Powerhead Reviews & Guide

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londonloco
Figure 8 Puffer
Posts: 109
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 6:57 pm
Location: Virginia, USA

Post by londonloco »

Guess I'm a little late, but I'll put my 2 cents in anyway. Ten years ago, Rios were THE ONLY power head/pumps to get. Ten years ago, they were the best..I had 15 cichlid tanks, everyone running on Rios. Fast forward, year 2004. Started my aquarium mania again....and had 3 crap out on me in less than 3 mths. I DID NOT have electrical current shooting thru my tank, they simply stopped working. I now have three MaxiJet 1200's in my 120g reef, and a 400, 600, 900 and another 1200 sitting on a shelf..all over a year old, two have stopped working for a day, after a good cleaning, they are as quiet as ever. My 72g planted discus tank has a c02 system w/a diffuser...and yes, a rio50 came with the set up. It's been running for 5 months now, hasn't failed, but I check it regularly.
Has anyone here heard about the new pump coming out by icecap, the vortex? There is a long thread on reef-central about it. It's very pricey, but worth checking out....
RTR
Mentor
Posts: 6155
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 4:39 pm
Gender: Male
Location (country): East Coast, USA

Post by RTR »

Ten years ago, I was using Eheim hobby pumps and AquaClear powerheads and the occasional MagDrive and Maxijet, just as I do now. I had one Rio back then, replaced it 3x and gave up.
Where's the fish? - Neptune
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casc
Figure 8 Puffer
Posts: 126
Joined: Wed May 29, 2013 2:24 pm
Gender: Female
My Puffers: "Juke" porcupine puffer 150G FOWLR
10G Aqua scape tank with Dwarf Puffer
~Non puff tank:
30G reef tank with Hawaiian Dwarf Peacock Lionfish
~GF tanks:
90G freshwater w/ fancy goldfish
90G freshwater w/ oscar
Location (country): USA, Vermont

Re:

Post by casc »

Pufferpunk wrote:I just purchased 2 Seio 800 pumps (used 8 months previously). I think they are great! Strong, quiet, suction cups are holding very well, can direct to many positions.
How big is the tank your using these in?
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Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
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Re: Powerhead Reviews & Guide

Post by Pufferpunk »

LOL, let's see... in 2005, that must have been a 55g.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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casc
Figure 8 Puffer
Posts: 126
Joined: Wed May 29, 2013 2:24 pm
Gender: Female
My Puffers: "Juke" porcupine puffer 150G FOWLR
10G Aqua scape tank with Dwarf Puffer
~Non puff tank:
30G reef tank with Hawaiian Dwarf Peacock Lionfish
~GF tanks:
90G freshwater w/ fancy goldfish
90G freshwater w/ oscar
Location (country): USA, Vermont

Re: Powerhead Reviews & Guide

Post by casc »

Lol, glad u found that amusing and not annoying.
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Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Re: Powerhead Reviews & Guide

Post by Pufferpunk »

I'm lucky I can remember what I did yesterday!
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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AlibiStellatus
Puffer Fry
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2018 10:46 pm
Location (country): British Columbia, Canada

Re: Powerhead Reviews & Guide

Post by AlibiStellatus »

I've been running the Ecotech Marine MP10wqd powerhead in my tank and I love it. I chose this one after a lot of thought because I knew that I wanted to automate in the future (which is why I got the Wqd for wireless connectivity), I didn't want to see wires in the tank or added heat/risk of electric discharge or shock in the water as well as something easy to clean.

The powerhead is barely noticeable against the black overflow background and there are no wires visible in the tank. I didn't opt for the sponge surround because I had to clean it constantly after feeding as little pieces of food would be stuck to the outside of the sponge, prohibiting flow of the powerhead. The operation modes and ability to adjust speed manually and on the app (only compatible with reeflink @ extra cost) are great, although I really only use Reef Crest Random (High Intensity Reef Environment Replication), Night Mode and Feed Mode. The powerhead is very quiet even at full speed on Reef Crest Random and I haven't had any complaints with it getting dirty, it's so easy to clean. I opted to put the powerhead at about the 1/3 mark from the bottom of the tank so that my puffer could keep away from the surface while flipping around and exercising. I also have a return pump pushing at almost full speed creating surface movement which creates a nice balance and a pocket near the back where my puffer can rest. I only have to touch the pump control when I am feeding as Night Mode comes on automatically and as far as low maintenance it's as good as it gets. The powerhead simply removes from the magnet on the electrical side outside the tank and that's the only thing necessary to clean!

I will definitely stick with the Ecotech marine vortech line with respect to powerheads, although very expensive. One thing I have to comment/warn regarding Ecotech is that their customer service hours are not great at all (Mon-Fri 9-5 EST) and they haven't been helpful when it came to my Ecotech Radion not connecting to Mac OS X due to their software being outdated (4 years).

I am running a FOWLR with only my Starry and a handful of peppermint shrimp so this pump may not be for everyone but it works for my wish list and my tank needs.
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