Zoo Med Powerheads

[Rich-n-poor]

does anyone have expierence with zoo med powerheads?

I have been looking at some that have an autorotation feature. They sweep back and forth 90 degrees and am considering their purchase.

their cost is about the same as a hagan 402 and I like the rotating feature

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Ariakon SIM-5

 

[Anonymous]

Everyone seems to hate them. I have one, it stops rotating when it wants to be cleaned (5-7 days) so it can be a pain. It also is very easy to disassemble - too easy - sometimes it falls apart as I'm removing it. Stick to the other ones...the ones whose name escapes me right now....

 

[Josh]

Don't get Zoomed Powersweeps.

They will stop moving after a few days. I haven't met anyone that has not experienced this problem. I called the company and they were actually surprised to hear that I was experiencing this. After asking around I found out the truth and returned them all for Maxijets.

Zoomed did ship me a "prefilter" to prevent this from happening. Its basically a sponge that is twice the size of the powerhead. Ridiculous to think I would put something that ugly in my tank.

Don't buy Zoomed!

 

[Anemone]

FWIW, I have a PS214 in my 65 gallon tank (I won it at a conference, so I didn't spend my money). Everyone had said that they stopped rotating, but no one had any info on whether the prefilters addressed this. Since I also got a prefilter with the powersweep, I decided to try it.

I put it in the tank in mid-June. I have not cleaned it at all (although I now do my water change siphoning from the sponge prefilter, to try and remove any detritus caught in the sponge - but I have not removed it or the sponge from the tank) and it has not stopped rotating (nope, not once).

My only negative comment on this powerhead is that it is very weak (flow-wise). Since I just wanted some surface agitation in a slow corner of my tank, this isn't a problem for me, but if you're looking to rock your tank with the water movement, best look elsewhere (but the variable flow is cool!).

Kevin

 

[HARRISON]

I have a couple of them and have the same probs. Seemed like a good fix but it doesn't work long enough in my opinion. They stop once a week and I have the big ol filters on mine. As a straight powerhead the are ok though...

 

[thardin]

CRAP !

 

[Sergio1]

GET MAXI-JETS! I have two different size zoo meds and I think they are NOT worth the money. As stated poor water flow(I've got the big one) and constantly getting stuck (yes I have the prefilter- the huge prefilter). Also very small suction cups making it fall rather easy after a while. I love the maxi jets (600s).

 

[kipreefer]

Just save your money adn get sea swirls. I hooked one up to a 400 gallon a hour hagen powerhead and it works great.

 

[Rich-n-poor]

whats the cost of a sea swirl ?
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Druidism Forum

 

[mkdema]

I brought a Zoo Med Powersweep home (the bigger one, 160GPH I think) to use as a temporary powerhead, my friend/boss (I work at a fishstore that my friend just bought) gave it to me for free while I wait to pick up a OsciWave and new powerheads, and to tell you the truth, it is kinda sluggish, keeping in mind that the one I'm using is only 160GPH, which is only suitable for a 30 gallon aquarium, I really shouldn't expect much of it, even my boss told me it was crap. But hey, it was free and it'll do for a few days until I take home the OsciWave and MaxiJet powerhead.

 

[Anonymous]

I also never had a proble with the powersweeps stopping. I actually jammed it because I wanted to stop the sweep feature.

RR

 

[Anonymous]

I have three Powersweeps, two small and one large. My main problem with them was not cleaning them, but the poor flow rate previously mentioned. However, I will say that the smaller ones are perfect for a 6- or 10-gallon nano reef. I put one in my girlfriend's 6-gallon nano and it works great!

Peace,

Chip

 

[Anonymous]

I had voiced this opinion a long time ago when they first came out. And back then they had even more dismal flowrates. Some said they corrected the problems and I figured that I should try out the larger one. Well,it has the same problem as the first. I think they are useless as wavemakers IMO and I would not recommend their use.

 

[DVTang]

Please don't bother with these poor excuses for a powerhead. I had one that worked for 2 weeks, then just stopped rotating, even with the prefilter. Stay with the maxi-jets...

 

[toyfreek]

ok its like this,
I have bought 3 zoomed rotating powerheads. Two of the larger ones and one of the small ones.
The larger ones have a design flaw the guide for the rotation pin is straight not curved so it gets stuck because its not sure if it shopuld go forward or backward so it just stays in the middle.(and dosen't rotate) however they seemed to have fixed this in the newer smaller ones (they put a curv in the guide for the pin) it works great! i clean all my powerheads about once a month so mabey thats why. I heated up the guides with a lighter and bent them slightly in the larger ones and now they work perfect. I have no complaints with zoomed for $20 who can complain IMO. I use them only as suplimentary flow in dead spots in my tank not for system flow because they do have a poor rate of flow(due to the mechenism that spins them using waterflow to rotate) If $100 for seaswirls is too much for your budget i suggest the zoomeds. In regard to the large prefilter i rubberbanded a piece of nylon stocking to the intake and that works fine.
just my $.02
Toyfreek

 

[mkdema]

An update on my powerhead:
I brought it home last night, and it was working fine, I came home tonight and noticed that it's being really sluggish when the nozzle is on it's return path, sometimes it jams up and then fixes itself a few seconds later.

Don't bother with this ZooMed garbage, I'm glad I didn't pay anything for it, and I'm probably going to have to buy that MaxiJet and OsciWave combo sooner than I thought.

 

[RobTop]

I have two, both the old large size. One works well the other doesn't. As you have read there are pros and cons to this power head. I would say not to spend the money. It's a nice novelty, but not really what you want in a rotating flow. Sticking your finger in the tank and swirling it around will give you better flow. And if you do that every now and again it will be like the power sweep, sometimes working sometimes not.

 

[wasabi]

mine is in the drawer along with the other useless crap i was conned into purchasing at the lfs.