MJ Mod review

mthedude · 10/17/2006, 08:21 AM

Just wanted to take a quick moment to give my impressions of a MJMod I performed last night.

I purchased a package from mjmods.com and it arrived on Monday, placed order on Friday, gotta love that. Parts arrived as described and very well made. Took me about 30 minutes from start to finish to assemble, followed the instructions on thier website as well as the video link.

This thing works like crazy, I dropped it in my tank, plugged it in and my entire tank was going crazy (55g). It might even be too much flow for my tank but I think I'm going to just have to re-arrange some rockwork to make sure the corals aren't getting blasted. A ton of detritis started swirling around and I soon realized what my tank had been missing all this time; FLOW!!! This will definately keep your rocks cleaner and allow your filtration system to collect much more waste before it settles on your rock or your sand and breaks down. It's just crazy to see water being pulled from all directions and corners of the thank.

For anyone thinking of doing this mod or waiting around for an easier mod, this one is really simple and all I used was a pair of scissors, a dremel w/a cutoff wheel, a sanding drum and a drill, also superglue. I just need to come up w/a way to mount it so it doesn't fall off the glass and create a mammoth snowstorm, that will be tonights project.

I'd highly reccomend this mod, I unplugged my other 2 powerheads last night because they are no longer needed, this pump is just pure insanity compared to non modded MJ's. Do the math $200-300 for a Tunze or $35 for a modded MJ pushing the same amount of water.

derekman · 10/17/2006, 09:26 AM

maybe you should do the epoxy and magnet glass cleaner thing... glue the top to the inside magnet...

mthedude · 10/17/2006, 09:33 AM

That's the plan but I only have 1 mag cleaner and don't want to sacrifice it yet. I like pretty far away from any LFS's to pick one up so I may just look for a strong magnet I can attach.

derekman · 10/17/2006, 09:40 AM

I think magnets have a bit of Iron in them and other metals, I'm not sure they are saltwater stable. if you do use them maybe coat it with epoxy or something...

northbay-reefer · 10/17/2006, 11:08 AM

just coat your magnet with plumber goop, I used that for mounting my mj and it works great

naterealbig · 10/17/2006, 11:29 AM

Alright, Alright, I know no-one wants to hear this, probably because the mjmods have gotten nothing but rave reviews since they cam out. I have a 60gallon tall, and ordered 2 mj along with 2 mj delux mod kits from mjmods.com. The customer service was great, the shipping was fast, but the pumps after the mods made WAY too much noise. It was louder than my remora pro - and thats the loudest peice of equipment in my tank. I took the mj's apart, tried every single combination of metal/graphite rod, shroud, prop, that I could think of, then tried it again. I went to a local hobby store and bought all new carbon rods, propellers, and tubing and cut/reassembled - the same thing. I spent a total of 14 hours trying to make these mods quiet and couldn't do it. I'm a pretty handy guy, I built my stand, sump, and all tank plumbing by my self, made a 1200 on the SAT, and I have a dremmel with 50+ attachments. I had all the right tools, the time, and the directions/video from the website. I wouldn't recommend this product to anyone who needs a quiet tank. I just wasted a hundred bucks. My recommendation? - go with a Seio.

nebraskareef · 10/17/2006, 12:02 PM

Noise is completely dependant on everything being perfectly centered, I've made 10 of these mods and they get easier everytime.

Don't pay for a seio.

nosferatu51 · 10/17/2006, 12:03 PM

Mine worked fine for the last month and a half and now I cannot for the life of me get it to work right. It works fine in the sink, but the second I put it in my tank it goes all screwy. The prop just keeps popping in and out and hitting something so it makes a grinding noise and has done a pretty number on the prop. Any idea what might be wrong? I have drilled and put in a whole new stopper and removed the old one, didn't work. Been working on and off for the last few days and have tried a lot to get it to work and it just won't. It's starting to annoy me because one side of my tank has a serious lack of flow now.

Von_Rahvin · 10/17/2006, 12:22 PM

bought 2 made one. quiet. haven't made the other one because i don't know what to do with it.

Cuervo · 10/17/2006, 12:40 PM

I made a pair of 1200's, both with kits from mjmods.com.

The first came out absolutely perfect. The second made a TON of noise. I took it apart, and can absolutely confirm what nebraskareef says above - everything has got to be perfectly centered. In my case, the magnet was not perfectly round, and neither was the hole through the center of it.

Did the best I could to reglue it close to being centered, and it's much less noisy, but still makes a little periodically.

