Best Reason for Expensive Powerheads?

[jda]

I use a wavebox in my tank - home made, but with a tunze pump and with the same concept. It moves all of the tank water all of the time a back-and-forth motion. I really like them.

Here is about how often I clean my Tunzes... only when the coralline grows so thick that it clogs up all of the input. Muriatic Acid bath will clean these right up... vinegar would just cry and go home at this job.

 

[ReefGeezer]

I have a Jabeo RW8 (maybe a 4 idk for sure) that I've had in the tank for about 4 years. I've replaced the impeller and shaft twice. After about a year, it stopped working on anything but full continuous power. Even at that sometimes I have to play with it to get the impeller started. I had two Jabeo power heads. One quit after about a year and I couldn't get it going again. I replaced it with an old MP40 I bought used. I like it way more than the Jabeo. It is a little noisy but no more than the rest of the equipment in the tank. I like the fact that it moves water in a wider area than the Jabeo. I've been running it for two years without issue. New MP40's aren't nearly as expensive as they used to be. IMO, it's money well spent.

 

[MartinWaite]

Over 35+years I've tried most pumps/wavemakers and I'd never buy another ecotech wavemaker after a newish wetside rusted on me plus I don't rate them wires hanging about outside of the tank poor flow pattern and noisy if have it on more than 60% it rattles itself off. The Hydors I had 3off them and a wave timer all 3 burned out just as ran out of warranty.
Now I do like the gyre wavemakers and at the moment have 4 jacod sw8 on my tank awaiting the release of the red sea gyres then I'll buy a couple of them and move the SW8's out of the tank. In my opinion there is nothing gets water moving better than gyre the jacod cp25 the only thing it got after I bought it 2hnd was after 2.5 years I stripped it down to clean it and it only worked for for couple of days after that then the thing packed in. I'd have another but want to try the Red Sea ones if priced up proper.

 

[volcano1]

I run 6 tunze 6105, 1 tunze 6095, and 3 wavebox. My tank is 96 x 36 x 28 , and euro braced. I need the extra waveboxs to generate a decent wave. The eurobracing doesn’t let the wavebox sit high enough to displace enough water to get by with one or two. In the previous tank 96. 30 x 24 , I ran 2 wavebox to get similar wave.
I run 1 nano wavebox in my Frag tank, 48 x 24 x 8 , and get a good wave out of it.
I’ve been using them for close to 15 years, and haven’t found anything that moves the entire volume of the tank like they do. They do take up some real estate though, and you visually know they are there.
I have a mixed tank , sps dominant, but the los and clam seem fine with the water movement.

 

[artieg1]

MP40s move so much more water than the inexpensive hydors and others. I have some of those as backup or for use in QT. They don't have anywhere near the power of the MP40s.

 

[Mical]

Mp40s QD & MP10sQD on my tanks work well. Lots of flow, ease of cleaning and upon a power loss they start in the proper direction. I had Tunzes & Hydors and on occasion they would start in reverse (suck in) - never again.

 

[B7Joe]

I went with an MP10 purely for aesthetics (I try to avoid cords/equipment in the display) and functionality - I really loved all the options of the controller. I am very happy with my purchase after experiencing the ease of maintenance and excellent performance for its size. I would definitely buy another VorTech and I’d say the only other unit that’s caught my eye is the Nero 5. Would definitely consider as well.

 

[Quietman]

Status...all the cool reefers were buying Eco Tech's and I couldn't resist. I know...what if all the cool reefers jumped off a bridge...?

Seriously I really did buy an MP10 instead of what I wanted, a Tunze 6055, because of all the good things I heard about them here and elsewhere. I now own 2 6055s and my MP10 is in a box in my fish room.

Not to say buy an Tunze (although they are much cooler), get what makes you happy and to heck with everyone else.

 

[Oliver d]

I will stick with my Jebao/Jebcod pumps and they do the same job as MP40/10s just at a 10% of the price of a big brand name.So I dont mind replacing them every 2 or 3 years.

