power heads

[longhorn13]

ok, this may be a dumb question, but i am still pretty new to fish keeping...what do you need a power head for?

 

[smithrc]

under gravel filters use then... on the not of a lifter pipe to draw the water down throught the gravel...


Quote for practical fish keeping

According to our last reader survey, about 45% of people still use them for undergravel filtration, while 41% use them for water circulation and the remainder use them for other things, like pumping salt water back into the tank during water changes and powering protein skimmers, reactors and home-made filters. However, with the recent explosion in the popularity of naturally-filtered reef systems incorporating live rock, plenums or deep sand beds, we think that the average powerhead is now more likely to be used for recirculating water around a reef tank than perhaps anything else.

 

[thecichlidaddict]

They can be used to run undergravel filtration systems. They can also be used to run sponge filters. They can be used on their own simply to get water moving around larger aquariums. You can get filter attachments for them so that they act as water movers as well as biological filters.

 

[big_fresh]

You also use power heads for fluidised bed filters......i've read about them, apparently very good for biological filtration and doesn't need to be replaced for a very long time.

 

[Bol]

I've never used them, but here's a question I've been wondering for a while:

Is a powerhead basically just an air-operated water pump?

 

[big_fresh]

Not really, a power head has an impeller like internal filters and overflow filters. the difference being is that a power head does not do any filtering itself, but assists in the creation of currents by sucking water through it. It may be used to "power" a source of filtration such as the UG filter that thecichlidaddict was talking about.

 

[Bol]

So powerheads are electrically powered?

If so, then out of curiosity, what is the difference between a "powerhead" and a "water pump" (as you may see in a catalog)? Just that one uses an impeller and the other (I'm guessing) a piston?

 

[big_fresh]

oooh, ya got me thinking.....way too early in the morning to do that!!!

i think that they are synonymous. Basically 2 things with the same meaning

can someone let me know if there is a specific difference?

 

[smithrc]

a power head has a certain form... round inlet on the bottom water is them pumped through it and comes out of a directional nozzel at 90 degrees - normally with an air venturi on it too...

a water pump is just a pump...