MP10 or Nero 3, need some help

homer1475

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I have both in my 80g cube. 2 mp10's and a nero 3.

My MP's are about 7 years old and have nver needed servicing, other then the occasional wet side cleaning(like any intank PH). You'll find much more "complaints" and the need for servicing on a google hit simply because the MP's have been out for many, many years, where as the nero's have only been out a couple. More units in the hands of consumers means more complaints. Besides no one goes onto the net to say how awesome something is. They only post reviews when somethings sucks. So you'll certainly find many more complaints on the MP's then any other PH. Honestly though, if they were as bad as many reviews would have you believe, how on earth are they still being sold, and is considered the gold standard in PH's?

The MP's move way much more water then the nero, are slightly louder when turned up high, and of course no wire in the tank.

The nero on the other hand has a very small footprint, can be adjusted via an app on your phone(which is a huge bonus for someone like me that has to move several other things out of the way to get to the MP controller to change modes), much wider flow, but has no where near the GPH of a mp10.

In my biocube 29 I had 2 mp10's, so in your case I would do one of each. The MP for when things start to grow in and you need more flow, and the nero to cover those spots the MP doesn't.


I'm a firm believer in random chaotic flow. In my 80G cube I currently have 2 mp10's, 2 jebao pp8's, a gyre xf350, and a nero 3. All running slower speeds(I believe slower speeds prolongs pump life), but very random speeds, so I get very chaotic flow.
 
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yanni

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I have both in my 80g cube. 2 mp10's and a nero 3.

My MP's are about 7 years old and have nver needed servicing, other then the occasional wet side cleaning(like any intank PH). You'll find much more "complaints" and the need for servicing on a google hit simply because the MP's have been out for many, many years, where as the nero's have only been out a couple. More units in the hands of consumers means more complaints. Besides no one goes onto the net to say how awesome something is. They only post reviews when somethings sucks. So you'll certainly find many more complaints on the MP's then any other PH. Honestly though, if they were as bad as many reviews would have you believe, how on earth are they still being sold, and is considered the gold standard in PH's?

The MP's move way much more water then the nero, are slightly louder when turned up high, and of course no wire in the tank.

The nero on the other hand has a very small footprint, can be adjusted via an app on your phone(which is a huge bonus for someone like me that has to move several other things out of the way to get to the MP controller to change modes), much wider flow, but has no where near the GPH of a mp10.

In my biocube 29 I had 2 mp10's, so in your case I would do one of each. The MP for when things start to grow in and you need more flow, and the nero to cover those spots the MP doesn't.


I'm a firm believer in random chaotic flow. In my 80G cube I currently have 2 mp10's, 2 jebao pp8's, a gyre xf350, and a nero 3. All running slower speeds(I believe slower speeds prolongs pump life), but very random speeds, so I get very chaotic flow.
I see, very good points, Homer. An the MP10s be controlled via the mobius app?
 

homer1475

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MP is controlled via their controller, a third part tank controller, or the mobius app with the newer MP's. In my case, I use my apex. But as with most things, once it's set, your probably not going to change it much so I would not let that "feature" sway your desicion.

I often LOL when manufacturers tout features in lights such as being able to quickly change your lights with a phone app. Once their set, your not going to change them much over the course of their life.
 
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yanni

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MP is controlled via their controller, a third part tank controller, or the mobius app with the newer MP's. In my case, I use my apex. But as with most things, once it's set, your probably not going to change it much so I would not let that "feature" sway your desicion.

I often LOL when manufacturers tout features in lights such as being able to quickly change your lights with a phone app. Once their set, your not going to change them much over the course of their life.
Yea that’s pretty true. I like app control as it’s super convenient, and means I can change things on the fly if I’m not home/something goes wrong while I’m out.

Tossing between the Nero 3 and MP10 is super hard, I’m really stuck in a pickle about which to actually choose
 
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yanni

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FYI neither can be changed when out of bluetooth range.
My bad, thought they were WIFI rather than Bluetooth….the Nero 3 control is fairly weird AFAIK, the MP has much better remote control use. Maybe that’ll be the deciding factor
 

coralfishreef

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This is an awesome write up, I really appreciate your complete honesty while also explaining it perfectly well. This gives me a whole new aspect to think about. The controller look doesn’t bother me as I’ll mainly controlling through the app, however, the MP10 controller does look fantastic, I must agree.

from your experience, if you were me, what would you honestly choose?
Since this is your first saltwater tank, and unless you are on the wealthier side, I’d recommend putting less money into it at first. This reply is also for anyone looking at their first saltwater tank.

