Recommendation on Powerheads

[grouper]

Looking to change out my power heads(i.e. Tunze and maxjet) since I have an RBTA tank. Can someone recommend what type of powerheads I can get? Thanks. :up:

 

[casper75]

what size tank do you have

 

[suasati]

You are going to have issues with any power head whichever one you get.... One way you could avoid the previous issue is maybe run the power heads on some sort of a wave timer so in case your anemone wanders it will have some breathing room to get away... but this still doesn't garantee to avoid a disaster.

 

[grouper]

I have a 90 gallon

 

[casper75]

why not just go with a closed loop instead of power heads

 

[reefscape]

cl....rocks..way better then power heads

 

[grouper]

Okay, I'm smart.....But the the he.. is "closed loop"

 

[james s_]

Wont the Tunze powerheads shut down instead of killing fish/RBTA's? Probably your safest bet.

 

[james s_]

grouper;115827 wrote: Okay, I'm smart.....But the the he.. is "closed loop"

Closed loop is an external pump that is tied directly into your tank via a bulkhead for your intake and several bulkheads for your output from the pump. The pump recirculates water from your tank providing flow at the same time.

 

[cameron]

Vortechs come with a foam ring around the intake that I would make a good guess would stop any anemone problems. Otherwise I think you are in DIY land with a small screen or foam around the powerhead. The Tunze Nanos and Koralias have a really good shroud but not sure it is enough. You could roll your own foam ring for the Koralias pretty easy.

 

[sparksfly]

I lost a 5" RTBA to a koralia 3. I am going to a cl for my cube when I'm ready for another one.

 

[schwaggs]

Closed loop is no protection for an anemone, it can get sucked in the intake to the CL pump in the same way it does a powerhead. I even had an anemone traverse my overflow and get shreded by one of the needle wheel pumps on my skimmer.

I have never had one get shreded by my Tunze Streams pumps in the 3+ years I have had them. I have them alternating every 30 minutes or so...

 

[sparksfly]

I wouldn't think that an anemone could get sucked up by a cl system like the one on melevsreef.com.

 

[FutureInterest]

Survivability of the anemone depends on whether the powerhead or closed loop has a sponge on it or not. Sponges in a reef tank that aren't growing naturally are a pita as they need to be regularly cleaned out or they clog. Even when they don't clog they tend to become "nitrate factories" without frequent cleaning. Since your setting up an anemone tank, I'd also suggest going for the closed loop. The advantage is that there will be just one sponge to change out regularly instead of multiple ones on various powerheads.