About Power Heads

[nukeonekitty]

I have a six foot 90 gallon tank and I need to move some more water than my filters are capable of. My friend has a powerhead that uses a magnet to hold itself on the glass instead of suction cups and it was pretty powerful. Any ideas which powerhead this is?

 

[Colin_T]

Tunze do powerheads that have magnets but there are a couple of other companies doing them too now. Tunze is pretty good but expensive.
Go to the LFS and see what is available in your area.

 

[waterdrop]

so would you put them (Tunze) mostly at higher end SW equipment Colin? their stuff looks pretty fancy

 

[Colin_T]

Hi waterdrop

Tunze have some great ideas but I wouldn't say they are the best. They are definitely on the high end of the scale tho.
I think the best powerheads for general use are Aquaclears, likewise the best hang on back filters are Aquaclears.
The best external canister filters are Fuvals or Eheims, my personal choice is Fluval. However, with the exception of the Eheim wet/dry filter Eheim are very good quality.
The best heaters are Rena and they also do the best air pumps.
The best blowers (big airpumps) are called "The Pump" and are a Japanese model.

Back to Tunze, they do a lovely progammable timer for their programmable powerheads and they work a treat. The powerheads are pretty good quality but could do with a tiny modification to make them more efficient. They also produce a bit more heat than most other powerheads. This can lead to a minor increase in temperature in small tanks but doesn't make much difference in a tank containing more than 100litres.
Some of their protein skimmers aren't as efficient as they could be either. They draw the water in from the same area as the return water exits the skimmer. This leads to well skimmed water but it reskims the same water over and over.
They do a nice surface skimming unit that works pretty well but you need to replace the filter wool inside them with a sponge so it doesn't block up as quickly.

I think if Tunze could reduce its price a bit then it would be great stuff to buy. Until they become more competitive price wise, I will use other brands for other purposes.

 

[andywg]

Historically, Tunze are the innovaters when it comes to SW equipment. They were the first to bring in propellor based powerheads with a low head and wattage and high water turnover rate. They also made the first powerhead designed for aquarium use and designed and sold the first protein skimmer that utilised venturi rather than an air pump to get air into the skimming chamber.

They have recently been the first to introduce a mass water movement device (the wavebox) to simulate the effects of waves breaking across the reef.

Their price is somewhat high, but their quality is second to none. That is their chosen way, preferring to design for the premium end of the market for people who want the best. They are the only manufacturer that can compete with Eheim for longevity and reliability (their nanostream range is the first range of powerheads made by machine and not hand).I currently use two 1001 powerheads on my FW tank for water movement. They proudly state Made in W Germany indicating an age of at least 17 years.

I have found the skimmer fine, adequate flow around the skimmer inlet/exhaust will prevent massive overskimming of the same water. RC notes it is comparable to a similar priced Deltec (the benchmark against whom most simmers are measured) in performance.

The new Tunze Nanostreams are competitive in price. If you look at the price per LPH of the NS against Hydor's koralia, there is little in it, and the Tunze is cheaper on electricity. The downsid to the NS is the weak fail point of the holding bracket.

 

[pastabake]

If its just to move water then this might be the one you are looking for: Hydor Koralia 1 Circulation Pump 1500lph £28.95 from wharehouse aquatics.

 

[Nim]

Are you looking for these pumps for freshwater or saltwater? Tunze and Seio are regarded to be the best in saltwater but there are cheaper alternatives if you want something for freshwater. There are some wave maker stream pumps on eBay with a rating of 5000lph for a fraction of the price of tunze or seio but with a steel shaft instead of ceramic. I have heard steel shafts dont last very long in saltwater but I have yet to see it happen.

Apart from this, since you are in the US, have a look at mjmods.com and they have converters to convert your standard Maxijet pumps into stream pumps for a very small price.

Nim

If its just to move water then this might be the one you are looking for: Hydor Koralia 1 Circulation Pump 1500lph £28.95 from wharehouse aquatics.

I have a Koralia 1 and it is a bit of a dissapointment as compared to koralia 3/4 or other stream pumps. Even though it is rated at 1500lph, it is not strong enough to push the current to an end of a 3ft tank. I would always suggest something more powerful like a 4000lph+ pump and maybe even larger for a 6ft tank.

Nim

 

[jgray152]

Here is the best powerhead you can buy.
<a href="http/www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage..._propeller.html" target="_blank">http/www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage..._propeller.html</a>

I was going to go with the Tunze Nano powerheads but from reading reviews, the clips break and the housing is not very secure.

So I decided on this Tunze. Have yet to by it but from the reviews it seems to be a good one. Im going to use one for now in my 6' tank but I may use 2. 11 watts @ around 1400 GPH each. Sounds pretty good.

<a href="http/www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage...stream_kit.html" target="_blank">http/www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage...stream_kit.html</a>

The Hydor Koralia I was looking at as well but from the reviews it doesn't move much water when you get a foot away from it.

 

[nukeonekitty]

How about the Hydor Koralia 4 (1200gph)? It is about 60 bucks and I like that price, is there anything as good or better for around the same price?

 

[nukeonekitty]

Oh yeah, it's a fresh water tank too.

 

[jgray152]

How about the Hydor Koralia 4 (1200gph)? It is about 60 bucks and I like that price, is there anything as good or better for around the same price?

The impeller in the Karalia does not seem very good to me. 1200GPH is a fair amount of water but can it move the water far enough through the tank to make it worth while? Are you going to need two or three of these instead of one of the Tunze?

 

[nukeonekitty]

That's very true. I guess I will have to think about it.