A saltwater tank is kind of like buying a puppy that doesn’t learn to potty train for at least 6 months.

It’s exciting at first, shopping for a perfect puppy and then shopping for all the perfect accessories, collar, leash, clothes, etc…

Then you go to bring it home, but the first thing it does is poop in your car. No problem, it’s the best puppy and the poop is cute. You get it home and put a collar and leash on it and go for a walk, but it refuses to walk and instead pees on the carpet. No problem, puppies have accidents. Time to look for some rug cleaner.

Four weeks goes by and the puppy stops randomly pottying all over the house. You think the worst is over and you can replace the rugs. The puppy is cute and your patience paid off because the worst is over. You replace the rugs and think all is well, but then a few days later the puppy starts pottying on your bed instead. And a week later the puppy decides it likes to eat all shoes, inexpensive or expensive. Time to buy a shoe cabinet and some shoes.

6 months goes by and you’ve spent way more time and money than you ever expected. The puppy still randomly potties all over the house and still randomly eats shoes plus it also likes to eat clothes and furniture. It jumps up on the table and steals your food and sometimes poops on it. Your super cute, perfect puppy is no longer looking cute even though it looks the same as 6 months ago. Instead you’re starting to see the puppy as a monster with red eyes and horns for ears, but the red tint is actually from the red of your own eyes from crying, lack of sleep, and all the $’s being spent.

You reach out to YouTube and everyone else with a puppy doesn’t have any problems. In fact, everything else bought a bottle of puppy miracle cure medicine. Everyone has a perfect puppy but you. Time to buy the puppy miracle medicine.

Another $50 and week later the miracle cure should have worked by now. Nope, not working. Somehow the puppy now has ringworms and gout. Time to go to the puppy forums for help. The forums say to feed the puppy raw chicken livers and brussel sprouts in order to treat the ringworms. Also, cooked oranges are needed for the gout. But, don’t feed the livers and oranges at the same time. And by the way, your puppy is allergic to oranges and it also hates brussel sprouts unless it comes with a side of streak.


All doom and gloom and jokes aside, the short reply is - Saltwater tanks can be expensive even small ones. The whole saltwater experience can be overwhelming, but it can also be enjoyable if you like challenges and learning and don’t mind disappointment and occasional hard work.

If you’re still looking at a clownfish and anemone tank, I’d probably just get 1 Nero 3 and maybe even go bare bottom. Put the Nero 3 on the side in the bottom corner pointing behind the rocks with a gap behind the rocks for the flow to go through. Run the cord up the corner. Save the money for other items you may need like another anemone because the first one died… Or allocate the money for a pair of shrimp gobies, a pistol shrimp, and medium grain sand. And place the Nero 3 up higher towards the top of the tank instead.
 
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yanni

yanni

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Since this is your first saltwater tank, and unless you are on the wealthier side, I’d recommend putting less money into it at first. This reply is also for anyone looking at their first saltwater tank.

A saltwater tank is kind of like buying a puppy that doesn’t learn to potty train for at least 6 months.

It’s exciting at first, shopping for a perfect puppy and then shopping for all the perfect accessories, collar, leash, clothes, etc…

Then you go to bring it home, but the first thing it does is poop in your car. No problem, it’s the best puppy and the poop is cute. You get it home and put a collar and leash on it and go for a walk, but it refuses to walk and instead pees on the carpet. No problem, puppies have accidents. Time to look for some rug cleaner.

Four weeks goes by and the puppy stops randomly pottying all over the house. You think the worst is over and you can replace the rugs. The puppy is cute and your patience paid off because the worst is over. You replace the rugs and think all is well, but then a few days later the puppy starts pottying on your bed instead. And a week later the puppy decides it likes to eat all shoes, inexpensive or expensive. Time to buy a shoe cabinet and some shoes.

