The Puffer Forum

Great powerheads! I have the same ones with a smartwave controller

defool89 wrote:Great powerheads! I have the same ones with a smartwave controller

I mean I've only been using them a few hours but so far I like them better than the maxi-jets. The flow is definitely wider, which is better, and the magnetic mount certainly beat the suction cup. I just hate trying to find just the right spot for them, its a pain

I knew they could be used on a wavemaker just didn't know if something like that would be worth adding.

What size tank and Koralias do you have?

I hate the suction cups on my powerheads. No I despise them, I need to modify so I don't have to reconnect it to the tank wall every week or so. That's a job for another day tho, or just buy the magnetic ones hmm

IDK if you might find this necessary but I use the smaller PH to place flow behind the rocks.

bertie 83 wrote:I hate the suction cups on my powerheads. No I despise them, I need to modify so I don't have to reconnect it to the tank wall every week or so. That's a job for another day tho, or just buy the magnetic ones hmm

Yes! I felt the same way about mine. Not at first, but on a couple occasions they came loose and made a big mess of the sand. I thought about the magnetic mounts but at the price of them I decided just to spring for new powerheads. I upped the flow that way and I do like the flow of the Koralias better than the Maxi-Jets.

I'll still hold on to them just in case and I do use the 1200gph Maxi-jet to pump my water back in my tank after a water change, works quite well and was pretty inexpensive.

What brand are yours?

Pufferpunk wrote:IDK if you might find this necessary but I use the smaller PH to place flow behind the rocks.

That actually crossed my mind when I was trying to place these two. I know I have more flow now but because it is wider it was throwing me off in trying to place them in order to keep the sand clean. Pretty sure I'll still need to mess with them some, having a hard time making sure each end of the tank is getting reached. Also, trying to make sure the hammer doesn't have too much flow in that area when placing the powerheads instead of having to move the hammer.


If I was to do a small one for behind the rocks what size would be sufficient and actually reach the length of the tank (4ft)?

Would it just need to be placed on one end of the tank behind the rock and directed straight across, maybe up a bit? Trying to think if I would even be able to fit one in that way without moving the rocks.

Mine are sun sun, hang my head in shame. They say once bitten twice shy, I bought a filter which is poo and powerheads which are also poo ( liked them at first lol, the powerheads not the filter) no more sun sun for me I can tell you that lol. I tried I no likey. Back to being a snob from now on. Lol

bertie 83 wrote:Mine are sun sun, hang my head in shame. They say once bitten twice shy, I bought a filter which is poo and powerheads which are also poo ( liked them at first lol, the powerheads not the filter) no more sun sun for me I can tell you that lol. I tried I no likey. Back to being a snob from now on. Lol

Lol. I don't think I've heard of the sun sun. I'm assuming a cheap brand by the way you are talking and the suction cup mounting, seems thats common with the cheaper powerheads. I mean for the price the maxi-jets aren't too bad, it'll be useful as a pump for water changes anyway and was only maybe $20. Will be good to have as backup I guess.

I wanted to get the Tunze but just couldn't bring myself to pay twice as much for those over the Koralias.

Caught the Koralias on sale and got two of the 1050s for right at $70.

I think its the 1400 on my 135.
The smartwave is interesting but not necessary...i have it where it turns on for 15 min and off for 15...

Yea they are cheapies, around a tenner for 1000 litre per hour

I had all of this typed out and then my laptop decided to go a little nuts, needless to say I'm a little aggravated at the moment. I just hope I don't miss anything typing it this time around.


