Best Powerhead

[shifty51008]

I will say that I had a Tunze for 10-11 years that required one impeller replacement $35. I have two MP40's, Gen 2, that are about 7-8 years old $400 X 2, two new wet sides $95 X 2, and now they are acting up. Shutting down when the flow is too slow(guessing it's the bearings). Which stops me from being able to use Reef Crest Mode or the pulse modes, so I am stuck with constant or reef crest.

That being said, I just bought two Tunze 6045's from Premium Aquatics for $320 total. One MP40QD would have been $350.

Reliability was the main reason for the purchase. Although directional control was also a factor.

You got ripped off if you paid 320 for 2 tunze 6045's. I hope you ment 6095's or 6055's

 

[GrampaDon]

You belive the earth is flat still also? Lol

So what are you saying? :uhoh2:
Laaaaa laaaaaa laaaaa laaaaaa sorry i can't hear you.

Well like Dr K said tank size can be relevant. I have Tunze 6045 / 6095 /6105
A older MP10W and 2 newer MP40QDs. And any choice would be great.
On my 29g is the older MP10 and the 165g has the MP40QDs [luv em] And the Tunze's are put up for back up.

 

[HefeWeizen]

You got ripped off if you paid 320 for 2 tunze 6045's. I hope you ment 6095's or 6055's

Yes 6095.

 

[catman78]

I have had Tunze 6105's for 4 years. Flawless and very quite. Keep them clean and will last a long time.
Had an mp40 once, worked fine, too noisy @ 100%

 

[GrampaDon]

I have had Tunze 6105's for 4 years. Flawless and very quite. Keep them clean and will last a long time.
Had an mp40 once, worked fine, too noisy @ 100%

Yup I got rid of my gen 2 MP40's for the same reason and traded for some Tunze's. So far I luv my MP40QD's. And like I said the tunze's are still around.

I just looked at BRS at the newer Tunze style's. Pretty nice they now have a built on controller. And very affordable.

 

[Perth_reefer]

Norbert Tunze invented the the powerhead, and TUNZE GmbH is run by his decendants.
best powerheads made IMO.

Henry Ford first mass produced the car but I'd rather have a Lamborghini!
As far as powerheads go a lot of it is down to personal preference and what you want from your powerhead. For me control and aesthetics are far more important than price, for that reason I vote Vortechs. Other pumps just don't come close as far as controllability goes, especially when run through an Apex. I run mine in lagoon mode, reef crest, pulse mode and nutrient export automatically every day.
Because the majority of the pump is outside the tank it also minimises the visual impact of having a big pump inside the tank.

 

[shifty51008]

Henry Ford first mass produced the car but I'd rather have a Lamborghini!
As far as powerheads go a lot of it is down to personal preference and what you want from your powerhead. For me control and aesthetics are far more important than price, for that reason I vote Vortechs. Other pumps just don't come close as far as controllability goes, especially when run through an Apex. I run mine in lagoon mode, reef crest, pulse mode and nutrient export automatically every day.
Because the majority of the pump is outside the tank it also minimises the visual impact of having a big pump inside the tank.

What can you do diffrent with the vortech that you couldnt do with a tunze if your useing an apex to control them? You can set the apex to do every flow pattern you want with each pump except the tunze you can aim.

 

[Perth_reefer]

What can you do diffrent with the vortech that you couldnt do with a tunze if your useing an apex to control them? You can set the apex to do every flow pattern you want with each pump except the tunze you can aim.

I've never run Tunze pumps through an Apex so I couldn't tell you what the differences are to be honest. I know the Votechs are Apex+ Ready, not sure if the Tunze pumps are or not.

 

[jraker]

My tank is 36 gallons and 3 feet long, 12 inches deep and 15 inches tall.

Coral: 2 acans, a torch, a chalice, a bunch of Zoas, a birds nest and a mushroom. I plan to add some montipora, pocilapira (sorry for bad spelling), and maybe some acropora. I am getting more into SPS so there wil be pretty much no more softies or LPS

Thank you so much for the replies, they really help.

 

[C.Eymann]

I've never run Tunze pumps through an Apex so I couldn't tell you what the differences are to be honest. I know the Votechs are Apex+ Ready, not sure if the Tunze pumps are or not.

I know they worked with the aqua surf modual on the old aquacontrollers, so pretty sure they are apex ready

 

[HefeWeizen]

Tunze are Apex compatible.

 

[slief]

For me, it's a no brainer. Tunze's are about the most reliable power heads you can buy and will take more abuse than any pump I've ever seen. I finally got around to cleaning my two Tunze 6205's & one 6105 yesterday after years worth of constant abuse and no cleaning.. These pumps are close to 5 years old and run 0-100% every fraction of second, day in and day out except for at night when they run at 30% and except when other Apex controlled flow profiles kick in for short intervals randomly throughout the day.

That is all coraline buildup and they never skipped a beat and still produced surprisingly good flow without having been cleaned in over 2 years. Let see Jebaos take this kind of abuse.. I bet Jebao's as well as most any other pump would be dead long before they got this bad.

That is over an inch thick of solid coraline growing off the front of this 6105!

And after..

 

[shifty51008]

For me, it's a no brainer. Tunze's are about the most reliable power heads you can buy and will take more abuse than any pump I've ever seen. I finally got around to cleaning my two Tunze 6205's & one 6105 yesterday after years worth of constant abuse and no cleaning.. These pumps are close to 5 years old and run 0-100% every fraction of second, day in and day out except for at night when they run at 30% and except when other Apex controlled flow profiles kick in for short intervals randomly throughout the day.

That is all coraline buildup and they never skipped a beat and still produced surprisingly good flow without having been cleaned in over 2 years. Let see Jebaos take this kind of abuse.. I bet Jebao's as well as most any other pump would be dead long before they got this bad.

That is over an inch thick of solid coraline growing off the front of this 6105!

And after..

Those pics right there should be tunze's reliable pics lol even though they dont suggest them getting that bad it is real life proof. Between that and others that are still useing 10 year old pumps, me included they really are bullet proof.

I tried the jebao's and they slow down in speed within 2 weeks if not cleaned even though they look perfectly clean, but they get a weird slime coating that i dont get with any other pump

 

[jraker]

For me, it's a no brainer. Tunze's are about the most reliable power heads you can buy and will take more abuse than any pump I've ever seen. I finally got around to cleaning my two Tunze 6205's & one 6105 yesterday after years worth of constant abuse and no cleaning.. These pumps are close to 5 years old and run 0-100% every fraction of second, day in and day out except for at night when they run at 30% and except when other Apex controlled flow profiles kick in for short intervals randomly throughout the day.

That is all coraline buildup and they never skipped a beat and still produced surprisingly good flow without having been cleaned in over 2 years. Let see Jebaos take this kind of abuse.. I bet Jebao's as well as most any other pump would be dead long before they got this bad.

That is over an inch thick of solid coraline growing off the front of this 6105!

And after..

wow. i gotta say, that is the most abused powerhead i have ever seen. i think i will go with the MP10QD, though, because of the low profile and the wire not in the tank. i like the controller better

 

[jraker]

thank you guys so much for the input, it has really helped.