What are some good budget powerheads you'd recommend?

[jgirardnrg]

I have 2 of these in my 60g cube and love them:

RPM Accessory Pack - ReefBreeders.com

The RPM Accessory Pack includes a snail guard and usb power adapter for your Reef Power RPM. These are not included as a default with the RPM.

www.reefbreeders.com

I also put in a couple of the smaller Jebao's to direct flow into dead spots. The thing with the Jebao's is if you use the master/slave function they cause a lot of interference with other equipment. If I have those on master/slave I cannot use the remote for light (Reef Breeders Photon V2+). They were also interfering with the master slave setup on RPM's. Logan at Reef Breeders is top notch to deal with and should an issue arrive he responds very quickly. One of the RPM's was making a slight bearing noise randomly. Without hesitation or questions, Logan sent a brand new impeller which arrived in 2 days.

 

[BZOFIQ]

Otherwise, I'm a Tunze guy.

Great powerheads, just not on a small budget.

 

[radsdad]

Innovative Marine WaveLinks have been good for me.

 

[Cell]

Great powerheads, just not on a small budget.

Some viable options in the $80-150 range.

 

[Cole.mormon]

Direct current powerhead that have a better flow pattern

 

[BZOFIQ]

Some viable options in the $80-150 range.

Yeah, you can buy a tunze for that low. I like 6095s and higher models.

DC stands for Direct Current, as apposed to Alternating Current. Controllable pumps, as far as I know, are all DC. There are advantages: controllable flow, quiet, it doesn't put line AC voltage in your tank.

I'll go against the grain on Hydor. I've had 10 or so. They all, eventually, fail and leak line voltage into the tank.

I have some for more than 10 years.

When I moved tanks, a friend told me to get Jebao and I did, bought 6. Within a year they all went to garbage. Still had Koralias which were thrown in a box to be donated to local club. Out of the box they came out and back into the multiple tanks, they are still working along with some newer Koralias and Tunzes.

That said, full disclosure, I did have one old type Koralia 4 that was indeed leaking voltage. With voltmeter (and some guidance from Brew) unplugging one by one until I found the offending piece. This however is not uncommon with all the equipment we have in our tanks. People have leaky heaters, return pumps etc. etc. The Koralias had a cord that was all stiff and had the surface affected by urchins in my previous tank. Both Hydor and Tunze include a cord protector with their products nowadays.


So to sum it up:

Is a DC pumps going to be safer? yes.
Can you control the flow of a DC pump? yes.
Can you buy a reliable DC pump within a budget? that depends on what your budget really is.

 

[92Miata]

Jabao have been great for me, I have some older ones which are fine, but I prefer the ow series for the compact size, they have a new sow series now too which I haven’t used, I have one on the shelf as a spare just haven’t needed it.

I have a couple of OW-10s and they're fantastic.

Get some Koralias, will work for 5-10 years.

Stay away from Jebao, unless you only need it for 12-14 months.

I have 6 jebao pumps. None have failed. 4 are significantly older than 12-14 months.


When was the last time you bought one?

 

[hotdrop]

The Nero 3 just came out at 150. Might be a good deal and it’s maybe better designed than the 5 so won’t kill fish

 

[BZOFIQ]

I have a couple of OW-10s and they're fantastic.

I have 6 jebao pumps. None have failed. 4 are significantly older than 12-14 months.


When was the last time you bought one?

Well, I bought WP-25s and WP-10s in June of 2014, all went to crap.

I bought OW-40s in July of 2018; I said NEVER again.

 

[Cole.mormon]

4th for the jebao

 

[Ocelaris]

I've had 4 jebao pp-15 and they lasted for about 2-3 years. Unfortunately I bought the nice s1 controllers which don't work with the new sow ones, so I'm probably going to save for a tunze which is solid and easier to clean. My main flow are gyres, which move a lot of water, but a pain to clean. I had some sicce pumps which were rock solid, but bulky.

 

[Katrina71]

Jebao are fine. You need a backup anyway. Even expensive ones will fail.

 

[92Miata]

Jebao are fine. You need a backup anyway. Even expensive ones will fail.

The whole thing is funny.

People spend like $100/yr per pump on new wetends and other parts for ecotech vortechs, but they're 'reliable'.

The whole knock on them the first decade was how unreliable they were and how expensive to maintain.

 

[Katrina71]

The whole thing is funny.

People spend like $100/yr per pump on new wetends and other parts for ecotech vortechs, but they're 'reliable'.

The whole knock on them the first decade was how unreliable they were and how expensive to maintain.

Bought most of mine 2nd hand too!

 

[Rod999vance]

Jebao SLW series. Work great, easy to configure, great value.

 

[blasterman]

Cheap? Reliable? Hold my beer......

SunSun 800s. $8.95 from Amazon. Basically Koralia knockoffs and in my experience more reliable with more mounting options. My 800s move as much water as my Koralia 1200s. They also don't have the start / reverse problems as some other cheap pumps. So, I threw them on some smart plugs and made a nice super cheap wave maker. Obviously external motor/DC pumps are where the industry is going, but the Koralia type heads move a lot of water on a budget.

That Hygger pump has my attention. I am so over MP10/40s because of their overly wide flow pattern. The Hygger looks like it is more directional which is what I want.

 

[Silent]

The whole thing is funny.

People spend like $100/yr per pump on new wetends and other parts for ecotech vortechs, but they're 'reliable'.

The whole knock on them the first decade was how unreliable they were and how expensive to maintain.

I have a 10 year old MP10 all original runs on high in my tank right now. Reliable and inexpensive to maintain in my book.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

I have a 10 year old MP10 all original runs on high in my tank right now. Reliable and inexpensive to maintain in my book.

I've not had any issues with my vortechs either. Been running them for years

 

[jaganshi066]

The Nero 3 just came out at 150. Might be a good deal and it’s maybe better designed than the 5 so won’t kill fish

Old post but my Nero 5 has killed two of my fish

 

[Acros]

Old post but my Nero 5 has killed two of my fish

They will send you a free anemone guard now.

I have the similar Jebao SLW-20M and I’m very happy with it. The flow from Jebao is very directional, unlike Nero 5. This lets me use them as gyres on opposing walls of my tank.