This flaw was in the maxi-jet impeller magnet. Can't blame anyone but Maxijet for that!!

doox00 · 10/17/2006, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by nosferatu51
Mine worked fine for the last month and a half and now I cannot for the life of me get it to work right. It works fine in the sink, but the second I put it in my tank it goes all screwy. The prop just keeps popping in and out and hitting something so it makes a grinding noise and has done a pretty number on the prop. Any idea what might be wrong? I have drilled and put in a whole new stopper and removed the old one, didn't work. Been working on and off for the last few days and have tried a lot to get it to work and it just won't. It's starting to annoy me because one side of my tank has a serious lack of flow now.

trim the prop blades down, the width, a mm at a time or so, could be your mj is not strong enough to turn the prop you installed once its deeper in the tnak, I had to do this with my mj 900 mod, not my 1200 though.

As far as noise, mine are silent or near silent.. its a fantastic mod.

mthedude · 10/17/2006, 12:56 PM

Mine is noisy and I didn't mention that above. Right now I'm just amazed at how cheap, quick and easy it is to get Seio or Tunze performance from something that almost all Reefers already have. I know my magnet isn't perfectly round and the hole it drops into isn't either and I'll work on getting those a little better, but I can live w/the noice for the added benefit of so much flow.

itzafugasi · 10/17/2006, 01:01 PM

about the noise...

When i made mine it was noisy as hell too. Since my tank is in my basement, i really didnt care. But, after a few days, the noise subsided by about 95%. dont know how or what made the noise almost completely go away, but give it a few days and see what happens!

nosferatu51 · 10/17/2006, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by doox00
trim the prop blades down, the width, a mm at a time or so, could be your mj is not strong enough to turn the prop you installed once its deeper in the tnak, I had to do this with my mj 900 mod, not my 1200 though.

As far as noise, mine are silent or near silent.. its a fantastic mod.

It is a 900, so I'll give that a try. I just think it's odd that it worked for almost 2 months before doing this.

EDIT: It worked! 2 minutes to fix it and I've been trying everything for days. Where have you been all my life? Well, the last few days at least

Thanks a lot for the tip.

doox00 · 10/17/2006, 01:18 PM

no problem, the magnet may just starting to get weaker, I learned this when I was doing my mobs.. from the mjmod thread here on rc asking questions cause i had the same problem with my 900.

DrBegalke · 10/17/2006, 01:33 PM

the reefdom.com mods are pretty quiet (ya, you can hear them, but not much more then a stock mj)... and IMO they look a lot better.

boxfishpooalot · 10/17/2006, 02:01 PM

hey reefdom looks really nice. I may buy that instead of the other. Does not look diy from them! Plus it comes with a bracket.

Does anyone know if the mod works on the Hagen powerheads? They look identicle to maxi jets.

northbay-reefer · 10/17/2006, 02:07 PM

mine made some noise in the begining but after a day or so it is nice and quiet.

I also made couple of hack saw mods with the mjs and that is cool too.

mthedude · 10/17/2006, 02:37 PM

I'm sure the added pressure/friction from the prop will cause some movement on the magnet inside the hole and after a few days it will get rounded off and get quieter.

Cosmo^Kramer · 10/17/2006, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by northbay-reefer
mine made some noise in the begining but after a day or so it is nice and quiet.

I also made couple of hack saw mods with the mjs and that is cool too.

Could you explain the hack saw mod.I haven't heard about this one..Thanks

I just got the parts today from mjmods.com,very nice quality.I'll be doing my 1200 tonight

CHAOSTACTICS · 10/17/2006, 03:38 PM

i have one as well i can attest, these things work like a champ

old salty · 10/17/2006, 04:52 PM

I purchased a MJ already modded from another member on this site. It moves a lot of water, but I have grown to dislike any type of noise other than the water splashing into the sump, therefore it just sits in the tank doing nothing. I am patiently waiting for the guys at MJMODS to stock up on the newest steel rods that they found somewhere. One the bugs are worked out, I will most likely purchase another one and mod it myself.

For mounting these to the tank, I purchased two magnets that are epoxy coated (I don't remember what vendor I got them from.) I removed the plastic piece on the top of the MJ, and stuck one magnet inside. The other one sits outside the tank and works like a champ. Of course, the strong magnet may be partially to blame for the noise being created.

skydancer · 10/17/2006, 08:53 PM

OK ladies and gents, excuse the ignorance but I would like to know the difference comparing the 3 options below:

1) MJMods: DIY for $35 parts + $20 for the MJ1200 and w/o magnet holder= $55 + DIY effort and possible noise problems.

