Power head advice

drknudsenx2 · Apr 27, 2020

My set up came with 2 Koralia hydors which both stopped working. I have a 75 gallon 48” long, and plan on simple corals to start. The cycle is almost finished, will be moving my clowns over this week from QT.
I would appreciate advice on what I should look at for powerheads- of course I would love wave makers with all the fixings, but to start I need to keep it fairly inexpensive and can upgrade in the future. Are the hydors acceptable, or what other recommendations would you make? How much flow should I aim for?
Thanks a ton.

Homebrewer · Apr 27, 2020

Lots of threads and videos about flow. Depends on what type of coral and what type of fish you are trying to keep. You calculate it on how much overturn per hour. For instance if you want 50x overturn for a 75, you’ll need to push a total of 3750 per hour. Multiple powerheads rather than one really strong one are usually recommended.

Hydor is just fine, I ran my tank on them for YEARS before upgrading to Nero 5’s last year. I did notice my temperature got rock-steady when I started using the Neros. The Hydors seemed to add heat to the system. Nevertheless, you could get quite a few Hydors for cheap, but you will replace them eventually. Many will tell you that you should go big now, that way you won’t spend even more money (total) later. Though having a few extra Hydors is never a bad thing, you can always use them in the future to mix batches of saltwater or for a QT tank.

Joeg · Apr 27, 2020

Have you investigated why the Hydors you have stopped working. They might just need to have the baskets and impellers taken apart and soaked. Just a thought since it seems odd that they both stopped working. A little cleaning might get you back in business without spending any money. Good luck with the tank.