I have a k4 on each end of the back glass pointing forward and a split loc line dividing my return aimed toward each front corner to cross the flow from the korallias. My return is a bit undersized at a mag 7. I want to find a mag12 in the future. My reef is mostly zoas right now with some Lps. I plan on adding much more sps in the future. Right now I have a red planet, purple pocillapora, green and red digi. All frags. The polyp extension is fine. They all seem happy. My tank is recovering from a slide. Deitrus built up over time and I had several problems. I moved the korallias from each end to the back glass and that seemed to help.
How many korallias and what size for a std 125g?
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tmb22
New member
If you plan on adding more SPS, Koralia's wouldn't be the way to go. For a 125 gallon, I'd save myself time and money and just get two Vortech MP40's. It may be a pricey initial investment, but trust me... If you're serious about keeping SPS, you'll end up with a pair of MP40's down the road anyway.
What makes a 600$ power head worth 600$? So you can dial back the flow and use wave makers? If I remember right maxi jets can do that. Do vortecs make a wider less direct current? I may look into the tunze. I am not trying to bash vortec. I have just never used them so I don't know why everyone loves them so much. I have a reef keeper lite to use as a wave maker. I know the korallias do not do well that way so I did not control them. Any input is appreciated. In the past I used my current setup to grow birds nest, acroporas, millipora, pocillapora, and even some smooth skin stuff. My deitrus built up and I had salinity dip from what I assume would be salt creep. Long story short is I grew out these frags and mini colonies for a couple years and then there was a long period of decline. Calcium reactor malfunction, salinity dip(I tested one day and it was slightly under 1.020. I preferred 1.025). Many factors combined killed off my sps. I was in school so I was moot looking at my tank the entire day. I know I had my rocks catch a lot of deitrus tho and I made this post to see how people avoid dead spots in tanks this long.
nanshaw2001
Older newbie
Following along....I just set up a 125 and have korallia's in mine.
Sisterlimonpot
Premium Member
if you ask me owning mp40s is more of a social status than anything, yes they're great and they have many different settings but we all pick 1 setting and leave it there after the novelty wears off.
the one thing I like about the Ecotech pumps are that they don't take up so much room in the tank. but here are lots of negatives that go with these pumps too. $450 each is way too much for them and i've always said that, but it's true these pumps are considered to be the upper end pumps and they tend to hold their value. these are selling for roughly $400 used so at least you know you can get most of your money back if you ever decide to get out or need some quick cash.
the one thing I like about the Ecotech pumps are that they don't take up so much room in the tank. but here are lots of negatives that go with these pumps too. $450 each is way too much for them and i've always said that, but it's true these pumps are considered to be the upper end pumps and they tend to hold their value. these are selling for roughly $400 used so at least you know you can get most of your money back if you ever decide to get out or need some quick cash.
glennr1978
New member
I don't think people own vortechs for social status. I think that's kinda funny, though. I've owned many different power heads over the years and IMO, nothing else comes close to the effectiveness of a vortech. Yes, most people likely do settle on one setting and leave it there indefinitely. Makes sense to me, once something works well, don't change it!
However, if the OP isn't quite ready to take the plunge into a couple of mp40's, a few koralias can and will definitely get the job done. Unfortunately I haven't used koralias in so long that I couldn't honestly give a decent recommendation. When I was using koralias I had something like 4 of them (don't recall which models). I had 2 at each end of the tank and had them directing flow toward the pumps on the opposite side of the tank. I grew sps just fine using this method. The reason I use vortechs now is because they have a higher output but a smaller footprint. That, and because they are so tunable.
That was what I was getting at. I specifically said korallias because I knew if I didn't the first post would be something to the effect of get a bigger return and 2 mp40s and you can have whatever you want. To me tunze look like the same thing and they don't cost much more if I am not mistaken. I think an mp40 would look out of place on my tank. Lol, I have not spent more than 50$ on any given thing. I DIYd almost everything. My uncle gave me his old fixture(coralife 250watt halide and 4x96watt pc bulbs), 50$ for a leaky tank that I reseated 3 years ago. Petco 40g breeder I put baffles in. I traded frags for most of my current equipment. In my opinion my reef is an example of anyone can do it for almost any budget. I paid 500$ for a calcium reactor with an aqua controller, but it is not hooked up yet. I use a carbonate cartridge and fans for cooling and evaporation. That is keeping the all around 9dkh. I am getting to where I want it to be a quality looking display so I am looking to get a new tank for a bean animal overflow, 55g sump or 65. I have both I am just not sure which to use. Cabinet grade stand and canopy and other visual improvements.
