PowerHead replacement

[watto102]

Hello everyone!
Newbie here, brand new nano cube running for about a week. LR about 16 lb. LS from friend's at LFS. No live stock yet, of course. I love this board...! so much info. A quick question to anyone with a nanosecond....! After reading some posts some of you guys recommend replacing the stock powerhead with a more powerful one. Any specific brands/models that do not require extensive mods to tank or existing piping? This is my first salt water tank after 10 or so years of FW guppy setups.
Thanks in advance!
P.S. I cant believe the incredible amount of growth/changes in the LR after only a week! There's even a huge amount of tiny white little creatures running around. About the size of a speck of sand... Any ideas of what these are? I hope they are not fish lice.... since I have no fish at all...!

 

[Lostmind]

The little white things are probably copepods. They are beneficial.

As for a powerhead recommendation, I dont have one, sorry...

 

[Bio Hazard]

alot of nano reefers including myself, are using the mini jet 404

 

[nanocat]

I recommend keeping the pump that's in there, and ADDING a powerhead in the left hand corner. You'll get nice cross flow (instead of the circular flow that one pump provides). If you direct it slightly to the top of the water it'll break up the surface film.

 

[watto102]

Thanks guys!
I'll add a second powerhead like nanocat suggested, there's some film starting to form on the surface.

 

[Anonymous]

i didn't like the idea of having two powerheads, so here's what i did:

- remove old pump, throw away or use for saltwater mixing etc.
- put in a maxi jet 600. it fits exactly, very snug, but easy to put in
- use the magnet cleaner you got with the nanocube to break up the flow. put it at a 45 degree angle in the rear right upper corner and it makes a little whirlpool/vortex there that draws surface material in and breaks up the film.


easy and simple. in something so small as a nano, i couldn't justify putting in a 2nd powerhead.

 

[WALD0123]

In regards to a new powerhead for the Nano Cube, I've noticed a lot of people are replacing the stock powerhead with a Mini-Jet 404 or a Maxi-Jet 600. I was considering the MJ600 but was wondering if anyone had tried the MJ900 (230 GPH) or even the MJ1200 (295 GPH) with the Nano Cube. I was thinking about putting in one of these but then splitting the flow with "Y" shaped piece of pipe (Examples of this can be found at www.modularhose.com) so as to attempt to avoid the whirlpool effect so common in these tanks. I was just wondering if anyone else had tried something like this as way to increase the flow.

 

[Anonymous]

a MJ 600 is a lot of power for a little 12 nano. . . the MJ1200 would be insane. hehe.

 

[watto102]

Hey Hwarang, I just tried that little trick with the magnetic cleaner, and wow! No doubt little things make a big difference. Surface movement increased, film started to disappear. I'll check out the MJ 600 next.
Thanks!

 

[Brifox]

Here is what I did...It works very well so far. First I did the surface skimmer modification that I found in this forum (plug the return and cut slits in the top to skim water) and replaced the stock pump with an Eheim compact 600, it flows about 160 gph; which is significantly more than the other one. Lastly I used my trusty cordless drill to modify the water flow coming out of the existing nozzle to get rid of the annoying flow pattern. All you have to do is drill a couple more holes in it that will send water in different directions. Very easy and very good results.