2) Reefdom.com: Parts for $60 + $20 for the MJ1200 and w/o magnet holder = $80
http://www.reefdom.com/proddetail.asp?prod=MAXIMODKIT

3) Tunze Turbelle nano stream 6045 for $96.63 with magnet holder.
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merch...de=Tunze_pumps

Wouldn't I be better off waiting for the Tunze?

Thanks for your inputs...

Snarkys · 10/22/2006, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by derekman
I think magnets have a bit of Iron in them and other metals, I'm not sure they are saltwater stable. if you do use them maybe coat it with epoxy or something...

saw these when i was ordering my magnets yesterday : )

http://www.magnet4less.com/NB065.html

be careful though they are powerful , don't break your glass.

also I'm not sure on the effects of having a strong magnet like that so close to the motor of the MJ.

Snarkys · 10/22/2006, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by naterealbig
Alright, Alright, I know no-one wants to hear this, probably because the mjmods have gotten nothing but rave reviews since they cam out. I have a 60gallon tall, and ordered 2 mj along with 2 mj delux mod kits from mjmods.com. The customer service was great, the shipping was fast, but the pumps after the mods made WAY too much noise. It was louder than my remora pro - and thats the loudest peice of equipment in my tank. I took the mj's apart, tried every single combination of metal/graphite rod, shroud, prop, that I could think of, then tried it again. I went to a local hobby store and bought all new carbon rods, propellers, and tubing and cut/reassembled - the same thing. I spent a total of 14 hours trying to make these mods quiet and couldn't do it. I'm a pretty handy guy, I built my stand, sump, and all tank plumbing by my self, made a 1200 on the SAT, and I have a dremmel with 50+ attachments. I had all the right tools, the time, and the directions/video from the website. I wouldn't recommend this product to anyone who needs a quiet tank. I just wasted a hundred bucks. My recommendation? - go with a Seio.

in my experience the hobby stores don't normally have the right sized carbon fiber tubes. they normally have the .188OD/.116ID or .196OD/121 ID. The ID on these are too large and it's sloppy on the shaft which creates vibration and noise.

Before i got them direct from the manufacturer i got my tube from this kite store, it's Pultruded Carbon Tubing . I personally like the .180 OD/ .102 ID tube the best . it fits the 2.5mm(.098) and even the 3/32(.094) shafts much better .
http://www.goodwindskites.com/merch/...ultrudedcarbon

should be noted that the video shows the old style impeller . In my personal opinion the new style is much much better .

sounds like you have bought other pumps but maybe this information might be helpful to others .

10/17/2006, 08:21 AM	#1
mthedude Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Des Moines, IA Posts: 549	MJ Mod review Just wanted to take a quick moment to give my impressions of a MJMod I performed last night. I purchased a package from mjmods.com and it arrived on Monday, placed order on Friday, gotta love that. Parts arrived as described and very well made. Took me about 30 minutes from start to finish to assemble, followed the instructions on thier website as well as the video link. This thing works like crazy, I dropped it in my tank, plugged it in and my entire tank was going crazy (55g). It might even be too much flow for my tank but I think I'm going to just have to re-arrange some rockwork to make sure the corals aren't getting blasted. A ton of detritis started swirling around and I soon realized what my tank had been missing all this time; FLOW!!! This will definately keep your rocks cleaner and allow your filtration system to collect much more waste before it settles on your rock or your sand and breaks down. It's just crazy to see water being pulled from all directions and corners of the thank. For anyone thinking of doing this mod or waiting around for an easier mod, this one is really simple and all I used was a pair of scissors, a dremel w/a cutoff wheel, a sanding drum and a drill, also superglue. I just need to come up w/a way to mount it so it doesn't fall off the glass and create a mammoth snowstorm, that will be tonights project. I'd highly reccomend this mod, I unplugged my other 2 powerheads last night because they are no longer needed, this pump is just pure insanity compared to non modded MJ's. Do the math $200-300 for a Tunze or $35 for a modded MJ pushing the same amount of water. __________________ You........Cake or Death? I'll have the cake please.... ....well we're outta cake! Current Tank Info: 55g Reef Tank, scooter blenny, tail spot blenny, cleaner shrimp, button polyps, fuzzy mushrooms, hammer coral, multi color zoos, 10 gal fuge, Octopus NW150

10/17/2006, 09:26 AM	#2
derekman Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Milwaukee, WI Posts: 245	maybe you should do the epoxy and magnet glass cleaner thing... glue the top to the inside magnet... __________________ Derek Current Tank Info: 82 total gallons reef, 390w PC 150 MH, LPS SPS

10/17/2006, 09:33 AM	#3
mthedude Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Des Moines, IA Posts: 549	That's the plan but I only have 1 mag cleaner and don't want to sacrifice it yet. I like pretty far away from any LFS's to pick one up so I may just look for a strong magnet I can attach. __________________ You........Cake or Death? I'll have the cake please.... ....well we're outta cake! Current Tank Info: 55g Reef Tank, scooter blenny, tail spot blenny, cleaner shrimp, button polyps, fuzzy mushrooms, hammer coral, multi color zoos, 10 gal fuge, Octopus NW150

10/17/2006, 09:40 AM	#4
derekman Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Milwaukee, WI Posts: 245	I think magnets have a bit of Iron in them and other metals, I'm not sure they are saltwater stable. if you do use them maybe coat it with epoxy or something... __________________ Derek Current Tank Info: 82 total gallons reef, 390w PC 150 MH, LPS SPS

10/17/2006, 11:08 AM	#5
northbay-reefer Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Wine country Posts: 4,831	just coat your magnet with plumber goop, I used that for mounting my mj and it works great __________________ go BIG or go home Current Tank Info: Tankless :D

10/17/2006, 11:29 AM	#6
naterealbig Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 2,252	Alright, Alright, I know no-one wants to hear this, probably because the mjmods have gotten nothing but rave reviews since they cam out. I have a 60gallon tall, and ordered 2 mj along with 2 mj delux mod kits from mjmods.com. The customer service was great, the shipping was fast, but the pumps after the mods made WAY too much noise. It was louder than my remora pro - and thats the loudest peice of equipment in my tank. I took the mj's apart, tried every single combination of metal/graphite rod, shroud, prop, that I could think of, then tried it again. I went to a local hobby store and bought all new carbon rods, propellers, and tubing and cut/reassembled - the same thing. I spent a total of 14 hours trying to make these mods quiet and couldn't do it. I'm a pretty handy guy, I built my stand, sump, and all tank plumbing by my self, made a 1200 on the SAT, and I have a dremmel with 50+ attachments. I had all the right tools, the time, and the directions/video from the website. I wouldn't recommend this product to anyone who needs a quiet tank. I just wasted a hundred bucks. My recommendation? - go with a Seio. __________________ My skimmate has notes of saffron, and a hint of lilac.

10/17/2006, 12:02 PM	#7
nebraskareef MFCEO Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 1,495 Blog Entries: 1	Noise is completely dependant on everything being perfectly centered, I've made 10 of these mods and they get easier everytime. Don't pay for a seio. __________________ Originally Posted by tmz "Now if I drink the vodka the colors do look much better than if I drink the vinegar."

10/17/2006, 12:03 PM	#8
nosferatu51 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Charleston, SC Posts: 362	Mine worked fine for the last month and a half and now I cannot for the life of me get it to work right. It works fine in the sink, but the second I put it in my tank it goes all screwy. The prop just keeps popping in and out and hitting something so it makes a grinding noise and has done a pretty number on the prop. Any idea what might be wrong? I have drilled and put in a whole new stopper and removed the old one, didn't work. Been working on and off for the last few days and have tried a lot to get it to work and it just won't. It's starting to annoy me because one side of my tank has a serious lack of flow now.

10/17/2006, 12:22 PM	#9
Von_Rahvin Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Ft. Lauderdale Fl Posts: 346	bought 2 made one. quiet. haven't made the other one because i don't know what to do with it.

10/17/2006, 12:40 PM	#10
Cuervo Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Melbourne, Fla Posts: 395	I made a pair of 1200's, both with kits from mjmods.com. The first came out absolutely perfect. The second made a TON of noise. I took it apart, and can absolutely confirm what nebraskareef says above - everything has got to be perfectly centered. In my case, the magnet was not perfectly round, and neither was the hole through the center of it. Did the best I could to reglue it close to being centered, and it's much less noisy, but still makes a little periodically. This flaw was in the maxi-jet impeller magnet. Can't blame anyone but Maxijet for that!!

