Powerheads

[fatfishman]

Hello all,

I have been looking at powerheads in particular Seio Super flow pumps (the 2600 & 1500) do any of you guys use one of these or have an opinion on them. My tank is roughly 650 liters and was wondering which one you guys think is more appropriate for my tank, the 2600 model gives a flow rate of 10000lph and the 1500 delivers a flow rate of 6000lph.

I plan on getting two power heads, if i got two 2600's (10000lph) i believe that would give me a roughly 30x turnover,
whereas if i got two 1500's (6000lph) it would give me a rough flow rate of just under 20x turnover.

Which of these two would be best or maybe one of each, bearing in mind that i plan to keep corals one day and dont want to be upgrading powerheads later so i would really want to get adequate ones now.

What do you think?

Heres a link - http/www.reefstore.co.uk/cart/Seio-mid-6.html - to a shop tah stocks them both

Thanks for your help

 

[andywg]

I would recommend either the Tunze nanostreams or the Hydor Koralia. Better powerheads and much smaller, they also come with magnets for mounting, meaning it is far easier to hide them behind decor.

For the a little more than the price there of two 2600 (£180) you can get four Tunze 6045 (£240 - 4,500 LPH each giving a total of 18,000 LPH). Also compare the sizes:

Tunze = 70mm diameter sphere with a small tube poking out at one point

Seio = 210mm x 80mm x 105mm

The Tunze are a lot smaller and with the magnetic holders are far easier to mount in places you are less likely to see them.

Also look at the wattage. The Seio 2600 is 10,000 LPH from 55W. That's a little under 182 LPH per watt. The Tunze are 4,500 LPH from 8W. That comes in at 562.5 LPH per watt. While you may spend more on buying the Tunze, they will save you electricity (which really means you can have more powerful MH lights ).

Al the above goes without having to mention that Tunze are at the forefront of aquarium equipment design; they produced the first venturi based skimmer, the first powerhead purely for aquaria and the first "propeller" style powerhead for large movement at little energy cost. I currently have a pair of originally styled powerheads which are fast approaching 20 years old (if not older) which work fine. While Seio pumps are different ot the old nasty Rio pumps which were downright dangerous in their failings, these pumps are still made by Rio. I just wouldn't want that risk, though I know that KOD uses Seio without any issues.

 

[jeasko]

Have to agree with andywg and steer you towards the tunze nanostream as I have had both and just use the hydor for mixing SW now as the tunze is way more effective in the tank, tunze maybe a little more money but its a much better product and interestingly hydor tried to improove on tunze design but with limited or no success!

 

[SkiFletch]

Agreed with the above. Tunzes are by far the best option but a little more expensive. Given a long enough timeframe of usage the power savings though would pay for themselves (prolly have to go somewhere around 5 years though to realize that cost savings).

Seios are sort of falling out of favor among the hobby in terms of more "affordable" high-flow powerheads since the launch of the Hydor Koralias. I've still got a Seio M820 and it still works (used to have 2), but I've replaced one with a Hydor Koralia 3 and I'm much happier with it. Same cost to purchase, lower energy consumption with the Hydor, smaller footprint, and better magnetic mounting all make them a much better choice than the Seios nowadays. They're still relatively new in the market and haven't really stood the test of time yet, but so-far they seem to be very reliable pumps. Their only drawbacks compared to Tunze are that their flowrate is NOT adjustable (Tunzes are), and their energy consumption is ever so slightly higher than a Tunze, although real-world the difference would take decades to notice.

 

[chrissaysyes]

Throwing in my extra two cents towards support for Tunze. By far the best and most attractive powerhead I've owned.

 

[fatfishman]

Thankyou everybody, i noticed that the tunze nano 6045 was recommended by andywg, But on the description this item says for aquarium smaller than mine same applies for the Hydor Koralia would having a few be ok then?

 

[chrissaysyes]

A flow rate 20x your tanks volume is a good starting place.

 

[fatfishman]

Can i include the flow rate from my return pump in the 20x turnover, because my tank has a spray bar running the length of the tank to spray water through the rocks from behind and is 6500lph with little height to pump upwards, so could i include this?

 

[SkiFletch]

If your sump return pump is a typical ~5times turnover, then I wouldn't bother considering it in calculating display tank turnover. But if you've got some killer huge external return pump, go ahead and consider that