Powerheads?
 

Which powerhead is a better choice for my 55g?
Seio 620 or the Hydor KORALIA 2?
I kind of like the looks of the seio 620. Its more vertical and doesn't stick out as much as the hydor. Both are comparable in price and flow.

Seio has a good rep where as the "egg" is newer. Both have been used successfully, only time will tell which one will outlast the other. My vote Seio. The egg is just too big looking.

I prefer the Koralias. I would personally get a 3 for a 55 though. The Seio is good but give me the magnet holders of the Koralias anytime.

I agree with the Koralia's, I have Seio's (M2600, so there is a big difference :)) but the fact that the Koralia's come with a magnetic holder for the prices you can't go wrong...suction cups ALWAYS fail sooner or later. That and the power draw on Koralia is generally lower than the Seio.

Actually, I am upgrading to Tunze 6025's, you may consider those...a little more expensive but well worth it for worth the $60ish price tag (MarineMadness or eBay)...they can be modified to run at double their standard flow rate.

i went to the store to buy a koralia and when i was allowed to feel the flow of a koralia 4 compared to a tunze 6025 i immediately knew i wasn't going to get a koralia.

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11302764#post11302764 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dwd5813 [/i]
[B]i went to the store to buy a koralia and when i was allowed to feel the flow of a koralia 4 compared to a tunze 6025 i immediately knew i wasn't going to get a koralia. [/B][/QUOTE]

Care to elaborate?

Brandon

sure.

I had been researching powerheads for some time, and was certain that i wanted a prop style pump for the wider flow pattern that they offer compared to other powerheads. looking at the available choices I found the vortech, tunze, and koralia. well, the vortech is too expensive, and too powerful for me, the tunze was looking good but still a bit more than i wanted to spend, and the koralia seemed to me like the perfect blend of affordability and functionality. so off I went to the store to pick up my koralias. i figured on using the #1 for my tank, probably two or maybe even three.

when i got to the store, I asked about them and was brought over to a tank that had a koralia 4 running in it. The store owner told me to put my hand in the tank and feel the flow coming from that pump. when I did that, I noticed that right at the pump there was a nice flow that while strong, did not feel like what I felt when sticking my hand in front of an aquaclear or other pump. it was still rather gentle. as I moved my hand a bit furthur away, about 6 inches, I could no longer feel anything.

Then I was brought to another tank that is at least 8 feet long, which is using two 6025's as the only powerheads in the tank, and allowed again to place my hand in front of the pump and feel the flow. I was again struck by the difference between this and the pumps I was used to. the same "soft power" feel was coming from the nanostream, but in this tank I could still feel the current at a foot away.

my choice was made based on the comparison of the largest koralia and the smallest nanostream. I feel like the nanostream (6025) outperforms the koralia (4). in very small tanks, the koralia would no doubt be a wonderful choice, but for anything 3 feet or longer, I feel like the nanostream is more suited to the task. the koralia does a great job of dispersing flow, but the tradeoff is that it doesn't push very far. i feel that the nanostream accomplishes both. that coupled with the unbeatable service provided by Tunze compelled me to spend the few extra bucks.

I have 2 koralia 2's in my 50 gallon corner tank and beside been very economic (4.5w each) thet do a great job!... the column of water is pretty wide and smooth... :p

I'm fairly impressed that a 4.5w powerhead can push 2300lph... also they are very quiet and maintenance is minimun... :D

Thumbs up for the koralias

Pablo

I have a pair of Koralias and love them.

I use both K4 and Tunze 6025. The K4 puts out so much more flow than the Tunze. The Tunze does focus the flow which is why a hand test may give the impression that it is more powerful, however, the K's disperse flow which is generally better for your reef.

can i ask why you bought the tunzes?

Basically because they are smaller. I wanted to hide a couple of powerheads in rocks and so for that job I went for the Tunze.

I think Hydor should develop and sell those artificial rock covers for the powerhead... i think they could potentially be very popular :D

JME
But Koralia's are cheaply made and don't push very much water.
Especially across a 4 ft. long tank.Go for the Maxi-Jet 1200 with a mod.

The large size of the Koralia is turning me away from it.
I have been reading about the maxi-jet 1200 with a mod.
Does it really push 1600gph? That sounds like alot of added flow, almost to much improvement to believe.
How many would be needed for a 55g?

For me it really came down to size...the Tunze 6025 is a little smaller than a baseball, a lot smaller than I thought it would be. The K4's do have a rather large footprint (that egg gets big on the 4 series). Plus there are threads here on modding the Tunze 6025 that almost double the out of box flow rate (from 660GPH to ~1100 or so GPH) which I like...basically you can get a similar flow rate in a smaller package with the Tunze. When it comes down to it the K4's, Seio's or Tunze are all good "powerheads" and it should come down to your budget and personal taste as all of them will provide flow in your tank.

As far as the Maxijet, I've heard people refer the modded flow rate as LPH (liters per hour) which would be dramatically less in GPH...there are Maxijet mod nuts here that can tell you more than you ever wanted to know (check in the SPS, Advance Topics and/or Equiptment forums)...I am *NOT* one of those experts. :)

How much flow should be in a 55g?
I am going to be having a mag 3 with a bermuda rouge hob skimmer. Can I count that as flow? If so do I count it in total gph or cut it down because its going to a skimmer?

Gotcha... thanks for the reply, dwd5813!

Brandon

When I start tearing up corals and/or start splashing water out of the tank I stop adding flow. Thats what I have observed at the beach on the reef and if it's good enough for the ocean then it's good enough for me.

id say koralie also alot cheaper up front and wattage wise

I have the Koralia 4 and the flow is hard to direct, it comes out in a V pattern, it is hard to miss corals in my 180, so having to TRY to direct two streams is a total pain. I have replaced both with a Tunze Stream.;)

Thanks guys.
I will have to go and check out the KORALIA agian for size and see if I can feel the flow.

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11302825#post11302825 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dwd5813 [/i]
[B] The store owner told me to put my hand in the tank and feel the flow coming from that pump. when I did that, I noticed that right at the pump there was a nice flow that while strong, did not feel like what I felt when sticking my hand in front of an aquaclear or other pump. it was still rather gentle. as I moved my hand a bit furthur away, about 6 inches, I could no longer feel anything.

[/B][/QUOTE]
That is because koralias put out a V pattern. That is why they are kind of hard to aim. For the price they are a good pump. But if money isn't a problem the nano is a good way to go.

I replaced my maxijets with two Koralia 4s in my 60g. It took some tweaking as far as directional flow and toning down the strength of the flow (disrupting the sandbed). As others have stated, the flow is in a V pattern and gets weaker further from the powerhead. However, by placing them at the correct height and angling off the glass, I get flow across the entire length of my 4 ft. tank. I especially like the weaker flow at the two ends of the tank as it provides an area of 'moderate' flow for those corals that don't like heavy flow.

The size of the K4s are a drawback, but given the gph, low power consumption, great magnets and price, I'm very happy with them.