what pump to use for good waterflow?

[coral acquisition]

hi just wanted to know what pumps you guys use to produce good waterflow on a 60gal and a 10gal

thanks

 

[Avi]

There are different choices but what you should look for is a powerhead that creates as broad a flow as possible rather than a narrow, forceful, concentrated stream of water. The ones that do that vary in price, with the higher-end ones like Tunzes and Vortechs, and the relatively lower cost ones like the Maxijet modifications and Seios. I find that Maxijet with a Hydor Flow Deflector adds to the desired randomness of the flow in my reef even with much stronger powerheads going at the same time.

 

[jkable]

Here is some info you may find helpful. I bough 2 of the rio Seio m1100 pumps over the summer. Within 2 months neither one worked, and when they did work they were noisy. The customer service i recieved from tram was bad with little comunication. They did fix the pumps, but it took a month and 15 bucks for shipping. I wish i would have just spent more money and bought a tunze. I will never buy anything from Rio again, waste of money in my opinion.

 

[Avi]

If you read these forums, I think you'll see that a lot of people have bad experiences with Sieos. I, on the other hand, have had only satisfaction with the three that I've owned and used for two years, each. On the one occasion that I had to deal with TAAM, they were actually very good and sent me the part that I accidentally broke myself. So, I have been completely satisfied with them, and I start and stop them whenever I put food in the reef. They always start up again immediately. I will say, though, that I've tried two Rios and they were useless and frustrating.

I've never heard anyone say anything bad about a Tunze and the Vortechs look mighty good. I particularly like the idea of keeping the motor out of the water so there is no heat generation from them.

So...there is some "gamble factor" with the Sieos that ought to be factored into your decision on which powerhead to buy...No gamble factor with the Tunzes. I don't know if there's enough of a track record on the Vortechs to say, yet, while their design is the best of them all, IMO.

 

[GSMguy]

for a 60 gallon i would get two tunze nano streams 6045
for the 10 gallon i would get a hydor koralia 1

 

[Avi]

Nice looking new product that I haven't seen before, GSM...Thanks. I find the Hydor Flow Deflector to be a pretty good quality item and cheap to boot. I'd have to think these Koralias are relatively good, too.

 

[Spuds725]

I've run dual Seio M1500s on my tank for over a year--- no problems at all-- restarts every time. I run one or them on a SEIO controller to vary the flow... I can't comment on TAAMs customer service as I haven't had to deal with them.

I did buy the controller when it first came out and one of the outlets did not work so had to return it-- I didn't deal with TAAM but with an online retailer to get a replacement one.

I have read of the Hydor Flow deflectors stopping working after a while.. I think a vinegar soak would remedy this... definitely work good on the 10 gallon as you don't want to blast everything with a straight line power head flow

 

[GSMguy]

the hydor FLO director is a good product but it is not really enough flow they reduce the flow of the pump you use by almost half the koralia is brand new and it uses a propeller like the tunze it moves much more water but the output is very spread out a koralia 2 might even be ok on your ten gallon the koralia seems to be a good pump they are on backorder though

 

[jnguyen4007]

I use Hagen AquaClear in all my tanks and I have no problem of what so ever.

James

 

[GSMguy]

a powerhead like the aqua clear is more of a pressure type pump designed for the old undergravel filters the seio tunze and hydor are made in the last couple years strictly for water movement in reef tanks much better

 

[coral acquisition]

wow! thats a lot of information! thanks guys! i guess i will just have to choose from all the pumps and see which one can fit my budget.

thanks

 

[GSMguy]

no problem