powerheads...

VB68 · Mar 14, 2012

Did a test run of my tank today, everything worked great except the wavemaker. I have MJ1200 w/ laminar flow kit and these things sound like a they coming apart when it starts up(if it starts). Decided to look into other powerheads. Anyone have suggestions on dependable powerheads?

VB68 · Mar 14, 2012

Okay, no replies yet--- Let me re-ask the question-- I have a wavemaster pro and was trying MJpro 1200 w/flow kit powerheads. They just can't handle the on/off cycle. Does anyone else use a "wavemaker" or something else to acheive enough water movement in your tank? What setup do you use? What are some good powerheads- quite, dependable and can handle the on/off cycle of a wavemaker. Oh yea, pics would help to :bigsmile:

caudill187 · Mar 14, 2012

I've run the gamut with powerheads and after spending more than what Vortechs cost on this, I've ended up getting Vortechs. My experience has been that to equal the quality of water movement produced by these pumps, one would need a tunze controller and tunze powerheads...which I think cost more than the Vortechs. I used the newer Koralias on a neptune controller for a while and they just couldn't hold up to the on/off over time. The koralia evolutions would fall apart and start backward over time. These are "controllable" but I'm not sure if their speed can be varied. If you want to buy powerheads to go with your controller.....I'd say tunze.

There may be newer options. Maybe others can chime in.......

julie22 · Mar 14, 2012

I am fairly new in the saltwater world but I took the plunge and bought the Vortech powerheads with a battery back up and I can not be more pleased. My tank is 72" long and I have plenty of flow. I don't think you could go wrong with the Vortechs if you go that route.

VB68 · Mar 14, 2012

julie22 said:
I am fairly new in the saltwater world but I took the plunge and bought the Vortech powerheads with a battery back up and I can not be more pleased. My tank is 72" long and I have plenty of flow. I don't think you could go wrong with the Vortechs if you go that route.

Which one did you get and how many?

julie22 · Mar 15, 2012

I bought the MP 40s and I bought 2 of them with the battery back up. I can sync them together wirelessly and get them to run opposite of each other or together. I am still playing with the different settings on them, but I am very impressed with them and love the look of no cords in my tank.