Water Movers: What powerheads are you using and are you happy with them?

[Steve Pond]

Vortech MP40's - buy once cry once.

 

[Pedr]

MP10, MP40 and a sicce nanostream. Very happy with all of them.

 

[joec]

Tunze 6040's are great for my 3" 53G. Quiet, super small footprint and bulletproof

 

[Mwillis0311]

Running 4 Reefwave 45’s On a 900 gallon. They work great!

 

[Rick.45cal]

I love my Panta Rhei pumps!

 

[Radman73]

My 220 leaked so I downgraded to a WB130(in size, love the WB) so I was able to jump back onto the Vortech bandwagon. I added an additional MP40 to go with my "old" one. I could never convince myself to spend the $ on MP60's, but the MP40's are much more palatable. I used to run an MP10 on my BC29 and an MP40 and MP10 on my 60 cube. Love them.

 

[Brew12]

Completely agree! Dont forget parts are available and reasonable. When an mp40 has an issue you have to buy a whole new wet side. Not the case with gyre.

The one thing I will say is that the recommended maintenance on them is horrible. I did it for the first 4 month I owned them and had nothing but struggles. They were noisy and took forever.
I’m doing my normal cleaning now.

Unplug the controller, line the shipping container with a plastic bag filled with vinegar. Soak for 2 hours. Done for a month. I've only taken 1 of the 4 apart in over a year and a half, and that was to get a snail out of the cage.

 

[sghera64]

I've used Jebao RW8 and RW15 in my frag tanks and DT (respectively). They are powerful for the price and have nice features, but all 6 of them have failed after about 18-42 months of service. I've since switched to Coral Box' (still Jebao I suspect) Quite Pump Plus'. I now have two QPS16 pumps in my DT (that's all I need, its plenty) and some QPS 5's (should have gotten QPS9's) in my 50 gal frag tank.

The QPS's are about the same water movement for the $$ as the Jebao with improved wave and timer features. They tout the QPS pumps being German engineered, but who know. It is way too early for me to know if these will last longer than the RW's

 

[Peace River]

Currently I am using standard power heads, but am planning to move to gyre pumps (maybe the Maxspect or waiting for the #reefoctopus Blade). Additionally, I want to tie the pumps together with the #Hydros WaveEngine in order to take a more systematic approach to flow (and limit power bricks).

 

[nanchil]

2 MP40. Not so happy with it.

 

[MR.BEE]

1 gyre on my 40 it works well for me I have it in the corner vertical

 

[jschultzbass]

IMO and experience the gyres and the RO octo pulse pumps are the best. I still have a soft spot for tunze as well.

 

[Mical]

Extremely happy w/Ecotech Vortechs. MP10s on 65g and MP40s on 120g & a MP10 on frag tank.

 

[kapnkush608]

Rossmont waver and 2 mover mx3500. Well made, easy to clean, strong magnets and replacement pumps are cheap.

 

[Billldg]

The one thing I will say is that the recommended maintenance on them is horrible. I did it for the first 4 month I owned them and had nothing but struggles. They were noisy and took forever.
I’m doing my normal cleaning now.

Not really sure what the suggested maintenance is, lol, I just pull the cages and the impellers and brush them off monthly.

 

[Bob Lauson]

I am using two Neptune WAV pumps and am reasonably satisfied. I liked the low profile on the outside of the tank. I had one fail after two years and they sent me a replacement for 50% of the new price. I was soaking in vinegar to clean them every couple of months so maybe that we the reason for the failure. I intend to switch to citric acid going forward.

 

[batfish5]

NERO 5 I have one in each of my 4 tanks.Those things are BULLET PROOF lol.Bought all 4 when they first came out just clean and they keep on running.

 

[prolanman]

2 MP40's on my 300XL.

 

[Brew12]

Not really sure what the suggested maintenance is, lol, I just pull the cages and the impellers and brush them off.

Too much work for me, I'm lazy! It takes less than 5 minutes of my time per pump, including all set up and clean up. It just doesn't get any easier than that.

 

[Frogger]

Hydor Koralia
Hydor Koralia are very short lived. I have gone through close to a dozen of them over the past 8 years. They either seize up, stop working or start going backwards. I do not use them on a wave maker only on all the time as a timer makes their lifespan even shorter. Currently the longest one I have that still works is about 6 months old. I currently are using 3 of them. Not sure they are worth the price given their lifespan

I bought my Maxspect 150's when they first came out many years ago and they still work great. One controller malfunctioned after a year and a half but was replaced under warranty from the store no problem. My set of 250's is great as well.