The OG Maxspect Gyre 150FM was pretty bad. The propellers were super thin. Small snails or even a piece of coraliine could enter the cage and the fins would blow apart. To top it off replacement propellers were expensive. They finally did come out with rugged impellers but it took them two years. There were many more issues. The cage itself was two small, it got clogged really easy. If you took it apart to clean it, good luck getting it back together working properly. The controller itself lacked features. It had only a few modes and they were all similar. It wouldn't stay in its carriage. Always would find it on the floor. There were a few other issues but it is beating a dead horse at this point.
The 3k is made by ice cap. The propellers are super thick. Thicker then your average propeller pump. The cage is wide so it doesn't need cleaning very often. The controller has a nice look to it, digital display and ton of features. I like that it can slow down so slow that it can be tweaked for a 10g tank but has enough flow for my 8 foot SPS tank. It is rated at 3,000gph but seems to have almost double what my Maxspect did which was rated much higher. I am guessing the cage and internal tolernaces causing it to slow when it got a little dirty had something to do with that. ice cap pays royalties to Maxspect because it is a good respectful company. Like their two decade history in the ballast industry I see them being very successful with these pumps for quite some time.