My hammer has declined even more so and is now down to one living head. When the hammer first began to decline I immediately started researching and thought at first it was because of the high flow, after responses on here as well. However, it has been out of the higher flow for quite some time now, closer to the light as well, and is still dying. I don't see how it still could be cause of just the flow it had been receiving. I had remembered coming across BJD but didn't think that was the issue at the time because it seemed the 'brown jelly' was rather obvious. However, after the further decline of the hammer, especially considering how fast it is dying, I began to specifically look into BJD. I came across a few thread where some had a decline in their hammer, or similar, but without any obvious 'brown jelly'. All other signs were the same; original shrinkage of the polyps, tissues recession, followed by the disintegration of the polyps, all in a short amount of time but with either a white film or none at all opposed to BJD. After seeing this and comparing it to the decline of my hammer I've began to think this may be the case. I also closely inspected the hammer last night with a flashlight and saw what looked like two brownish strands coming off of one of the almost dead polyps, top right. I took a photo and will attach. The polyp below the one showing the secretion was already dead by earlier this after noon, the only surviving polyp at this moment is the larger one to the top left.


Here is the photo I took last night with the whites on in the tank. The two or so brownish strands are coming from the polyp in the upper right. Its kind of hard to see but when I tried to zoom it became too blurred to see much of anything. (photobucket is giving me a hard time at the moment so I'm not sure how this photo may show up, trying anyway)



I've read a good bit about BJD, though there seems to be conflicting information, to my understanding its a bacterial infection of sorts (or similar) that usually presents itself after damage. So this makes me think that maybe the higher flow did the initial damage that allowed the BJD to take hold. The prognosis doesn't look good but I've seen it mentioned to dip in Lugols and Megaflix, I have both. I also saw it mentioned to frag off the healthy head(s). The fragging worries me but I'll look more into it and do it if needed. I'll also dip of course. I just didn't want to take any action yet without getting opinions. I didn't want to jump to conclusions either but just don't know what else to think. I'm worried about spread to other corals, especially the brains.

Also, the other corals are still as they have been the last week or so. Two of the ricordeas have opened up decent amount while the others still remain shrunk. I don't see any issues with the corals though, no damage. The zoas are still opening daily and no damage to them either. The brain corals are all doing great, the best I can tell. They've been inflating off and on, mainly at night, and extending feeders at night as well. No visual damage to them either. It does still look like the leather is shedding, though it seems like its taking too long. But its shrunken down and still has a waxy look, haven't seen the polyps out for some time now. I'm getting kind of concerned, will try to upload a photo of it when I'm able to just to get an opinion there as well. I haven't been able to find much of anything saying how long a leather can shed for.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. I just don't know what else to think or do for the hammer at the moment and haven't found any other explanations when searching online. Hoping it isn't BJD but just don't know what else it could be that causing this sort of decline and at this rate.

I feel for you, but I have no idea what it is. I would never want to order corals online. Costs a fortune, and seems like they would go through so much stress in shipping, it would be hard to know if that isn't the cause. Don't you live near any large city, you could drive to, to buy off other people? I've had so much success with every coral I've bought, and I've got a good collection going now, by buying off other reef people on Craigslist, that have fragged theirs.

That is not a difficult coral to grow. I know they don't like tons of water movement, but if they are getting too much, they just typically close up, but shouldn't die.

PufferMe! wrote:I feel for you, but I have no idea what it is. I would never want to order corals online. Costs a fortune, and seems like they would go through so much stress in shipping, it would be hard to know if that isn't the cause. Don't you live near any large city, you could drive to, to buy off other people? I've had so much success with every coral I've bought, and I've got a good collection going now, by buying off other reef people on Craigslist, that have fragged theirs.

That is not a difficult coral to grow. I know they don't like tons of water movement, but if they are getting too much, they just typically close up, but shouldn't die.

Thank you. It sucks. The hammer (or similar coral-frogspawn) was one of the first LPS corals I knew I just had to have and it looked real nice at first. I hate seeing it decline so fast.

After I began researching it seems higher flow, especially if its pretty direct, can definitely kill them. I had never heard of BJD until I began to search for 'dying hammer' and such. If interested, definitely do a search. Its not really rare at all, affects mostly euphyllia it seems, and usually kills. It seems the heads closing is one of the first signs as well.

Also, posting in this thread before even PP mentioned the flow being a cause of the first head dying. It seemed reasonable at the time, until the other heads began dying and quickly at that.

