Powerheads in a 180

[Phoebe0715]

Okay, I am slowly setting up my 180g and making the move to saltwater! Yeah. Now it is time to decide on powerheads. I have thought about and like the idea of using a wavemaker but not set on it. Here are the two I am looking at.

I was debating between the Seio M2600 with 2600gph or the Koralia 4 at 1200gph. I know I want a mixed tank. Other than that I have not decided what will go in, but I do not want to be overly limited.

I had looked at the Tunze and the VorTech - I would love to have them, but alas, my money has limits! Maybe in a few years I can upgrade!

Also, as far as heaters go. I am debating between 3 250w halides or 2 to 3 400 w halides and 4 VHO's. Will i need a heater at all? If so what do you guys recommend.

That's about it for now. The filtration is taken care of - with upgrades planned for the future. We finished the stand a few weeks ago. We ended up using a burl veneer. It is so pretty. I will have to post pics soon. I am still working on the doors and then it will be time to build the canopy and I have been lurking on here for ideas.

Tell me what you guys think. Any extra knowledge is always appreciated!

 

[Happy Reefing]

I don't know about you or anyone else here, but I need a heater even with MH's over the tank for night time only. If there was no heater on my tank at night, the temp would dip to around 70 degrees with the MH's off.

Personally if Tunze are out of the question, I'd go with the Seio 2600's and get the Seio controller for them. The Hydors are nice, lots of flow with a big opening for less $$...but the Seios are just plain better in mho.

 

[JRaquatics]

You should always have an effecient heater on the tank. Sios are garbage, IMO. They constantly lock up and also have troubles starting at time. I now only use mine to mix salwater. The Koralia 4s are a great product. I have two of them on my 90gal. They are easy to clean, mounts easy and directional, and 8 months and I still have not had one problem with them. So do your research, you will find that anyone who has owned both will say go with the Koralia. Owning/purchasing a Taam product, "Rio/ Seios" are bad choices us reefers have made.

 

[jgs107]

i have 2 maxi jets 1200's modded and thats all the current i need on my 180.plenty of flow.but if you are tearing everything down just drill it for a closed loop and put a OM 4 way on it.

 

[cazzy]

wow... that doesn't seem like enough. I run that on my 75g...

 

[jgs107]

is your tank sps or mixed reef...i dont have but 1 piece of sps the rest are soft or lps corals so i dont need a whole lot of current...trust me its enough

 

[Phoebe0715]

I am going to do a mixed reef. I'm leaning toward the Koralias. Thanks to everyone who answered.

 

[ycnibrc]

koralias is much easier to mount compare to seio. Don't buy the seio controller waste of money. The ultimate purchase will be used set of tunze and the contoller. There are alot of good deals post on the equipment for sale forum.

 

[RokleM]

The Seio's are pieces of junk in my opinion having used them. I switched almost exclusively to Tunze. I use the Hydors to kill some dead areas and are used heavily in my sump/fuge. If you're going to do SPS in the mixed reef, you can still get away with the weaker powerheads (and Hydors and Seio's fall into this category in comparison to others), plan accordingly. For example, if you dedicate half or a certain section of the reef to SPS, you can add additional powerheads to make this area higher flow than the LPS/softie areas.

If you're doing a mixed reef, then 3x400w MH is probably extreme overkill. My 180 has a lot of SPS, and I get away with 2x400w. I keep SPS on the outsides and LPS/softies in the middle. Personally, I would go 3x250 or 2x400 with larger reflectors. If you're not keeping SPS, you could potentially get away with 2x250 with he right bulb/ballast combo.

Yes, you will still need a heater (more specifically heaterS for backup). Mine isn't used hardly at all in the summer, but does kick on multiple times in the winter months at night (my sump/180 is in the basement).