Powerhead? Uses, Do I Need One Or Will I Benifit From One?

[Andy-lee]

As the thread title says, I've seen tanks with them with them in and I'm just wondering are they needed in most tanks? What's the advantages of increased flow? Does it help and encourage plant growth? Reduce the chances or algae? And what about the current and fish, will it not be strong for them?
Help appreciated
Thanks
Andy

 

[RadaR]

Increased flow improves the rate at which nutrients and CO2 are delivered to the plants.
It also helps eliminate/reduce the chance of "deadspots" which algae will grow in.
Increased flow is very important in high tech tanks. In low tech tanks, it's less important however I'd still reccomend 5 times the volume of the tank turned over every hour. In high tech tanks 10x is the minimum.
Most fish are actually fine with the increased flow. Powerheads like Koralias move bodies of water rather than creating single jets of current that would otherwise stress the fish. Most of us find that the fish enjoy lots of flow despite what others have said in the past.

 

[KittyKat]

In my humble opinion, they are only needed in very few tanks. Most often, for fish which require fast flow.

Considerably more important is getting good circulation and surface movement, which can usually be achieved without them, or with small ones.

 

[Andy-lee]

Hmm mixed opinions on them then? Reason I'm asking is my filter used to produce quite a current so I drilled the spray bar holes to a bigger size now I think the current isn't strong enough and I'm getting algea growing in the tank but in some places more then others and plants like java moss don't seem to be growing as well as they once did but nothing else has changed ?!?
Cheers
Andy

 

[KittyKat]

From my experience, you are most likely getting dead spots now, in other words, circulation is not as good as it used to be.. Simply swapping back to a spray bar with smaller holes (like you had before) may fix your problems. On the other hand, a power head is also likely to fix your problems, but if you were worried about the strength of the flow from the single filter, how will you feel about something dedicated to creating a strong flow?