rotating powerheads

ryanpal · #1 10/04/2007, 08:59 AM

hey guys, i was at the fish store the other day and saw some powerheads that turned about 180 degrees right and left. i think something like this would be great to alter the flow in my tank.

i did a search and i came up with "sea swirls" but they aren's submergable. anybody recommend or have any idea which they might be? the look small almost like tunzes.

kawicivic · #2 10/04/2007, 09:08 AM

there are sea sweepers or sweeps or something like that... there is a review of them on the main page of rc somewhere down the left side. the review says they stop working quickly but so far the one my friend has is still working after two months. the part that sweeps is the part that usually breaks leaving you with a regular powerhead

illal · #3 10/04/2007, 09:21 AM

i belive this is what your talking about...ive heard good things about them you just have to take it apart and clean it every once in a while

thor32766 · #4 10/04/2007, 09:47 AM

yes you have to take these guys apart to clean often.

coralnut99 · #5 10/04/2007, 09:56 AM

The hydors attach to a powerhead and rotate 360. They are pretty reliable, and don't need a whole lot of upkeep. The Zoomed Power-sweeps are probably what you saw. I haven't had any problems with them, but they do need a lot of maintenance to work properly, and they are a pain to take apart to clean.

ryanpal · #6 10/04/2007, 12:05 PM

wil the hydors fit on my koralias #4's? i dont believe those are what i saw but i may give them a try.

coralnut99 · #7 10/04/2007, 12:25 PM

Hydor rotators are made to fit on the output of powerheads like maxijets. Why don't you call your LFS and ask them what it was you were looking at.

ryanpal · #8 10/04/2007, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by coralnut99
Hydor rotators are made to fit on the output of powerheads like maxijets. Why don't you call your LFS and ask them what it was you were looking at.

i could do that.

aquarius77 · #9 10/04/2007, 01:14 PM

If you have snails i would pass on the FLO's. IME they are trash, ive been through well over a dozen of them. Even my replacemnts from hydor are junk, they are just plain junk. If a snail cant crawl on it, its not "reef safe"

detz15 · #10 10/04/2007, 01:22 PM

The only problem I have with them is when coraline gets too thick. Otherwise I think they work pretty good. To clean them can just soak in hot water and the coraline will come right off.

lpsluver · #11 10/04/2007, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by aquarius77
If you have snails i would pass on the FLO's. IME they are trash, ive been through well over a dozen of them. Even my replacemnts from hydor are junk, they are just plain junk. If a snail cant crawl on it, its not "reef safe"

??? Not sure what you're talking about here. I have turbo's and astrea's hitching rides and cleaning mine all the time. Kind of funny to watch. They get on and off with no problem. Having said that I had a nerite get stuck behind one last night but it was easy enough to remove and all was well.

dc · #12 10/04/2007, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by coralnut99
The hydors attach to a powerhead and rotate 360. They are pretty reliable, and don't need a whole lot of upkeep. The Zoomed Power-sweeps are probably what you saw. I haven't had any problems with them, but they do need a lot of maintenance to work properly, and they are a pain to take apart to clean.

How long have you had them? I hated those things, after a year they went in the trash.

tripinpn01 · #13 10/04/2007, 01:40 PM

i have three hydors running right now and i love them havent had any problems with them except the rare occassion of a snail getting stuck behind the FLO. but other than that, 1.5 months and im really happy with the buy.

ryanpal · #14 10/11/2007, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by illal
i belive this is what your talking about...ive heard good things about them you just have to take it apart and clean it every once in a while

will these fit a maxijet 1200? idont see on the specs what powerheads they actually support.

im thinking about purchasing two maxijet 1200s with my koralia 4s.

i think getting these rotator guys and also hooking up the two maxijets to a wavemaker should simulate ocean currents (sporactic changes) alot better than a constant stream

falconut · #15 10/11/2007, 11:36 AM

ryanpal - yes the Hydors fit all of the Maxijets. I tried one for a couple of days and didn't like it. I returned it for store credit. The flow from the powerhead was really cut down. Plus the rotating direction wasn't as wide as I hoped. The Power Sweep looks like it alternates the flow alot more, but I never tried one. That's just my opinion.

m2434 · #16 10/11/2007, 12:50 PM

The Hydors work good in my 20G, but don't do much in my 75. Do cut down flow!

ryanpal · #17 10/11/2007, 12:51 PM

guess my best bet is to stick wth the maxijet mods for both and hook them up to the wave maker

fishysteve · #18 10/11/2007, 01:12 PM

BM OSCI-Wave oscillator. I saw an advertisment for it in this months CORAL magazine.

ryanpal · #19 10/30/2007, 09:05 AM

i moded my maxijet 1200s with sureflow mods. will the hydo flows work with the moded sureflow prop so that i can get the increased gph along with the rotational flow?

gig · #20 10/30/2007, 09:32 AM

I have two Hydors in my 180G, yes it cuts flow from those outputs, but then it increases to others (as my tank is powered by a sequence dart feeding about 6 output, which two are split by loclink Y's).

old pic when I started the tank up

ryanpal · #21 10/30/2007, 09:57 AM

those are hooked up to your returns instead of powerheads?

gig · #22 10/30/2007, 10:16 AM

yep, they come with a multitude of adapters. I had to use some teflon tape on one of them, as it was as snug of fit as the other one. They work well for me and have not had any issues.

ryanpal · #23 10/30/2007, 10:42 AM

that's great to hear...anybody know if they will work with my sureflow props so the flow will be increased more than the stock version?

gig · #24 10/30/2007, 10:45 AM

it will restrict the flow if it only has the (output) rotator head to flow through. If you used a Y off the powerhead it would rotate on one side and the extra flow off the other.

ryanpal · #25 10/30/2007, 10:50 AM

i dont mind the flow is restricted but isn't it the sureflow props that increase the gph? its ok if it decreases a little bit but if it's only going to put out the same gph as the stock maxi's that i think it's not a good route for what i want.