Favored powerheads?

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shwnicus

Large Fish
#1
Feb 22, 2006
100
0
0
Kirkwood, MO
#1
Hi all,

I'm getting ready to re-setup my 20gal that crashed as a result of a winter power outage. I am going to go ahead and get new hardware, though the powerheads I had were ok, they were a maintainence nightmare, so I'm thinking about upgrading them. So what is everyone's favorites?

Also, I ran a powerfilter to stir up the surface tension, but found that to be kind of a pain. anyone do anything interesting with surface agitation that doesn't involve a powerfilter?

thanks much!
 

C

CoolWaters

Superstar Fish
#2
Dec 10, 2006
1,028
1
0
Milpitas
#2
u dont need a filter to stir up the surface.

just powerheads will do.

im using maxi-jet which works great for me (fish.com sells it at the best price and free shipping $50+) the best part is that i has 3 suction cups to hold the powerhead down.

dont get penguin powerheads...worst ever even tho great flow it only has one suction cup...the flow pushes it to the wall and makes a rumbling noise...

btw if u somehow ended up with a powerhead that isnt held down tightly enough zip ties would be the best your best bet...
 

S

shwnicus

Large Fish
#10
Feb 22, 2006
100
0
0
Kirkwood, MO
#10
yeah, I saw that aqua-ball thing a while ago and thought it looked interesting. has flow control too. that said, looks like the consensus so far has been Seio (can't afford tunze). so I went and looked that one up.....

good GOD thats a lot of flow! And I know I'm going to hit the perverbial red button here, but perhaps too much flow for 20 gallons? I plan of re-creating the R.I.P. tank in my signature, so wouldn't 620 GPH be bit much for a clown fish to swim in? I'm really curious about that.

thanks for all the replies!
 

C

CoolWaters

Superstar Fish
#11
Dec 10, 2006
1,028
1
0
Milpitas
#11
some guy has over 900 gph in there tank. which was fine.

clownfishes love flow. seen some happy frys swimming against the current.


600 might not be enough seeing a 400 gph in a 10g was moderate. but dont take my word for it.
 

SALTY WATERS

SALTY WATERS

Large Fish
#12
Feb 6, 2005
893
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47
Waterloo, ON Canada
#12
That is the great thing about the SEIO's, unlike other powerheads that have a small head that shoots a strong high velocity spray that can damage some corals, the SEIO's have a high flow rate with a low velocity. (I think velocity is the term)
I have a 20g and use the SEIO 620, plus my return pump is rated at approx 250gph. That somewhere around 43.5 times turnover in my main tank... Trust me The SEIO is a good choice and you can adjust the flow slightly on them.
 

T

TheFool

Large Fish
#14
Apr 19, 2006
323
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#14
I have a Tunze nano powerhead, and a newer Tunze nanostream, both are very nice, the nanostream has everything you want at a price, and you can also get one that runs on a single controller. Nice, but a bit pricey.... The traditional powerhead is very small, reliable, but not especially powerful.

<<Note - in Europe, Tunze is only about 10% more expensive than Seio on a litre moved per euro rate, so Seio only sells when Tunze is unobtainable. There are new stream pumps out now from AquaMedic (not especially cheap) and Hydor (much cheaper, lower quality, but with mag mount)>>

You could always NOT use a powerhead , but use a cannister filter. You can put a surface skimmer on it, run it as biofilt if ou want to, and use the return flow to provide water movement. I did this for a while. I did use the biofilt in the cannister as I wanted mucho biofilt in the system (10 UK gals) and didn't care about nitrate accumulation as I changed 25% twice a week.
 

C

CoolWaters

Superstar Fish
#15
Dec 10, 2006
1,028
1
0
Milpitas
#15
SALTY WATERS said:
That is the great thing about the SEIO's, unlike other powerheads that have a small head that shoots a strong high velocity spray that can damage some corals, the SEIO's have a high flow rate with a low velocity. (I think velocity is the term)
I have a 20g and use the SEIO 620, plus my return pump is rated at approx 250gph. That somewhere around 43.5 times turnover in my main tank... Trust me The SEIO is a good choice and you can adjust the flow slightly on them.
Click to expand...
r u saying u have a 6g tank??


BTW

i think this power head is great!!!

Water Pumps & Wavemakers: Hydor Koralia Water Circulation Pump

too bad it sold out...
 

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S

shwnicus

Large Fish
#19
Feb 22, 2006
100
0
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Kirkwood, MO
#19
for the record, I ended up with 2 of the hydor koralia pumps and am very pleased. great gentle yet substantial water movement, and the magnet mounts are great. they are a little noisy, but by no means annoying (at least to me).
 

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