Power Sweep Powerheads

[Topher]

Has anybody used the Power Sweep Powerheads? Or are their better ways to mimic the ocean's currents? Thanks Chris

 

[new reefer in michigan]

I have never used one of these but many people on this board have reported that this powerhead will stop rotating shortly after adding it to the tank. Unless they have improved there design I would stay away from it.

 

[turner.phil]

I've used a number of powersweeps and currently have 3 in my 125g. On occasion they do stop rotating, but a quick clean and the'll be fine. The oldedst one I have is 3 years old and is running like a champ! Using a wavemaker would be an improvement, but more costly.

 

[jhaag]

I had 3 of them on my 55gal and they would always seem to clog up and stop rotating every few days. I finally took someone's advice and used a dremmel tool to bore out the intake and used the flow director to diverted the outflow to the side and help the head sweep. This helped tremendously and they would only plug every 10days or so which was less then half the frequency. Now I finally got a powerhead rotator and a few maxijets and I haven't had to fuss with them (except clean the screens) in over 5 months. I sold all my Powersweeps on ebay since I was not in the mood to fidget with them all the time. It's fully your choice, but if I could do it again, I would have sucked up the money for a wavemaker or the powerhead rotator right from the get go and saved all the money I wasted on the PowerSweeps. They work great in my freshwater tank, but salt and algea accumlation killed them in my reef. Just me $0.02

 

[Topher]

Great, thanks all. I will go back to the drawing board. I will try to explain to my wife the need for a wave maker. Somehow I don't think I am going to get anywhere But it's worth a try.

 

[phislet]

Yep, don't bother with them. I had 2 in my 125.... couldn't keep them rotating for more than a week at a time... if I was lucky. Now they've been retired to my sump where they still pump water but don't rotate. I retired them in favor of a natural wave powerstrip and 2 maxijet 1200's. Much better now.