River tank manifold - what powerheads?

[FSM]

I'm thinking about setting up a river tank for hillstream loaches (probably Sewellia lineolata). Maybe a 40 breeder, I still need to get the tank.

I'm trying to figure out what powerheads would work best. I was thinking about using 3 maxi-jet 1200s, about 300GPH each so 900 total. That would be 22X per hour turnover which I think would work great, maybe even too much.

Are there any other powerheads that would work better? AC powerheads cost more for the amount of water they pump, koralias wouldn't work because there is no way to attach a PVC pipe to the intake.

 

[Lupin]

The Maxi jets will work just fine, FSM. The hillstreams do not care for the power of the currents. They can withstand even the waterfalls and some species are famous for climbing up the falls in their natural habitats.

Please cover all manifold and pump articles in loaches.com because the previous manifold setup had a flaw in it that obliterated three of my powerheads within 6 months only much to my chagrin until I discovered that the turnover should not be direct. Try to make the pump output flow face the glass or divert with rock boulders to avoid the direct flow from hitting into the sponges and then into the pipes and back to the pumps. It can wear out the machine pretty fast.

 

[JakeH]

Did it cause too much cavitation in the impellers? How did it wreck the pumps?

 

[Lupin]

Did it cause too much cavitation in the impellers? How did it wreck the pumps?

It simply wore out the motor. Dismantle them and there is nothing wrong from there but the motor tends to become heated and wears out easily as a result. No matter how you try to fix it, it refuses to work anymore.

 

[Noto]

A simple fix for that problem that I am currently trying (too soon to judge effectiveness): instead of putting round pieces of foam on the intake pipes, I screened off the entire intake end of the tank with a sheet of foam, creating a sort of manifold/mattenfilter hybrid. My tank is a 55 gallon with two Maxijet 1200s, and the flow is much less than I expected it to be; I am currently re-engineering.

 

[FSM]

Is there any reason I can't use a submersible pump made for a sump, and use PVC pipes to put the output on the side of the tank opposite the pump? So the water is sucked into the pump and pushed through the piping, and the output is on the other side of the tank.

I could get a ~500GPH pump for around $20-30, much less than a powerhead. The only potential problem would be the larger size of the pump.

 

[FSM]

I might be getting a 55, still looking for an answer about the pumps.

 

[Noto]

I don't see how that would be a problem, I might try it myself. The only issue I see is that the pump may need to work extra hard to push water through the 90 degree bends, causing it to put out more heat than you want. I would do a test run before adding substrate and decor; if it's too hot, either make the manifold with larger diameter pipe or use a smaller pump.

 

[FSM]

They're designed to push water up several feet into the take, so hopefully this will work fine. In any case, 25 or 50W from a pump isn't going to heat the water excessively.

 

[FSM]

ViaAqua pumps look like a good choice. They are cheap, well reviewed on drsfostersmith.com, and have an intake tube instead of just a screen, so it can be used like a normal powerhead.