It's cool that you've DIY'd almost everything so far. And I don't mean to be a downer, but eventually, you're going to have to spend some serious cash to keep a 125 gallon SPS tank running. Some of your more pricey items will include a protein skimmer, (and yes, price definitely makes a difference regarding skimmers. Plan to spend at least $500 on a skimmer worthy of a 125 gallon SPS tank) instead of fans you'll need a chiller eventually ($500 at least), you won't be able to have DIY salt, and you'll have to do water changes frequently, so plan on at least $70 a month for salt. Test kits will also be a recurring cost if you want your parameters to be stable. Keeping a premium SPS reef isn't exactly a financial walk in the park... But back to the main point...
Some of the most important aspects of keeping a successful SPS tank are lighting, stability, and flow. Every great reefer starts somewhere, but all of them end up with equipment that can really get the job done. I've personally never seen a halfway decent tank with Koralia powerheads. I'm open to be proven wrong, but I've just never seen it. Tunze's and Vortechs are the way to go in your case. If you had a 29 gallon tank with a pair of Koralia's, I'd say you might be fine... But not with a 125. Koralia powerheads are meant to be plugged in, and left that way. If they are used on a wavemaker, they will break within 6 months. Do yourself a favor. Don't skimp on flow. You'll regret it.
Canadaguy
New member
Sorry MP40's are definitely not a social status but are good quality pumps unlike the korallias which are complete garbage IMO. I have owned a few and finally got frustrated with them stopping for no reason and the restart issues. You get what you pay for in this hobby I have learned.
DenizYILDIZ
New member
You may consider Hydor wavemaker 2 with Korelia 5 and 6. And with adding small fee you can get light sensor so while lights out it will pass to night mode automatically.
Sisterlimonpot
Premium Member
I'm going to disagree, lets look at when they first came out with that big price tag, only the people that had plenty of disposable income were the ones that bought them and it was a way to segregate themselves from those that couldn't afford them. The people that owned them talked them up like they were the best thing, in a way dangling that carrot in front of those that couldn't have them, so what did the ones that couldn't afford them do? They saved up for them and anticipated the day that they would own their very own MP40. Once they finally got them, I guarantee they weren't 100% satisfied with the functionality or what they got for their money (I know I wasn't), it was something they couldn't have and that made it larger than life, they made the conscious effort to do what it took to have it and to justify their efforts in saving every penny and wasting so much money, they jumped on the band wagon and said, "look what I could afford!" and what was everyone's response?... "that awesome, I wish I had the money for an MP40...." fast forward to today and spending that much on a pump is almost a rite of passage in this hobby now.
The fact that ecotech had something new and innovative went a long way in this hobby, I don't think that this was ecotech's marketing plan but they took it and ran with it and continued to be successful with all their other pumps and products.
I always hear that this is an expensive hobby and that if you can't afford it then find another.... I have a 125 gallon and ran a successful tank for years with just modded maxijets ($20 each used) and VHO's. I DIY'd everything that I could because I could never see the reason why some things are so expensive and couldn't justify spending the cash.
When I read statements like, "you have to spend money in this hobby...", "You get what you pay for..." I think that people are just regurgitating what they read somewhere else, not so much from experience but through other people's opinions.
I'm not trying to bash ecotech or anyone for that matter, all the pumps that I have in my tank are vortech but that's not what makes my tank successful, throwing money at this hobby doesn't equal success.
reefling,
I also owned korallias and never had a complaint with them. If you want my opinion, a pump is a pump is a pump, they all have their pluses and minuses, if you want controllability on a budget then you can get the hydors wavemaker like Deniz suggested, they will work great and within a budget. Some pumps run on AC, some are converted to run on DC, some have many programmable settings some have none, but don't let people discourage you by saying that you have to spend money or get a particular pump to be a major player in this hobby. Your knowledge, time and effort are going to determine your success.
Alex T.
Active member
I disagree with some of your statements. While I do own a number of MP40's (4), I didn't buy them for social status or to "dangle a carrot" in front of others. I love that this is one where the majority of people are very helpful, insightful and willing to give their past experiences. That being said, there are many ways to skin a cat. Sure, you could run a successful SPS tank with pumps other than Vortech and Tunze. It's been done, and still is done. However, I personally didn't like the aesthetics of a modded maxijet, large koralias or Tunze pumps taking away from the simplicity in design I was trying to achieve. In my very first tank, I had many Koralias. The propellers would jam constantly, and I didn't like how often they would have to be cleaned to work properly.
It's a stretch to think that this is NOT a "pay to play" hobby. Better skimmers, lighting, circulation pumps, reactors, etc. are more expensive. Paying to play is not exclusive to this hobby, or any other. We can bounce cliches and other sayings off each other until we've all got carpal tunnel disease, however cliches and other sayings don't get passed on without something behind them that rings true more often than not. A rumor or saying that doesn't die is not a rumor. Since we're in the SPS forum, you're going to generally find people that spend a lot more time and money on their tanks than those that frequent some of the other forums. It's just the nature of the hobby.
These aren't regurgitated things that people are just throwing out there for no reason. Ecotech arguably has the best customer support of any company in the hobby. That costs money. Most people who have a problem with a Koralia or Maxijet probably just throw them away and get another one instead of talking bad about them because their disposable items with cheap parts. I've had many, and the one that's left is used to stir up new salt water for a water change. It also jams very often and needs to be fiddled with.
Whatever you choose, one thing rings true. You have to maintain your equipment to make it work optimally. People that spend that much money on pumps probably spend more time with their tanks anyway, since their investment is considerably larger. Sure, there are exceptions, but I doubt that people entering the hobby come right out of the gate with custom tanks, Bubble King skimmers, Vortech pumps and enough quality lighting to brighten up a third world nation. It evolves through experience and seeing what works best for your animals.
I don't enjoy tweaking equipment to get it to work properly, so on my most recent build I spent the money up front to get what I wanted. I'm fortunate that I can do that, and don't in the least bit knock those who can't afford it. I've found that waiting to get the right piece of equipment when funds allowed was much better than having to do it twice with less than quality equipment.
JMHO
dirtyBit
Member
I run two Koralia 1400's on each side of my 90g. I recently bought a smartwave and have it set on 15 sec. each side. The undertow is great. It's weird when say the right side of the tank is on and all the corals are swaying towards the right. It's like the undertow is stronger than the flow. Anyway, everything seems happy and I get great PE from all my SPS. I've been running the 1400's for about 8 months and they've worked great. One of them kept stopping about once a week. I called Hydor and they sent a replacement part (2 year warranty) and I haven't had a problem since.
The 1400's are great for the 90 but for your 125 I would go at least one maybe two sizes bigger.
On the issue of whether Vortechs are "needed" I'd say... It depends.
All in all I've spent about $300 bucks for 4 pumps and a wavemaker. Are they as nice looking and as quiet as Vortechs? Probably not. Would I use them if I had them? Probably. But I don't think my young reef at this point needs them. If I'm fortunate enough to have my frags and small colonies grow to the point that flow is impeded I would probably bite the bullet and grab something else, but until then I have a few years before I "need" to buy something more expensive. JMHO.
P.S. Please don't tell my SPS the flow they feel is not being made by a Vortech they might RTN from the shock. :eek1:
The 1400's are great for the 90 but for your 125 I would go at least one maybe two sizes bigger.
On the issue of whether Vortechs are "needed" I'd say... It depends.
All in all I've spent about $300 bucks for 4 pumps and a wavemaker. Are they as nice looking and as quiet as Vortechs? Probably not. Would I use them if I had them? Probably. But I don't think my young reef at this point needs them. If I'm fortunate enough to have my frags and small colonies grow to the point that flow is impeded I would probably bite the bullet and grab something else, but until then I have a few years before I "need" to buy something more expensive. JMHO.
P.S. Please don't tell my SPS the flow they feel is not being made by a Vortech they might RTN from the shock. :eek1:
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Digitalelectric
New member
Ill throw in my 2 cents. I have a 125. Nothing is more annoying then trying to get flow right in these things for sps. I bought a koralia, then another, then another. Not enough flow. After getting 4 Koralias I just said screw it and got a $120 pump and placed it at one side of the tank pointing long ways. Flow is good now
Dmorty217
Saltwater Addict
i have 2 of the hydros in my 125 and a polario pump, think it is the 25ml?? it is shaped like a torpedo and can be set to switch flows left to right on the fly in preset times, 15sec,30,45,60 then by the minute up to 20mins per cycle. The flow is amazing and simulates a more natural look. They retail for 350 but i think it is worth the money especially since i got mine for much cheaper. One con is the big pump isnt easy on the eyes if you cant somewhat hide it unlike the vortechs. Tunze wavebox is big and ugly but does a superior job. I know several people who have ditched the wavebox for the vortechs and havent been pleased with the results. Not to say they arent out there. My 2 cents