10/17/2006, 12:56 PM	#12
mthedude Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Des Moines, IA Posts: 549	Mine is noisy and I didn't mention that above. Right now I'm just amazed at how cheap, quick and easy it is to get Seio or Tunze performance from something that almost all Reefers already have. I know my magnet isn't perfectly round and the hole it drops into isn't either and I'll work on getting those a little better, but I can live w/the noice for the added benefit of so much flow. __________________ You........Cake or Death? I'll have the cake please.... ....well we're outta cake! Current Tank Info: 55g Reef Tank, scooter blenny, tail spot blenny, cleaner shrimp, button polyps, fuzzy mushrooms, hammer coral, multi color zoos, 10 gal fuge, Octopus NW150

10/17/2006, 01:01 PM	#13
itzafugasi Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: NY Posts: 99	about the noise... When i made mine it was noisy as hell too. Since my tank is in my basement, i really didnt care. But, after a few days, the noise subsided by about 95%. dont know how or what made the noise almost completely go away, but give it a few days and see what happens!

10/17/2006, 01:18 PM	#15
doox00 Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: West Michigan Posts: 928	no problem, the magnet may just starting to get weaker, I learned this when I was doing my mobs.. from the mjmod thread here on rc asking questions cause i had the same problem with my 900.

10/17/2006, 01:33 PM	#16
DrBegalke Go Buckeyes! Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Phoenix area, AZ Posts: 2,599	the reefdom.com mods are pretty quiet (ya, you can hear them, but not much more then a stock mj)... and IMO they look a lot better. __________________ ~Jason Begalke Current Tank Info: Latest project: JBJ Cubey

10/17/2006, 02:01 PM	#17
boxfishpooalot Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: canada, Grande Praire, Ab Posts: 5,824	hey reefdom looks really nice. I may buy that instead of the other. Does not look diy from them! Plus it comes with a bracket. Does anyone know if the mod works on the Hagen powerheads? They look identicle to maxi jets. __________________ Its a good idea to have a refrence sample for alk test kits. 1.1350 grams of baking soda in 1gallon of distilled water=10dkh. Check your alkalinity test kit! Algae is Mother Natures phosphate remover Current Tank Info: 220 galon mixed reef.

10/17/2006, 02:07 PM	#18
northbay-reefer Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Wine country Posts: 4,831	mine made some noise in the begining but after a day or so it is nice and quiet. I also made couple of hack saw mods with the mjs and that is cool too. __________________ go BIG or go home Current Tank Info: Tankless :D

10/17/2006, 02:37 PM	#19
mthedude Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Des Moines, IA Posts: 549	I'm sure the added pressure/friction from the prop will cause some movement on the magnet inside the hole and after a few days it will get rounded off and get quieter. __________________ You........Cake or Death? I'll have the cake please.... ....well we're outta cake! Current Tank Info: 55g Reef Tank, scooter blenny, tail spot blenny, cleaner shrimp, button polyps, fuzzy mushrooms, hammer coral, multi color zoos, 10 gal fuge, Octopus NW150

10/17/2006, 03:38 PM	#21
CHAOSTACTICS Moved On Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Maryland Posts: 96	i have one as well i can attest, these things work like a champ

10/17/2006, 04:52 PM	#22
old salty Genius Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: The Island of Misfit Toys Posts: 3,131	I purchased a MJ already modded from another member on this site. It moves a lot of water, but I have grown to dislike any type of noise other than the water splashing into the sump, therefore it just sits in the tank doing nothing. I am patiently waiting for the guys at MJMODS to stock up on the newest steel rods that they found somewhere. One the bugs are worked out, I will most likely purchase another one and mod it myself. For mounting these to the tank, I purchased two magnets that are epoxy coated (I don't remember what vendor I got them from.) I removed the plastic piece on the top of the MJ, and stuck one magnet inside. The other one sits outside the tank and works like a champ. Of course, the strong magnet may be partially to blame for the noise being created. __________________ "The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers." Thomas Jefferson Current Tank Info: Out of the marine aquarium hobby

10/17/2006, 08:53 PM	#23
skydancer Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Dallas, Texas Posts: 438	OK ladies and gents, excuse the ignorance but I would like to know the difference comparing the 3 options below: 1) MJMods: DIY for $35 parts + $20 for the MJ1200 and w/o magnet holder= $55 + DIY effort and possible noise problems. 2) Reefdom.com: Parts for $60 + $20 for the MJ1200 and w/o magnet holder = $80 http://www.reefdom.com/proddetail.asp?prod=MAXIMODKIT 3) Tunze Turbelle nano stream 6045 for $96.63 with magnet holder. http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merch...de=Tunze_pumps Wouldn't I be better off waiting for the Tunze? Thanks for your inputs... __________________ ...You are free... because of the BRAVE... Current Tank Info: 300G reef, 800lb LR, APEX, Deltec AP702, LEDs, PF601, KM500, UV, RODI, Ozone, carbon, Biopellets