Clean your powerheads..

[Sailfinguy21]

Dang.. i didnt think to clean my powerheads much and i noticed an acropora of mine has been dying. Another acropora my hawkins has been getting algae on its tips as well.. thrn i noticed hmmm flow is kinda low my torch coral is barely moving and my purple cepitulara is standing upright vs being blown in the flow.

I just checked and cleaned all my powerheads with a toothbrush and took them apart... holy crap man all that algae and dettious build up... turn them all back on and its like a hurricane in my tank again.

Newbie mistake i made...

 

[andrewkw]

Not only this they look terrible when dirty. I try and clean mine about every other month. The more you do it the easier it is.

 

[krash7172]

Yep. When my tank was new I had to clean it frequently. Not so bad now but I check it monthly.

 

[ZoWhat]

How does ....

Algae build up on PHs = Acros dying ???

 

[Sailfinguy21]

How does ....

Algae build up on PHs = Acros dying ???

Koralia power heads and well all power heads have cages protecting the propellar. The outer cages get stuffed with algae and detrious overtime and thus the propellar cant suck in water as efficiantly. Thus lowering flow and low flow on some acroporas can kill them

If you cant understand that i dunno what else to say..

 

[ZoWhat]

Koralia power heads and well all power heads have cages protecting the propellar. The outer cages get stuffed with algae and detrious overtime and thus the propellar cant suck in water as efficiantly. Thus lowering flow and low flow on some acroporas can kill them

If you cant understand that i dunno what else to say..

I gotcha.

 

[Hypnotoad]

Cleaned the sludge off the impellers on my power heads and skimmer the other day and it’s like a whole new tank. Getting more flow now at 30% than I was at 70%. That was after about 2 months from the last thorough cleaning. A vinegar soak takes care of the coralline too.

 

[Sailfinguy21]

I gotcha.

In thid pic is a koralia power that i use. See the fins/cage ? Over months mine got algae growth on them and also food and other detrious and water cant get pulled in the pump with this cage clogged up. I used a tooth brush to clean it up.. opened the cage cleaned inside and the propellar too. If propellars get slime buildup it actually lower flow too

 

[ScottR]

Hey. Great reminder. I just gave mine a check and there’s a pineapple sponge on it. But it does need to be cleaned.

 

[ZoWhat]

Hey. Great reminder. I just gave mine a check and there’s a pineapple sponge on it. But it does need to be cleaned.

This kinda pineapple sponge?

 

[vetteguy53081]

They are notorious for buildup of sludge in the impeller housing and bubble algae and a film around cage . I have at least one backup for each of my smaller tanks and pull my heads occasionally and use the backup while the other soaks overnight