 

[Conor_K]

Love my MP's all around. Power, controllability, aesthetics (no wires in tank), and super easy to keep clean.
One of the few products I have that i really can't see myself ever moving away from.

 

[KenRexford]

My personal feeling is that the most important aspect of any powerhead is its flow pattern and velocity in relationship the the coral and aquascape. I had MP40's on a 6' tank and they were horrible. Switched to gyres and they were fantastic. If I had a 4" tank I think I would go back to MP40's. If I had a 6' tank but my aquascape didn't allow for good gyre flow I would probably put MP10's across the back of the tank.

I also have a 6ft tank. I also notice that the hydors have very strong flow at the start. What made the MP40's "horrible" for you in your tank?

 

[Brew12]

I also have a 6ft tank. I also notice that the hydors have very strong flow at the start. What made the MP40's "horrible" for you in your tank?

Too wide of a flow pattern. My tank was almost dead 2 feet from the sides, but it would strip the flesh off the SPS close to the pump. Because of the fact it is non directional and such wide flow, I couldn't set it up where it avoided parts of the sides of the tank while still reaching the middle.

 

[wranodj]

My Hydor developed an electrical leak. That was the end. Gyres are high maintenance.

 

[SeaDweller]

I run 6 tunze 6105, 1 tunze 6095, and 3 wavebox. My tank is 96 x 36 x 28 , and euro braced. I need the extra waveboxs to generate a decent wave. The eurobracing doesn’t let the wavebox sit high enough to displace enough water to get by with one or two. In the previous tank 96. 30 x 24 , I ran 2 wavebox to get similar wave.
I run 1 nano wavebox in my Frag tank, 48 x 24 x 8 , and get a good wave out of it.
I’ve been using them for close to 15 years, and haven’t found anything that moves the entire volume of the tank like they do. They do take up some real estate though, and you visually know they are there.
I have a mixed tank , sps dominant, but the los and clam seem fine with the water movement.

DANG, that's alot of 6105s. I run 4 and a Gyre and my tank is a 96/24/24. I was thinking of adding a wavebox too.

Nothing beats Tunze, IMO.

 

[Brew12]

My Hydor developed an electrical leak. That was the end. Gyres are high maintenance.

I used to think that about Gyres also. I have 4 of them and it used to take me hours to clean them. Well... I guess it still does but most of it is soak time. Mine came in nice metal containers. I lined one of them with a heavy plastic bag. I fill it with vinegar, unplug a gyre, and put it in the container. 2 hours later I pull it out and put it back in the tank. I should probably rinse it, but I don't. This is the only maintenance I've done for well over a year and I haven't had an issue. I used to have bushing noise issues and those stopped when I switched to cleaning them this way. I try to do it once every month but sometime it gets to 2.

 

[jda]

I have an Max xf350, I think... I have not cleaned it once in almost 2 years. I don't really care for the flow that it creates and I only use it for 4-5 hours a day, but it has been reliable for me so far.

 

[SeaDweller]

Gyres are easy to clean once you get the hang of it. easy to disassemble

 

[thatbamaguy]

For reliability and features.

I use Jebao and have for years. Some last forever and some crap out after 6 months. It's a risk you take but all in all I've still spent much less than buying expensive brands.

For the people saying you don't have to clean, it doesn't matter the brand. If you don't clean the impeller, you will lose some of the magnetic force that drives it. If you don't clean the grill, you won't get as much water in to be pushed by the impeller. This is physics and it does not matter the brand. Clean your pumps often for reliability and consistent flow.

 

[volcano1]

Basically one each corner, two behind rock work on each end near the bottom. 6095 in the back middle.

 

[Emerson]

I've been using Tunze 2x 6055 and 2 x 6095 in my 90gal that have been running great for three years. It is a lot of flow, but what I like most about these is they are DC and controllable. I set up a flow pattern on my Apex that moves the tubulence centerpoint around in the tank, but even if you don't have a separate controller, these come with their own so you can adjust some as well. I did have one motor fail after two years; contacted customer service and fixed and returned to me for free. Are they expensive? Yes. In my journey I like having the controllability, and the fact that they are not disposable.