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for those ppl who use powerheads, i wanted to know what brand ppl like the most...i have a 29g tank i'm setting up...i was looking at either the penguin 660 with 175gph, aquaclear 301 w/ 174gph, or the rio 600 w/ 200 gph...i think the rio is fully submersible, i was curious if that would b better than the others...also, is that enough flow for the aize of my tank, or should i get one with a higher flow rate, or would it b better if i get more than one to set up in different corners...the tank is going to b set up as a reef tank if that helps...

Hmmm...

Not sure I can help here...

On my tank, I'm only using powerheads in the saltwater holding container.

In the main display, which is 72 gallons, I'm using a 4-way Oceans Motions unit. OM units are a bit pricey, but after you get all the plumbing done, they work fantasic; no dead areas in the tank, and the current is constantly changing.

I wonder if they make a 2-way unit...*shrugs*...that's something to investigate.

[link=http://www.oceansmotions.com]http://www.oceansmotions.com" style="COLOR: #3c4e82[/link]

HTH...


-Ferret


[hr width='40%'][font color="#000080"]I want to stand with you on a mountain,
I want to bathe with you in the sea,
I want to live like this forever,
Until the sky falls down on me…[/font]

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

ya i read your other post about the oceans motion units...i checked the link and i dont think i should spend that much money right now......i would maybe once i get the hang of saltwater tanks and set up a 75 or 80g, but i'm trying to set the 29g up as least costly as possible...

Hagen powerheads are IMO one of the best powerheads you can buy....

Okay, expert in the powerhead department!!! First off, stay away from RIO!!! Bad luck with these guys. Spent over $110 for 2 superflow centrifiguls that failed after I unplugged them for a water change. I traded them in for 2 Marineland 1200 pumps that have been great for 6 months now. I added a wavemaker last month which made things even better.
My personal opinion is to rid the powerheads and run a sump with PVC pipe. That is $$$$ which I've spent way to much of over the past 6 months. The wife monitors trips to the LFS. I'm sure a lot of people here can associate!!! But if you have the cash, run the overflow and returns and it will be so much better for your system.

Ferret, do you work for OM?

Maxi Jet's are good.

ok so staying away from rio...now what about amount of flow? would 200 gph cover the 29g tank or should i go with 2 powerheads? or would 1 300gph be sufficient? i need help b/c BigAls double VIP points is starting soon so i need to place my order

More will be better, as it will help to prevent dead spots. The only down side is powerheads are ugly.

I have 3 295gph pumps in my 75, and 2 820gph pumps.

so ure saying u cant really have too much flow in a saltwater tank then...b/c i know when i had a larger eheim canister hooked up to my 55g freshwater, the output was so powerful that all my plants were getting blown away and looked like the fish were having trouble swimming through the current...i guess i need to leave all my knowledge of freshwater when dealing with SW...also, now that i have discovered water pumps, i'm thinking about getting those instead...i really dont have a problem w/ the way powerheads look, but i can't afford the oceans motion systems so i think i'll consider waterpumps instead...they are twice as much as powerheads though, but i take it they have other uses than just being used for creating a current...now as for choices, i can either afford one mag drive 7 for 700gph, or 2 pentair aquatics lifegardquiet one each having 300gph, or 2 surge 3500 aqua pump each having 660gph...i'm not familiar with these brands but i think i hear about the mag drives the most...the pentairs would run me the cheapest, but the surge pumps will get me the greatest flow rate for about the price of 1 mag drive w/ half the flow rate...i'm leaning towards the surge pumps but i wanna make sure that ppl havent had any trouble with them...and thanx again everyone for all your help!

You likely won't be able to create too much flow. Some people are running enough flow to turn over their tank 20-25x per hour.

No Mikey, I don't work for Oceans Motions, but heck I think I could with the amount I post about them. I'm just really impressed with the way they have their units set up, I can't wait for mine to get here/be plumbed.

Powerheads...ugg, I know mine is MarineLand, because I remember that green packing it came in and I think that would be the same thing as the Maxi Jet one? It's from BigAl's online I know...

Mag drive pumps are some of the best in the hobby. I've got a Mag12 for my tank, and I'm pretty sure Nate runs some mags on his tank as well. I've heard positive things about Eheims too, but they are pricy so I'd stay with mag drives.

HTH

-Ferret


[hr width='40%'][font color="#000080"]I want to stand with you on a mountain,
I want to bathe with you in the sea,
I want to live like this forever,
Until the sky falls down on me…[/font]

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Some people are running enough flow to turn over their tank 20-25x per hour.

Im running just a little over 40x turnover per hour on my 180. That will be increased to 50-60x turnover when i move and set up the closed loop.

Ferret, do you work for OM?

Hey, she is trying to increase my sales

[shameless plug]I am a distributor for Aquamedic, Sequence pumps, Zeovit, Oceans Motions, PE mysis, and GroTech...soon to be importing Tongan aquacultured corals [/shameless plug]

I've used Penguin Powerheads in my 50g for almost 2 years now, and none of them have died or slowed down.

In my new 180g I have 4 penguins & a new brand (which I forget at the moment) 900 GPH Behemoth. My tank only turns over 12 times an hour, but it seems like plenty IMO - the water's clean and the inhabitants are happy

I've been thinking about picking up another 900 GPH head, they are reasonably priced ($80) and seem to work great.

In fact, these things are so huge they even provide a way of feeding frozen cubes. The Venturi input (uh-huh, it's a hole on the output tube) is so big that I can shove a cube in it, and the presure rips it apart and sends it all over the tank. The fish are able to eat 98% of the cube before it hits the rocks/sand, which is much better then when I just dropped the cubes and let them get sucked up by the skimmer (*grumble*).

My penguin powerheads are now a year and a half old, and I keep them fully submersed with no problems.

STAY AWAAAAAAY from the zoo med powerheads, the ones with the rotating head that "makes waves." A friend of mine has a tank maintanence business, and every customer she has who uses them has had them stop rotating after a couple months, and the company offers no support when you try to contact them.

I'm so adjective, I verb nouns!