Reef Review: The Maxspect Riptide Gyre

The Maxspect Riptide Gyre is touted to be a “game changer” in the water flow technology for our aquariums. The reason that it is considered to be a “game changer” is that it does something that other powerheads do not do. The Riptide Gyre utilizes cross flow technology to move the water. This creates a gyre effect and the product claims to leave little to no dead spots in the aquarium.

Recently, I was able to check out the final production model of the Riptide Gyre. A local member of the New Jersey Reefers’ Club, Edwardw771, opened his house to me and allowed me to spend a couple of hours to see the Riptide Gyre in action. Ed also invited Chris from Coralvue to give some more insight on the Riptide Gyre and to preview the actual production unit.

Ed was one of the lucky few who was able to test out the demo units of the Riptide Gyre and he had them running of the both of his tanks, a 90 gallon and 265 gallon. The first thing that I noticed when I went to check out the Gyre on the 90 gallon was that the noise produced by the Gyre was minimal in comparison to the other equipment running of the tank. This is something that is particularly important to me because my tanks are in my living room. Therefore, I do not want the equipment to overpower my ability to enjoy the room.

Next, I got closer to the tank and just watched the flow. I saw how the water would flow across the aquarium. Once the flow hit the other side of the aquarium, it would bounce back. This is how the gyre effect is created. The corals in the tank seemed to be responding well to the flow. I was also able to notice that the corals in the bottom portion of the tank would change the direction of flow based on the gyre effect.

Finally, I was able to see the Riptide Gyre in the different modes that it has to offer. One thing that I found to be pretty cool about the Gyre is that you can run it in either forward flow or reverse flow. The Gyre can also be run in constant speed mode, pulse mode and alternating gyre mode. There is also a feed mode. In examining Ed’s tanks, I found that the different modes can be quite beneficial for my tanks and for many other people. The Gyre can help users to achieve the flow that they need and drastically reduce the dead spots in their tank.

When I looked at the actual production unit, I was impressed. The Riptide Gyre comes in a sleek, black tin. It includes spare baskets and bearings. The spare baskets are very convenient. They allow the user to swap out the baskets quickly. This minimizes the down time for the pump when doing maintenance. Instead of having the pump down while cleaning, you just have it down for the amount of time it takes to swap out the baskets.
Even though I am impressed with it does not mean that the Riptide Gyre does not have some sticking points. The first one for me was the size of the Gyre. It is rather long which can be tricky when mounting in a tank, especially with corner overflows. There is also the option to mount vertically. I can say once the Riptide Gyre is placed in the tank that it does not seem to be as large as some of the other pumps that are available. The other thing that I found to be a sticking point was the ability to control the pump wirelessly. However, I was told that this is something that is being worked on and will be available in 2015.

Overall, I found the Riptide Gyre to be an awesome pump. It is definitely going to be a game changer in the area of water flow technology for our tanks. I am looking forward to adding one of the smaller units to my tank.

See what others are saying about the Gyre here in the official Maxspect RipTide Owners Thread!