Power heads

[Cuban_Caballo]

What do you guys recommend as the best power heads ?? What is the GPH ratio per gallon ?? If my aquarium came with a built in over-flow and has the flow tubes already, is a power head still worth getting ( i plan on getting more rock and coral if that makes a difference)?? 

[RandyFolds]

You probably need powerheads. There is no GPH to shoot for, really. It is more about what you want to keep. I stand by the adage that there is no such thing as too much current. You can always place rockwork to make slow spots, and much more species require current than not.  I constantly find myself needing more current in tanks and having to move powerheads around to target specific issues (irritations, bacterial and protozoan infections, etc). I would rather that everything had strong current all the time, but never want to fork over the dollars to buy bigger powerheads of equal quality.

The Maxi-Jet series seems to be the standard, and there are all sorts of mods for it - stuff to increase flow, direct current, position the powerhead better, etc. They are cheap and so are parts.

I have a number of Koralias, and while they are a bit better for use in reef tanks due to their design and the way they push water, they are expensive.

Rio also makes decent powerheads, and I know quite a few people that rock them.

I know Bill has some opinions he will chime in.

[Cuban_Caballo]

Thanks for the info !! Now i notice that there are controllable wavemakers and such. Are those better than the regular ones ??

[Bergy]

lanny hit the more popular models.. koralia, rio, and maxijet are the more common popular..

koralia makes a controllabe type, and there are others that specialize in controllable types..

Tunze and Vortech...

the controllable pumps are EXPENSIVE... a MP20 vortech is around $250 per pump... the mp40 is around $350

the tunze is up there also.

korallia contrllable is a little cheaper, but not as popular for some reason... just doesnt have the 'baller' status the vortech has


personally, i dont think there is a benefit to wavemakers... or wave pumps like the vortech/tunze/koralia controllable..

it might be cool to look at though, but the regular pumps will create a more random flow and more turbulance that is less predictable and jsut plain random

so, i guess the recoomendation would be to get what you can afford and what you like...

good luck

b



btw, i have the koralia controllable, with the k6 pumps... (I won it in a raffle at a reefing trade show/ IMAC West)

[pinkorchid]

I have no info compared to the above posts...LOL. But thought I would add I have a maxijet and like it. They are cheap and so far work great.

[psykokid]

I have two Koralia 3's and two Koralia nanos. I had the K3's at the top of the tank providing a layered flow, but some things seemed to do better with more in direct flow. The last big water change i did when i pulled the K3's to clean them and let them soak in a bucket and put the nanos in their place. They have been in there about 3 weeks now.

[Just_Greg]

just to weigh in...

if you use PH's or separate flow pumps, JBJ makes a decent little PH switcher called the Ocean Pulse.  they work pretty well, and aren't very pricy.  they offer both dual and quad models.  i have one running the return pumps on a NC 28 and it does a nice job.

that being said, my fave alternator is a SCWD.  i have three of them running on different systems ATM, and they do a great job.  the one caveat is if you run a pump rated at <500 gph, you get significant loss of flow, but with enuff pump, they do a super job, use no electricity (they're mechanically run by the flow thru them), and are trouble-free.

i have a really cool Oceans Motions 4-way NIB, but my plans for the tank changed, and it now sits ready for me to do something with it when the time comes.  Bill ran one on his 180 gal reef IIRC.

[Bergy]

yea,  the sqwd are ok.. they use the force of the water to switch directions so no matter what pump you will lose a good deal of flow due tothe sqwd...

I love the oceans motions device but that is really the gold standard/cadillac of flow devices...

and the cost reflects that

[Just_Greg]

they use the force of the water to switch directions so no matter what pump you will lose a good deal of flow due tothe sqwd...

with pumps >500 gph, the loss is very little, maybe 10%.  lower-rated pumps lose a lot.

i do agree tho...the OM's are definitely the caddy of switchers.

[Bergy]

loss is loss...  is the loss proportional or linear.. no.. but then again, neither is the 'inherent' loss in head restriction...

i guess the next question would be, is 'flow switching' ALL THAT???

is it good for teh fish/corals/critters, or is it something we just like to think and look at ...

a couple well place powerheads that blow towards each other will create random flow and eddies that will accomplish the same dang thing wont it???

again, this is coming from a guy that had a full blow OM setup...

[Just_Greg]

i guess one of my biggest problems with PH's is they're so gawd awful UGLY.  even if you hide the PH in the rockwork, there's still a power cord dropping down into the tank.  IMHO, simply aiming returns at each other accomplish the same thing without being eyesores, plus there's less to go south on you, not to mention heat dissipation and cost in electricity.

we'll never be able to duplicate the ocean's currents, surges, and wave action, but if i can decrease the laminar flow in my systems without placing ugly appliances into the tank, i'll do that every time.

JMHO...

[Bergy]

yea, absolutely...

the issue is that we have as much flow as possible and to not dig holes in the sand bed...

[RandyFolds]

I have an OM Squirt 4 way collecting dust if anyone is thinking about going big...

[psykokid]

i have a 3/4" sqwd on my return from the sump. My return pump is rated at 780 GPH at 0 head. After head loss and loss from the sqwd im looking in the ball park of around 500 gph making it into the tank.

[cesar]

I can't believe I'm going to chime in this 30 day or older thread but I will. I want to give you my opinion.

I'm a true believer of using something like a Koralia. The MaxiJet gives out too much of a forced stream of water and that can bother some coral. The Koralia has somewhat of a turning effect and doesn't slam against coral. I have used powerful Koralias and I don't like them either. It looked like a Tsunami in that tank. I have a 40g tank and I use 2 Koralia's #2.