power heads
 

so ive been making excellent progress on my way to launching my first sw reef, but now i need to figuer out flow if you will hehe.

anyhow i have an 85 gal 48x18x22 drilled with overflow, 29 gal sump with about 1000 gph return, im interested in some xenia, zoa, some shrooms, and down the road a clam thats the goal right there atm.

what im wondering is what are some good brands to look at, or maybe some good reading material on what one should look for in a power head. like is it better to get as much flow out of say two or spread it out a bit with lets say four heads for instance.

ive had a few people mention a closed loop system but im just not brave enough to drill glass, and let me tell you what loading this thing up and taking it somewhere isnt exactly on my to do list if you will lol

thanks for reading

koralia by hydor. Good water movement, low power consumption, and stays where you put it. It stays in place on your glass via a magnet not suction cups like most others. The only draw back is it's a bit larger than other powerheads. But I really like this product.

With a 1000 GPH circ pump, you can plumb the return lines to maintain plenty of flow. Check this out. [url]http://wetwebmedia.com/pbh2oret.htm[/url]

I agree with the hydor koralia power heads. they are very nice power heads

I run both hydor and maxi-jets, and have no complaints with either. The hydors will give a more dispersed flow than the maxi-jets unless you mod the maxi's, but the price and reliability on both are good, IMHO.

I run three korilias--one #3 and 2 #4's giving me 3200gph in the tank which is a good flow for lps corals
The disadvantage of the Korilias is that they can't be run on a wave or variable timer. The only work around I have found is to run too maxi's on the timer--this will give some shake up of the flow.

I have my maxi-jets and hydors all on x-10. I like to leave them run for about 50 minutes in any one configuration, let the tank rest for 10 minutes, and then restart in a new configuration. Cycles like this for 10 hours during the day, and then 10 hours at night. (1pm,1am,2pm,2am)

In my 90 gallon I have four maxi-jet 1200's. I have them on a timer to go on at random times. I initially started with two but no way is that enough...four for sure!

tunze

korilias get my vote I love mine

If you are going to use wavemaker heed the advice given earlier regarding Korilias and wavemaker. They do not well. Go Tunze or MaxiJet if you are going to use a wavemaker.

I just ordered two Koralia 3's for my 29g.
It's true that they don't work well with timers or with most wavemakers. They need a controller that lowers their wattage rather then turning them on and off completely. They work with Seio controllers. I heard Hydor was going to make a wavemaker device specifically for the Koralias.

I have used korallias, maxijets and aquaclear and my vote goes to maxijet... inexpensive, reliable, can use on a wavermaker, small, mods available to boost flow if you need to. available at most on line or lfs stores... oh, I could go on but I think you get the idea.

I also like the koralia's ( value and performance for the dollar )

Tunze's, Seios, Koralias, or Maxi-mods. All are good powerheads with slightly different strongs points.

Tunzes: Good flow, slightly more concentrated cone of flow, built in magnet mount.

Seios: Strong flow, a little more concentrated and far reaching than the Tunze, but no Magnet.

Maxi-Mods: Cheap, good flow, but more diffuse and not as far reaching as Tunze or Seio's, no magnet. Supposedly works on wavemakers...kinda. Cheap.

Koralias: More diffuse flow like the Maxi's, so not very far reaching. Built in Magnet mount. Also pretty cheap.

You just have to use what works best for your application. I've got 2 Seio 1100's on the Seio controller, and a Koralia 2 for fill in.

thanks for the information everyone, definitely gives me a good place to start looking. more than likely going to order some off of the internet and "patiently" wait for them to get here :P bad jokes aside thanks again for the good information

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11575332#post11575332 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by leoslizards [/i]
[B]I just ordered two Koralia 3's for my 29g.
It's true that they don't work well with timers or with most wavemakers. They need a controller that lowers their wattage rather then turning them on and off completely. They work with Seio controllers. I heard Hydor was going to make a wavemaker device specifically for the Koralias. [/B][/QUOTE]

this is what I heard also. do you have a link to a seio controller --we don't seem to have access to them here.

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11580259#post11580259 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by capn_hylinur [/i]
[B]this is what I heard also. do you have a link to a seio controller --we don't seem to have access to them here. [/B][/QUOTE]

Well it wasn't easy finding the official website but I found it. Here's the link to the [url=http://www.riopump.net/new_products_folder/ElecController.html]SEIO Electronic Controller[/URL] and here's the manufacturer's home page, [url=http://www.riopump.net/Newmain.html]TAAM[/URL]. They have a couple cool new things. Enjoy! :)

maxi jets

Marine depot sells the seio electronic controller. Theirs 2 reviews and both are negative. [url]http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idProduct~TA3771~tab~4.html[/url]