6 months goes by and you’ve spent way more time and money than you ever expected. The puppy still randomly potties all over the house and still randomly eats shoes plus it also likes to eat clothes and furniture. It jumps up on the table and steals your food and sometimes poops on it. Your super cute, perfect puppy is no longer looking cute even though it looks the same as 6 months ago. Instead you’re starting to see the puppy as a monster with red eyes and horns for ears, but the red tint is actually from the red of your own eyes from crying, lack of sleep, and all the $’s being spent.

You reach out to YouTube and everyone else with a puppy doesn’t have any problems. In fact, everything else bought a bottle of puppy miracle cure medicine. Everyone has a perfect puppy but you. Time to buy the puppy miracle medicine.

Another $50 and week later the miracle cure should have worked by now. Nope, not working. Somehow the puppy now has ringworms and gout. Time to go to the puppy forums for help. The forums say to feed the puppy raw chicken livers and brussel sprouts in order to treat the ringworms. Also, cooked oranges are needed for the gout. But, don’t feed the livers and oranges at the same time. And by the way, your puppy is allergic to oranges and it also hates brussel sprouts unless it comes with a side of streak.


All doom and gloom and jokes aside, the short reply is - Saltwater tanks can be expensive even small ones. The whole saltwater experience can be overwhelming, but it can also be enjoyable if you like challenges and learning and don’t mind disappointment and occasional hard work.

If you’re still looking at a clownfish and anemone tank, I’d probably just get 1 Nero 3 and maybe even go bare bottom. Put the Nero 3 on the side in the bottom corner pointing behind the rocks with a gap behind the rocks for the flow to go through. Run the cord up the corner. Save the money for other items you may need like another anemone because the first one died… Or allocate the money for a pair of shrimp gobies, a pistol shrimp, and medium grain sand. And place the Nero 3 up higher towards the top of the tank instead.
Thank you so much for this reality check. You’re completely right, the puppy analogy really drove it home…once again, the people in this hobby are some of the most incredible I’ve ever met. I love the challenge and the slow gratification of a reef tank, to me that is a great reason to do it, as well as my love and passion of the ocean and all its inhabitants. But you are right, being savvy with my money and compromising on price for still good quality, while not being excessively cheap is a very good idea. This has really helped to put things into perspective, so I thank you so much for the help!! I really appreciate it, as a nooby reefer all this help and advice is terrific
 

Bubblebass

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image.jpg

Here is a better picture. You could see right front where it has removed the sand . That’s at 60% random mode. MP10 are definitely more powerful and noisy, too much for a nano in my opinion.

Has it been confirmed that the outside magnet on the Nero can be submerged and is sealed? I can't find difinitive info on this for most powerbeads. Last thing I want is a rusty magnet in the tank.
 

Rjramos

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Has it been confirmed that the outside magnet on the Nero can be submerged and is sealed? I can't find difinitive info on this for most powerbeads. Last thing I want is a rusty magnet in the tank.
Lol, I was researching this about 2 months ago when I won the Nero3 at Reefapalooza raffle in Orlando. Maybe someone that knows here chimes in. What I did, was, I put the Nero3 outside magnet aside, and I went with a tunze magnet from my previous powerhead which is sealed. Until I know for sure.
 

Bubblebass

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Lol, I was researching this about 2 months ago when I won the Nero3 at Reefapalooza raffle in Orlando. Maybe someone that knows here chimes in. What I did, was, I put the Nero3 outside magnet aside, and I went with a tunze magnet from my previous powerhead which is sealed. Until I know for sure.
Are all Tunze magnets sealed? I have a nano Tunze pump and wonder if that would do.

I assume if you can't find the info, it's not sealed. If they paid for the feature, they'd advertise it as such.
 

Barnabie Mejia

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Could you possibly link me the pump cover? Will have to explore my options, heard a lot of good things about the Nero, and not so many good things about the MP10 specifically:(

Here you are my Friend. I love the ones I have in my tank (total of 4)
 
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yanni

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Here you are my Friend. I love the ones I have in my tank (total of 4)
Thank you so much
 

hart24601

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I own an mp10 and Nero 3 running on the same tank, opposite sides with 2 smaller tunze on the back glass. Ime the Nero3 is the better pump, I would happily replace the mp10 with another Nero. It seems to push a good deal more water, is less noticeable, and can be angled. It really feels like an advance over the older design of the mp’s.
 
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