you are referring to lubricating the wet side, correct? I have been doing this for quite a while since @Darkxerox recommended this at one point I believe, and it is a very good practice to run the wetside very quite.

Yeah I meant the wet side. Sucks that you lr pumps are still loud even though its lubricated.

 

[L/B Block]

Continuous lower salinity in my ICP vs what I measured with the Hydrometer when I took the sample - I do intentionally measure Salinity, Alkalinity, CA, NO3, and PO4 at the time of ICP sample taking to compare the accuracy of my home tests and establish a calibration factor in the future.

There are two concerns a devil's advocate could raise: a) Did you measure correctly? and b) How do you know the Fauna Marin ICP is measuring salinity correctly?

Re a): I started using a dedicated Hydrometer glass cylinder and tried out various conversion apps - since I care about Salinity in PSU and need to convert SG to PSU - to make sure I avoided as many as possible testing errors, properly consider temp adjustments, etc. All pretty much yielded similar results (though there are some differences). Also, lots of folks in the German club I am in use the TM and other Hydrometers, and it is widely known that they very often deviate by +1 to -1.5 PSU, but sometimes, rarely though, you get one that is spot on. It's okay to apply a calibration factor to your own future measurements once it's established, but mine is -1.3 PSU, and it bothers me how inaccurate it is.

Re b): I do not know if they measure correctly. But the conductivity meter they use is a pretty nice device, and they, more than others, advocate dialing in salinity first before anything else, and put in a lot of effort to get reasonably accurate results in all their ICP tests - if not for others, then for managing their own coral farm.

Overall, is a salinity deviation in the +1/-1 PSU range an issue? Probably not, but it is for me, hence the effort I put in and hopefully the refractometer helps putting this perennial issue to bed.

One thing I do wonder if people are running these against proper temp sometimes?
Should be used when water is 77 F (at least TM’s hydrometer) Fortunately for me it’s what I keep my tank at but I do notice small differences in the summer if I haven’t got the temp down overnight..

For me I do try to get it right in the middle of the blue section. Then I don’t worry about the deviance ;-).

I do wonder sometimes about certain elements that may change over a week-for example I left a bit of nitrate sample in the Hanna curvette by accident -at the time
of reading it was pretty light (about 3) but 3 days later it is pretty saturated in color


Last ICP (ATI) almost everything was on acceptable range of the measurements —alk, ca,mg, NO3 except for PO4 which at home read .3 and ICP came in at .19..I actually trust Hanna in looking at my glass (algae).