Power head advice!!!

zoajunkie83 · Feb 18, 2014

so ive been dealing with saltwater aquariums since 2003. 90% of my experience has been fish only, started reefs around a year and half. my tank is doing well not having problems but looking in to better advice for flow, planning on getting a few upgrades to the cheap nock off chinese power heads i have! so i want better ideas of placement, not looking for crazy expensive equipment, ive been doing the keep it simple technique and have been growing a good amount of corals even with me currently deployed! forgot i have a 55 gal tank. all advice will be much appreciated! Thank you R2R

JOE

redfishbluefish · Feb 18, 2014

I'm not sure what the "cheap (k)nock off Chinese power heads" are, but if it were me, here's what I'd be looking at. By the way I'm currently running three Vortech MP40's and one MP10.....mucho cash. If I were to start a tank today, I'd be seriously looking at Jebao Powerheads....and YES, they are from China. I think they give you the biggest bang for the buck.

gtbarsi · Feb 18, 2014

What size tank do you have that you are looking to upgrade the powerheads in? Please provide gallons and dimensions. Also what do you have for power heads currently? It may make sense to add a new powerhead and keep one of the ones you currently have.

For general use power heads I think the Jebao power heads are where you should start. Let us know what you have and we can make some suggestions.

teen · Feb 18, 2014

tunze nanostreams and koralias are what i run. ive been looking for a vortech mp10 for a while now, im getting tired of low balling people haha

mike007 · Feb 18, 2014

I started out buying cheap power heads only to disappointed with flow and control. But being a reef addict we always want the best of the best so we keep upgrading.lol Ecotech mps ,Tunze are some of the best in my opinion.

zoajunkie83 · Feb 18, 2014

i should have been more clear sorry typed during work time lol. looking for best powerhead good flow, yes bang for buck! my tank is a standard 55 gal, so 48" long cant remember but think 13" wide. and the power heads were given to me from a friend that bought them on ebay and upgraded to koralia's. the flow of them doesnt seem to perform well anymore. if i know what brand and was able to get repair parts would try that route but figured id just go with new ones. i will take a look at the tunze and Jebao Powerheads. i always use to run rios but seemed that circulation wasnt spread out as good as they shoot a sraight stream.

BTW i appreciate the responses back.

gtbarsi · Feb 18, 2014

I would ditch any power head that was replaced by a Koralia.

I would go with two Jebao WP25s, the new dual powerhead kits they sell have a single controller to manage the two power heads and has even more control than the originals. One has enough power to generate nice waves in that tank, and the other could be setup for random flow from the opposite side of the tank. That would more than cover you for the entire life of that tank.

If you go with Jebao powerheads plan on cleaning them every 3-4 months or so, it will extend there life. That said it is a good idea to do this with all pumps, but some people indicate they think that the Jeabo pumps are more likely to have problems if not cleaned often. I have had mine for about 3 months and I have not had any problems.

If you go the dual powerhead kit, make sure the kit comes with the Jebao power supply for the dual kit. There has been a lot of issues with people trying to use the wrong power supplies on the dual kit. Additionally some people are suggesting that the aftermarket power supply FishStreet sells is problematic.

AZDesertRat · Feb 19, 2014

I loved my Hydor Evolutions, had over 2.5 Million trouble free starts and stops on them via a RKL controller but about 6 months ago switched to Jebao WP-25's and they are an amazing pump.

3dees · Feb 19, 2014

I'm retired and can't pay the price for Vortec's or Tunze's. I replaced my Hydor's with a Jaboa wp40. awesome pump with built In controller. I actually turned It down on my 120 gal. I think the wp25 would be plenty fo a 55.