powerhead recommendations

ngarcia11892 · Oct 1, 2011

so i was wondering what powerheads you all suggested i have nothing right now just my outlet from my sump giving me circulation i rather like koralia and vortech but vortech is way out of my pricerange iv also seen sicce but i dont know anything about these i want something that i can hook up to a wavemaker such as the smartwave and not have too much trouble programming everything with a reasonable price, the tanks a 54 corner not too long at all. thanks

luke33 · Oct 1, 2011

I wouldn't suggest the koralia's on a wavemaker as i have had bad luck. I like the tunze, koralia magnum, vortec and sicce. Cons for each......tunze, to expensive and not the flow they say. koralia magnum i wouldn't run on a wavemaker. Vortec's are noisy and always need work done to them after time. Sicce, yet to find a negative, maybe there higher priced than the koralia? Personally I like the sicce's over the rest as the value is there, flow is there, startup every time the right way, efficient, and they carry a 3yr warranty. A 3yr warranty on a powerhead is unheard of imo.

Aquaph8 · Oct 1, 2011

Your gonna get a lot of Vortec and Tunze. Both are pretty expensive though. Koralia makes a great budget pump. I didnt care so much for the Evolution ones though. The standard K-3s and 4's are pretty decent pumps. I used them for years, I have Tunze pumps now and I love them.

ngarcia11892 · Oct 1, 2011

whats wrong with the koralias on a wavemakers and the evolutions jw?

Aquaph8 · Oct 1, 2011

I had two 1400 evo's and they kept having startup issues because of a faulty bushing. Then I replaced the bushings and the pumps lasted a while before they had start up problems again. They just didn't last like my old 3s and 4s did.

ngarcia11892 · Oct 1, 2011

oh ok thanks for the heads up

AZDesertRat · Oct 1, 2011

I have two Evolutions 1400's on a Reefkeeper Lite which have over 1.5 million starts and stops on them, yes, 1.5 million! They are set to switch every 30 seconds, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and have been doing so since March 19, 2010. They broke once early on and Hydor sent replacement front grills quickly no charge and have been going strong since then.

For the price I could replace them like 10x and still have less invested than with two Vortecs so I'm perfectly happy with them.

subielover · Oct 1, 2011

AZDesertRat said:
I have two Evolutions 1400's on a Reefkeeper Lite which have over 1.5 million starts and stops on them, yes, 1.5 million! They are set to switch every 30 seconds, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and have been doing so since March 19, 2010. They broke once early on and Hydor sent replacement front grills quickly no charge and have been going strong since then.

For the price I could replace them like 10x and still have less invested than with two Vortecs so I'm perfectly happy with them.

But they still look like crap, lol, well compared to a vortech anyway. I must say though, that 1.5 million starts and stops ain't bad

mojo · Oct 1, 2011

I am a tunze guy for sure. I really like the nano streams. The vortechs are nice but for the money I use tunze. Even in my saltwater mixing tank is a tunze 6045

florida reef · Oct 2, 2011

I had some koralia's on my tank before I switched to vortechs. IMO vortechs are the way to go. They are a little noisy sometimes when they pulse but a small sacrifice for the low they produce. I have never used tunze so I can't really comment on those.

gws3 · Oct 2, 2011

I have MP40s in the display, and Evolution 1400s in the frag tank. The Koralias are well designed and reliable for that price point. A good substitute if you don't want to spend more. However, I need 3 of them in the 40 to acquire comparable flow to the 2 MP40s in the 90.

spscrazy · Oct 2, 2011

I had the evolutions on a red sea wavemaker in a week they started running in reverse they replaced the guards a few months later they blew out the front grill replaced them a few months later grills blew out again they say they are made for a wavemaker but they just don't hold up maybe if they made the grill better or redesigned it seems to me that desert rat is the only one who has one that has lasted I got a sicce voyager 4 to replace one evo & so far after several months it's still going strong I just cant afford the mp40s or I'd get them

ngarcia11892 · Oct 2, 2011

could the problems with the koralias on wavemakers just be that its not a koralia wavemaker? if use it on a wavesmart could it help?

spscrazy · Oct 3, 2011

think it's just the stop/start of the impeller hitting the grill bumper guard & the fact that the grill is just not made sturdy enough to handle it so don't think the mfg of the wavemaker would make any difference