Hydor Koralia or Maxijet Mod?

[dela]

Has anyone tried either those Hydor Koralia Pumps or the ECO Maxijet Mod? I’m thinking of getting the 1200 gph HK for my 90g bowfront tank. Not sure if that will be too much flow, or perhaps too much from one spot. It’s a softies reef. I like the magnetic base idea (been using maxis with magfloats). The reviews seem pretty good.

I wonder how they are long term. And do they do OK with being cycled on/off?

Have not seen any reviews on the Maxijet Mod. The description says it increases flow by 10 times (yeah right). However, it is 1/3 the cost, so it's worth considering.

Thanks for any feedback.

Mark

[AqCons]

I put a Koralia 2 on the back aiming it toward the front and it pushes an awful lot of water. I know the Koralia 2 doesn't seem like much but you're not pushing that water very far like you would in a 4' tank.

[dela]

I was thinking of placing the pump at one side of the tank and shooting across. Actually, doing this along the bottom... Just set up a Crushed Coral bottom and I want to keep particles suspended so they go down the overflow.

Although now that I'm looking, there are a couple of Maxi Mods out there. The sure flow 1600 looks pretty cool, although I would have to buy a magnet for it. In the end, the money would be pretty close.

It seems like the drawback to the HK is the size. I'm hoping the dimensions they list are overall including the inside bracket.

[edwing206]

I have 2 4's and love them. They push a ton of water. They are not THAT big. It's probably because I got used to it. Good pump for the money.

[Æonic]

I have 2 powerheads for flow in my 40 breeder: a MJ1200 (stock) and a Koralia 4. They are on opposite sides pointing to the middle of the front.

The MJ is like a fan, but the K-4 is like..the wind. It's great. High volume but not strong enough to be damaging or to churn up the sand. Plus it's quiet and as was said, not that big. It actually has a cleaner less obtrusive look IMO than the MJ.

The magnetic base is great. As far as cycling, I never tried, but when I fire it up, it often makes a lot of unpleasent noises. I think it's trying to get spinning in the right direction. I'd hate to hear that periodically like from a wavemaker. But I've never really looked into it too much.

[aquabod]

i,ve got a koralia 3 and 4.they are both on opposite end of the 180 (6').i then have 3 mj's 1200 ona wavemaker. i love the koralia,they spread the flow not jet it out.the 4 is pretty strong. you cannot use the hk's on a wavemaker,turning on and off, but you can with the mj's.i use the mj's to break up the flow of the hk's and create a wave type flow in the tank. on you 90 i would have a hk 3 on one side blowing across,or a 4 if you need more flow for corals ect and a couple of mj's breaking up the flow. the koralias can be used on a seio wavemaker.it slows the pumps down but not off which is bad for the hk's and wont last long

[seapug]

I have a HK 2 & 3. They are good, but there is a HUGE difference between them. The 3 is a LOT more powerful than the 2. I can tell you they don't do well with the stop & start. The propeller sits loose on the shaft so there's always rattle on the start up until it gets "seated."

I don't know anything about the MJ mod. Can someone post a link?

[hypernesia]

I have done the Sure Flow 1600 mod to both of my MJ 1200's and the flow is unbelievable. To me its not worth spending the extra $20-30 for the Koralia when, the sure flow mod does the same thing. Have never seen the Eco mod in action

[dela]

Well after going back and forth, I decided to go with the Sure Flow option b/c..

1 - I already have a few maxijets sitting around.
2 - For a tad more than the price of 1 HK4 + shipping, I get two pumps with magnets + shipping.

Hopefully the magnets I bought will work.

Either way, these pumps are really changing the expectations of how much flow you should expect for your $.

[ClayWagner]

I just got two HK3's for my 90gal 3 days ago...love them. Even flow and they don't look tacky like some people said.

[ccorpse27]

Originally posted by dela
Well after going back and forth, I decided to go with the Sure Flow option b/c..

1 - I already have a few maxijets sitting around.
2 - For a tad more than the price of 1 HK4 + shipping, I get two pumps with magnets + shipping.

Hopefully the magnets I bought will work.

Either way, these pumps are really changing the expectations of how much flow you should expect for your $.

You have to tailor your flow to your application. For a lot of smaller tanks the sure flows are going to be overkill.

[dela]

That is a good point. I bought a couple of maxi jet 1200's for a 29g tank and was never really able to use them since they blew sand all over the place and forced corals to retract. In this case, I recently moved the DSB out of the main display tank (the 90g bow) and replaced it with crushed coral, so I'm hoping too much flow won't be an issue. If it's too much, then perhaps staggering the run times with timers might work... sort of like a poor man's wavemaker.

If nothing else, the 2nd pump will be used for blowing crap off the rocks once in a while!

[DGL]

I have built several of MaxiJet mods and they are awsome. Haven't tried the ECO's or other pre built units though. It's too bad the mjmods aren't available anymore they were agreat DIY kit. The Sure Grip power head magnets hold really well, I've got them on 4 modified MJ's and they haven't moveat all.

[Reefer Steve]

I bought two Koralia 3's when they first came out and couldnt be happier with them in my 29g reef.

[reefredy75]

I replaced my koralia 4's with mj mods and now i have 3 mj mods on a wavemaster and like the flow better than the koralia 4's

[yellowwatchmen]

I love my kh3 in my 40 breeder.

[ccorpse27]

You see... different people prefer different pumps. No big deal.

[dela]

DGL, I just bought two MJ mods. Were they out of stock?

Last night I glued magnets on to the holders. Can't wait to put everything in the tank and see how it works!!!

[aquabod]

how can i get mj's mods???

[BangkokMatt]

I use 2 K4's on my 150 sps tank. They push a lot of water and need 'fine tuning'. When you get them right they are fantastic. I am really pleased with mine. I recommend them.

[GatorWPB]

The sure flow mod for the MJ is amazing. Its a nice wide flow and very easy to install. Plus, the magnet they offer is very easy to use with the mount that comes with the sure flow kit.
If you have spare maxi-jets lying around, definitely go with the sure flow kit. One of those would not be too much in a 90 gal tank.
I think the general consensus is sure flow > eco-mod. Mostly because the wider larger housing produces a wider flow. But either mod-kit would be better than the koralia in my opinion.

[flamenco-t]

Here's my take on it.

If you already have MJ laying around and you trust your suction cups mount, then do the MJ mods. I used the Sureflow 1600.

If you don't have the MJ, no magnet mount or don't trust the suction cups, go with Hydor 4.

I have both. I have a bunch of MJ laying around, but trying to find magnet, superglue this to that, epoxy this to that, it's just simpler to buy a hydor 4 and call it a day.

stan

[Pmolan]

I bought Hydors simply because of the way it attaches to the glass.

[ScottL4619]

Originally posted by BangkokMatt
I use 2 K4's on my 150 sps tank. They push a lot of water and need 'fine tuning'. When you get them right they are fantastic. I am really pleased with mine. I recommend them.

How do you fine tune these K4's? I am thinking about getting at least 2 of them for my 125 (6'), but wasn't sure if the 4's would be too much even on opposite ends.

[RoGeTa]

I have two 4's on my 115 and it is only 4 feet across. That is in addition to a closed loop that does about 1000 GPH. You can never have too much flow In fact, I have been recently considering getting another koralia. But, I may just wait and start the upgrade to Tunzes...