Lets talk power heads, in tank flow

[DesertReefT4r]

Like the title says lets discuss power heads. What you have and had in the past. How it worked for you. What you did and did not like . Reliability, easy of maintance, easy of programing, flow rates. Anything and everything. I want to hear what you have to say. I would like to see some info on Maxpect, Icecap, Tunze, Vortex, Jeboa, Hydor, Current USA, Sicce ect. I need to pick out power heads for my 4 ft 75g reef tank which will be mostly sps.

 

[Big G]

Put a Current USA eFlux wave maker in my 90 about 6 months ago. Two powerheads at 2100 gph; it can handle up to three powerheads. Like the preprogrammed choices and flexibility to alter as needed.

 

[Greenstreet.1]

Vortech fan over here been running them for years have 2 mp40’s and 1 mp10 in my 75g controlled by my apex. I love a lot of flow.

 

[thetaggeffect]

+1 on the vortechs, love everything about them except the price.

 

[Mark Bianco]

Years ago I had 2 vortech didn't like them for 3. reasons. One when it sped up I could hear the whining sound. Two and its a personal preference thing I didnt like the Mickey Mouse looking ears on the outside side of the tank. Three you can not adjust the flow direction.

I replaced these with Tunze and never looked back. Yes a slightly larger footprint in the tank but are easily concealable back in the corner and you have the bennifit of being able to aim the flow in whatever direction you want.

As a foot note it's way way easier to maintain the vortech pull the wetside soak it replace it and done. With Tunze you need to remove the whole pump and deal with the wiring.

Not a Vortech hater I just prefer the Tunze controllable, but both are excellent products.

HTH
Mark

 

[Greenstreet.1]

Almost forget LOOK MA NO WIRES IN THE TANK [emoji33][emoji23]just had to do that.

 

[Mark Bianco]

Almost forget LOOK MA NO WIRES IN THE TANK [emoji33][emoji23]just had to do that.

You are 100 percent correct my friend.

One other thing i did forget to mention there are some studies that suggest direct flow is not the best flow when growing corals one should use indirect flow.

If one belives / subscribes to this theory then being able to adjust the direction becomes even more valuable.

Mark

 

[Greenstreet.1]

To be honest the fact that no wires are i. The tank was the main selling point for me many years ago.

 

[Fallguy44]

I have 2 Sicce Voyager 4's on my 90 gallon with a hydor controller. Super quiet. I have them alternating and no noise on start up. 3 yr warranty. Only downside is that they are a little bulky and grey in color. But so far very happy with their performance.

 

[Forsaken77]

Like the title says lets discuss power heads. What you have and had in the past. How it worked for you. What you did and did not like . Reliability, easy of maintance, easy of programing, flow rates. Anything and everything. I want to hear what you have to say. I would like to see some info on Maxpect, Icecap, Tunze, Vortex, Jeboa, Hydor, Current USA, Sicce ect. I need to pick out power heads for my 4 ft 75g reef tank which will be mostly sps.

I have used Hydor Korallia and Korallia 3G's (every size), Sicce Xtreme's 2120gph, Sicce Voyager 4's, Vortech MP40's, Icecap 3K gyre and Maxspect 250 Gyres.

I can tell you my all around favorite pump was the Sicce Xtreme pumps. The 2,120 gph pump was $105. This is a SUPER SMALL pump, self cleaning impeller, with very open grating. It pulls a ton of water from everywhere. Sicce has since come out with an adjustable DC version of this pump and it can do all the ranges of all the AC versions. It NEVER clogs or slows because the vents are so far apart. This is my favorite for performance and low maintenance. Dead silent and the dimensions are 2" x 2.75" x 2.5". Very small and powerful. AC & DC are same size.

The Vortechs take the cake with aesthetics and ease of maintenance. Only having to remove a wet side and not unplug anything goes a long way. Having an extra wet side makes it as simple as swapping it out.

From all the pumps I've used, I would limit it to those 2 brands.

 

[Susan Edwards]

I have 3 current efluxes and one other wavemaker. The efluxes are the 2100's and run only at 30% in a 125. 2 pulse, one steady. The odd one runs prob. 40 % on steady. I have a ton of flow. Two on each side near back pointing at an angle toward middle/front. 2 next to each overflow (twin overflows) and pointing toward the opposite corner glass. As I get corals, might need to move a couple down but right now, I fight the sand storms in spots and know if I lower the pw's, I'll be blowing sand.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

2 MP10S or 1 MP40 on a 75g 4ft tank? Of should I just go with a FX230 and add a second later? Or just 1 Icecap 3k?

 

[JBKReef]

2 MP10S or 1 MP40 on a 75g 4ft tank? Of should I just go with a FX230 and add a second later? Or just 1 Icecap 3k?

2 MP10's would be able to provide ample flow for a 75, however if you want to future proof yourself and anticipate an upgrade maybe bite the bullet and do 2 MP40's and know when you want to go larger your powerheads can handle it

 

[Greenstreet.1]

2 MP10S or 1 MP40 on a 75g 4ft tank? Of should I just go with a FX230 and add a second later? Or just 1 Icecap 3k?

I run 2 MP40s and 1 MP 10 in my 75g but I like a lot of flow

 

[Amado]

I have a 6 ft 125 and I have 3 current 2100
Running in pulse mode. I have two ice cap 3k
One on each side of the tank running on 80% random. I have a lot of flow in the tank right now.
I am really impressed with the ice cap 3k for $149 a pump I don’t think you can find a better solution.

 

[Dragon52]

I used Hydor, Maxspec Gyre 250s in my 185 but currently use 1 MP40 set to gyre mode & get plenty of flow, thinking about getting a 2nd one at some point. I really like the ease of use on them & no wires in tank.
My tank is 60x24x30

 

[vetteguy53081]

Have vortech MP60's and 40's in my system... Like them all. Also have E-flux 5500 for wavemaker. Super quiet and great water movement and magnet holds well on my 3/4" thick glass. Lastly have Icecap 3K's also.

Mp-60QD Powerful but of all ....like the MP40 QDs !!!

 

[SFKINNC]

I use a Hydor Korallia in my BioCube 32 — Very low flow from it. Tank is small and I didn’t want to overdo the water movement. I like the magnetic mount. I like not having to deal with suction cups that don’t last.

For my freshwater tanks I have used Penguin powerheads for close to 40 years. They just keep on going if you clean them every once in a while. I have only had ONE break in all that time!

Recently, I cheaped out. I ordered SunSun powerheads from e-bay or Amazon. One powers a sponge filter in my 10 gallon saltwater QT. It moves a lot of H2O. The other is used to move water back and forth from buckets to tanks doing water changes. And it doubles as the pump for vacuuming the bottom of the tanks. Both of these powerheads cost less than $10. So who cares how long they last? If I get a couple of years out of them I will be satisfied.

 

[jasonrusso]

I have a red sea c-130 32 gallon. I have 3 current eflux 660 pumps along with the main return pump (with the Im spin stream). I have a 1050 pump on standby in case, but I think I am more ocd than the corals. They all seem happy, but I feel like I need to blow their doors off, lol.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Thanks for all the input everyone. Keep it coming as I would like to hear more. After much back and forth deliberation I finally picked my powerheads. I will say I am all for quality and getting what you pay for. That said I went with Jeboa PP 8 powerheads. I just could not ignore the low price and functions. I have done my research and know there is a risk they could crap out after a few months. Some say you could have bought a better pump after buying the first and then a second replacement and I totally get that and agree to a point. Others feel if they need to 1 or 2 replacments its still cheaper then the top end pumps. I wanted to give the PP 8s a try and if they crap out I will get some XF230s.