I don't believe ordering online had anything to do with the corals decline. It was a WYSIWYG and not damage on arrival. I'd say if the flow caused the problems and lead to the BJD, definitely my fault at my inexperience. The shipping can suck with ordering online but so far I've found some really good prices on corals, better than any LFSs, and haven't had any problems, besides the sun coral though I think that was more due to UPS.

I search craigslist often in surrounding areas but so far no luck. I wouldn't mind a little bit of a drive if I was able to find the time to (between work and my daughter and other responsibilities, can't just pick up and drive much of a distance whenever). I don't mind ordering online though it would be nice if there were fellow reefers in my area selling frags or even a decent LFS that had a nice selection and prices.

Leathers can take up to 2 weeks to shed & look normal again, not to worry.

As far as your pic, I see corals do this when they are dying, expelling dead flesh as a kind of brown slime.
See: http://www.chicagoreefs.com/forums/show ... 12818-poop

It could be countless reasons this coral didn't do well. As PM pointed out, they go through a lot to get to your tank from the ocean. One of the many reasons I belong to a local reef club where I can buy frags from long-established systems, acclimated to local water.

You might as well get used to fragging--you'l have lots ahead of you in this hobby. Do you have a Dremmel?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf6cMEL6neo

Pufferpunk wrote:Leathers can take up to 2 weeks to shed & look normal again, not to worry.

As far as your pic, I see corals do this when they are dying, expelling dead flesh as a kind of brown slime.
See: http://www.chicagoreefs.com/forums/show ... 12818-poop

It could be countless reasons this coral didn't do well. As PM pointed out, they go through a lot to get to your tank from the ocean. One of the many reasons I belong to a local reef club where I can buy frags from long-established systems, acclimated to local water.

You might as well get used to fragging--you'l have lots ahead of you in this hobby. Do you have a Dremmel?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf6cMEL6neo

I'd say the leather has been like this for about a week so far so that sets my mind at ease. Most of what I read when I tried searching just mentioned days so that led me to worry.

That I understand and I understand them being shipped to me on top of that adds even more stress. It just looked fine at first and with the other corals doing fine, I just didn't understand what has caused its quick decline. I'd have no problem belonging to a reef club, not sure how to find one, but I'd bet the closest would be some distance from where I live. I'm not sure what all a reef club would entail (besides frags and such) but if the distance wasn't too great I'd try to join one.

I'd say that makes more sense as I haven't seen any obvious 'brown jelly' actually covered the coral that was mentioned in most of my reading. I just wish I knew what caused it.

Think it would/could be beneficial to do a dip in both or either now? Or to frag? Depending on what the last head looks like when I get home anyway. I know the dipping and fragging can cause even more stress and didn't want to do it if not needed or if it wouldn't help/too late.

I knew I'd have to frag at some point, though I wast thinking more when the corals grow not so much for their health, I'm just scared of messing up and damaging the coral itself. Its definitely something I'll have to research. I did read mention of a Dremmel in terms of fragging the hammer but no, I don't have one. I don't own much in terms of tools or know much about them for that matter (outside of the usual hammer, screwdrivers, etc), boyfriend handles the tools/repairs. I'll have to watch the video when I get home, not enough service at work. I will read through that thread though, thanks.

Any suggestion on a Dremmel or what to look for when getting one? Seriously clueless about powertools for the most part. Guess I really should learn these things, not just for fragging.

The 1st coral I ever had to frag out of necessity, because of disease, was a leather. I got lucky--they're the easiest to frag. The poor thing was rotting from the bottom up:


I still remember my reaction, when the guy at my LFS said, "Just take a razor blade & cut the rotting part out"!
Well, I did & now that coral is HUGE (about the size of 2 dinner plates). Since then, I've even cut up entire large leathers into 1" square pieces to make these:


The most $$$ coral I fragged was this Jcigars Orange Sherbet chalice, worth $100/inch:


I have to laugh, as I went back into my "Sick Corals" file, at how many "dying" leathers I have stored there: