Jebao PP-4

[Aveet]

I'm looking into power heads for an upcoming 38 gallon reef tank. I plan on having primarily soft corals as I've read that they tend to be more forgiving for new reef keepers.

I'm considering two Jebao PP-4 power heads as they come with the controller(on Amazon) and will help me fine tune the flow in a new tank. Are there any other comparable sized pumps and price points that you guys could suggest? I'm getting lost on Amazon and Ebay. Thanks.

 

[mcgyvr]

Its hard to beat the Jebao PP or SW series powerheads when you want a controllable pump in that price range..

Just pull the trigger and enjoy..

 

[pfan151]

Yea, tough to beat them if you’re on a budget. I’ve got 2 pp8’s on my 90 that have been running for a year so far and I haven’t had to touch them. The controller could be better but for the price it’s hard to expect much more.

 

[Aveet]

Okay cool, I'm not on a tight budget but I don't want to be dropping a lot of money on the "unnecessary" things while transitioning to a SW tank.

 

[Lsufan]

IMO budget is one of the biggest deciding factors in a powerhead. Tunze or a couple mp 10’s would be way better then a couple jabeo, but they also cost way more $. They have a newer Wavemaker called aquami that is a little more expensive then a jabeo but not as expensive as the others. They may be worth looking into.

I have a bunch of jabeos & I find they are really hit & miss. They may last a couple months or they may last a couple years. They have been around for 3 or 4 years now & they have definitely gotten better over time.

For someone new to the hobby it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get a couple jabeos & put that $ u save towards something else. They should give u enough time to make sure u want to be in the hobby for the long haul. If u get a year or so out of them then u essentially got your money’s worth & u can upgrade to something more reliable if u know u will be sticking to the hobby. I would look at the warranty before purchasing. Some suppliers won’t warranty them, but if u look around & do some checking u will be able to find them with atleast a 6 month warranty. That is what I do & I have used the warranty 2 or 3 times because they quit around the 4 month mark.

 

[dt204]

I agree. The jebao's will do the trick just fine at a great price point. The quality is lower, as well as the life expectancy of it compared to higher quality equipment.
I like what the last poster said. These will do you until you get more serious about reefkeeping and can afford better equipment. At that point, the Jebao will be a great backup for you.
Word of advice, if you do get them, make sure to do periodic cleaning to help with longevity! Something I wish I had done more myself in the past

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[Aveet]

If I go with the two Jebaos I will likely have them running at less than 100%. Hopefully that may increase their longevity as that seems to be the problem that people mention.

 

[LeJeune981]

I run 2 jebao pp4s in my 90..softies and a frogspawn...
I'm at about 1/2 power on them both.. and everything is super happy..
I like the fact that the pp series has the master and slave feature
... so one controller can control both

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[Jon0807]

I have 1 SW4 and I'm pretty happy with it. My only complaint about is that the night mode sensor isn't sensitive enough. It goes into night mode in the middle of my light's ramp up and down. I just don't even use the night mode anymore.

 

[Lsufan]

I didn’t mention before but I had two pp 4’s in my 40 breeder & they were perfect for a while. They are perfect for lps & softies & even frags of sps. Once my sps started filling in I had to add a cp-25 to go with the 2 pp4’s.

I actually think the starting & stopping & ramping is what causes the motors to fail. The wave modes & else mode. I like to use them in else mode (ramping up & down) but u have to be careful not to oversize them to do so. In else mode the it ramps from low to high & u can’t control the speed. So if u oversize the powerheads by to much u can’t use else mode because it will be to powerful

 

[LeJeune981]

Else mode is almost too strong in my 90.. though once my frags get a little larger I am hoping to go to that mode... I am in "c" mode with mine... making one turn on and off opposite of the other

I do wish you could adjust the max speed on else mode.. because I prefer that ramping up and down

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[Aveet]

Do you like the movement of 'constant' mode? I didn't realize that the max speed couldn't be altered in 'else' mode.

 

[LeJeune981]

Yeah.. it seems good.. I've got the power halfway up... and the on off spacing at about 2 or 3 seconds..

I don't understand why they call it constant mode though... being that it is not constant..and the 2 pumps alternate there on off sequence

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[snowlynx]

This is an expensive hobby! I consider the PP-4 expensive for my budget, got 2 of them over a few months.

Still been looking for lower cost. Trying a Hydor 200 GPH pump right now, can manually
adjust flow rate but cannot easily move the direction, thinking of adding hose or nozzle
but that bumps the price. The suction cups on this thing is worthless.

I tried the $9 wavemaker on Amazon, stopped working after a month.

 

[LeJeune981]

I have 6 or so of the sun sun amizon specials... 2 500. 2 1500 and 2 dual WaveMaker rated at like 3000 gph

Good for mixing sw for waterchanges

Got one 1500 in my fuge in the return chamber for pushing the water through my carbon and purogen

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[Aveet]

It's a very expensive hobby indeed. I've acquired most of the items I plan to use for this tank through years of FW tanks so I have plenty of room in the budget department.
I've looked at the Hydor koralia power heads too but I like that the Jebao comes w/ a controller built in. I don't want to mess with intricate wave maker setups while I'm still learning how to work a reef tank.

 

[Aveet]

I have 6 or so of the sun sun amizon specials... 2 500. 2 1500 and 2 dual WaveMaker rated at like 3000 gph

Good for mixing sw for waterchanges

Got one 1500 in my fuge in the return chamber for pushing the water through my carbon and purogen

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Dang that much flow would blow sides off my 38 gallon lol.

 

[LeJeune981]

Dang that much flow would blow sides off my 38 gallon lol.

Lol my 90 as well!!!
I've got so many because when I first got into the hobby.. I didn't understand a thing about water movement..and seen things on the interweb about 24x 20x 15x exc turn over rates recommended for saltwater tanks.

Boy did I learn quick about too much water movement lol

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[SycoCell]

I have two, SW-15's on my tank and my apex controls them. I don't run them any higher than 50% on my 120g 6' tank...They're powerful! Have been going strong for a year now.

 

[Aveet]

After reading your guys' experiences I think I'll start with one Jebao pp-4 and see how that interacts with the flow from the canister. I know that I will get enough flow but I really like to build realistic and natural systems, so movement is key to me.