Power heads

[Keith Hill]

Hey all,

I have had 2 power heads running in my tank for about a year now. I'm not sure if it's just me but I am finding i have less flow now do people take their power heads out and take them apart often. I'm thinking of doing this but just wanted to see if others do aswell

 

[LetItReef]

Roughly I take it apart and clean it with a toothbrush with runing hot water two-three times in six months.

 

[Keith Hill]

Roughly I take it apart and clean it with a toothbrush with runing hot water two-three times in six months.

Ok thanks

 

[SaleenCB]

Yes. Always a good idea to remove the powerheads and clean them. This can usually be accomplished with a toothbrush but you can also soak them in a vinegar solution as well, which will help dislodge any hard to remove debris. I usually take mine apart and clean them at least monthly. Once it becomse a routine part of your husbandry maintenance, you will find it is a fairly quick process.

 

[mcarroll]

+1 to cleaning your powerheads every 6 months. Set a reminder on your phone or something if you have to. Do it whether they seem to need it or not since most of the time the wear happens down in the impeller-well and sometimes can't even be seen without completely drying out the pump.

However...

If you have corals growing, they are the more-significant reason for the reduction in flow.

Flow + Obstruction = Turbulence

Corals generally specialize in becoming obstructions (especially branching corals) so they can get out into the flow of the water.

The more successful your corals are, the less flow your tank will have.

This is fact.

(And a great reason to pick up another set of Tunze pumps! )

 

[Keith Hill]

I will def clean them. As far as corals obstructing that is durrebtly not a problem as my corals are still growing. I think I'm going to add another powerhead as I ha e been having some problems with sps and I think I need more flow.

 

[AdamNC]

I clean mine once a month.