Powerhead Reviews & Guide

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Bred
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Powerhead Reviews & Guide

Post by Bred »

Good water movement is important to any aquarium. It is especially important in planted aquariums and in marine aquariums with live rock, for the distribution of dissolved gasses and nutrients. Furthermore, puffers benefit from strong, complex current, as a means of exercise and entertainment.

Powerheads are essentially submersible pumps with a special purpose - providing directional current within the tank. They often come with a variety of accessories for mounting them in the tank - suction cups for sticking to the glass, or a hook for hanging on the rim. They often have large intake strainers to protect livestock and debris from being sucked in. Some have directional outputs, allowing you to "point" the stream at a particular location in the tank. Some are venturi-equipped. Some have swiveling or oscillating outputs, to create "wave" effects. Some use ceramic impeller shafts, some use metal. Some are suitable for use with "wave maker" timers, others are not. In a word, some are much more specialized than others.

There's a lot to think about when purchasing a powerhead. To make the decision easier, I'd ask that you please contribute a review of your powerhead(s) to this thread. Please feel free to contribute a review even if it's already been reviewed by another user.
Bred
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Post by Bred »

Eheim Aquaball 1212
172 gph, ceramic shaft, venturi-equipped.
Pros:
Large intake strainer makes it valuable as a mechanical filter. Wide output nozzle for wide distribution of current. Ball-in-socket design means easy direction of current. Eheim offers attachable media baskets if you ever wish to "upgrade" this powerhead to an internal filter. Easy access to impeller. Adjustable flow rate. Best of all, the aquaball is dead quiet.
Cons: Bulky design; like most Eheim it's a bit of an "attention-grabber". At least it's not bright green. ;)
Overall: Not the cheapest, and not the most compact, but the build quality and features are excellent.
Bred
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Post by Bred »

Pentair Aquatics QuietOne 800
220 gph, metal shaft.
Pros:
Compact design. 1/2" output nozzle can connect to tubing; useful as a utility pump.
Cons: Contrary to its name, this particular model is extremely noisy. The impeller is not actually braced at both ends of the shaft, so it rattles against the housing in normal use. Out-of-the-box, there is virtually no intake strainer (just a flat grille). When mounted vertically, the intake is on the top of the unit and the output below, which could lead to instant disaster if you forget to turn it off during water change.
Overall: Might make a good utility pump or pond pump, but it only lasted a few days in my tank.
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Post by RTR »

As much as I am accustomed to having internal canisters for mech filtration and current, I think that the Aquaball is over the top - that has to be the ugliest thing I have ever had (briefly) in my tanks. I may never forgive Eheim for discontinuing the prior line of user-friendly internals in favor of that monstrosity.
Where's the fish? - Neptune
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Post by RTR »

Marineland Penguin Powerheads Models 660, 1140

Model 660: 170 USG per hour
Model 1140: 300 USG per hour
(Note: model #s are LPH)
Metal shafts, coated magnets

Marineland Penguin RFK: Reverse Flow Kit

These are the units of choice for all of my RFUG applications. The larger unit is the one I use most, the smallest is my choice only for 10 gallon tanks. The newer units have coated magnets on the impellers, the older ones were more conventional bare magnets. These have proven very long-lived workhorses and the only pumps I have used for RFUG since their appearance on the market decades ago. Coupled with their RFK adapter they allow the full output of the powerhead to drive water down the UG tube to disperse up through the UG plate and the included prefilters couple easily to the powerhead intake. Note that the smaller unit requires an included adapter which IME and that of others is not the best, it allows some water to bypass the prefilter. It is not a large percentage, but not the optimum design. This does not occur with the larger powerhead.

The included prefilter is fairly coarse, but my normal use item. If you fear some fine pariculate pass-through by this sponge, FilterMaxIII prefilters can be substituted for moderate pore size, or FilterMaxI for a fine porosity sponge prefilter. All these prefilters should be rinsed at least weekly (tap water is fine, no biological action is needed or desired in the prefilter, I trade mine out, substituting clean and dry for the current dirty sponges). The FilterMaxI prefilter may require more frequent rinsing unless there are other mechanical filters in operation as well (always in my tanks, I multi-filter everything).

The powerheads have the usual venturi opening and dial adjusters and current-direction attachments, but these are not used in my applications. All I use is the included stopper for the venturi (which is handy for purging air from the pump after water changes).
Where's the fish? - Neptune
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Pufferpunk
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Post by Pufferpunk »

What's a good powerhead for movement behind my rock?
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!"
midgetwaiter
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Post by midgetwaiter »

Bred maybe there was something wrong with the Quiet One you had? I had an 800 running a tank in my bedroom for over a year and I never really noticed it.

PP, the Hagen aquaclears aren't fancy or anything but for the pice they work pretty good and usually last a couple years.
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Post by Feathers&Fins »

Bred wrote:Pentair Aquatics QuietOne 800, 220 gph, metal shaft.
Overall:
Might make a good utility pump or pond pump, but it only lasted a few days in my tank.
I agree with Bred, although, I did not even find mine useful as a utilty pump. It was loud. It was very light and the suction cups did not hold it sufficiently. (I had the pleasant experience of it shooting across one of my tanks). Lastly, the "grill" broke during my first attempt to clean it.
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Pufferpunk
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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:

Post by Pufferpunk »

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.
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!"
wannapuffer-20g
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Post by wannapuffer-20g »

maybe they improved the model after finding out it was crap? :?
Bred
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Post by Bred »

Taam Seio Super Flow 620
620 gph, ceramic shaft, venturi-equipped


WHOA. This thing is AWESOME. Low energy consumption, high broad-circumference flow. This thing moves water like I always dreamed a powerhead would!

With the "vibration dampener", this thing is dead quiet. No exaggeration; with your eyes shut would never know it was there.

The nicest part of this unit is the fact that it comes with all the hardware you need for various placements and positionings. They really thought of everything with this unit!

Highly recommended.
Canadians check out jlaquatics.com for orders - excellent prices, even better service.
lorimac40
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Post by lorimac40 »

Where can I get one in the US?
Bred
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Post by Bred »

Pretty much anywhere... For some reason they are trickier to find in Canada. Your LFS may carry them, or else check bigalsonline.com, marinedepot.com, thatfishplace.com, etc.
lorimac40
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Post by lorimac40 »

Would the 820 or 1100 be better for a 55 gal f8 tank?
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Pufferpunk
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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:

Post by Pufferpunk »

Why do you need all that current? Both would blow the puffers around IMO.
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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