Fed up with Rio powerheads

david mallette

david mallette

New Member
I have had a 50 gal reef for over a year and I am on my third Rio 1700 powerhead. When I change the water every two weeks, half of the time the powerhead will not start back up unless I take it apart or knock it on the side of the sump. I'm worried about power failures as well. Could someone please recommend a good submersible powerhead in the 650 gph range. Thanks
 
kathy18

kathy18

Member
same happened to me with my rio. its my 2nd rio and every once in a while i have to knock it for it to start up again. dont know of any other food pumps though. i know a really good one called amagnum or something, not too sure
 
mr . salty

mr . salty

Active Member
There are many other powerheads on the market,,and most are better than the rio's.I prefer Haggen powerheads.They have adjustments to controle flow rate and can alsobe reversed...Most are also avalibe with a strainer attachment to keep fish and other livestock from being sucked into them...
 
gregzbobo

gregzbobo

Member
I have a marineland Penguin 550 powerhead and its the most reliable pump I've had so far, not counting the pump in my emporer 400 on my freshwater tank. I also have a pair of maxi-jet 1200's that came with seaclone skimmers, got one on a skimmer, the other sitting in the closet till i can devise a mount for it in my tank.
 
jrb384

jrb384

Member
I use "maxi jet" and have not had any problems with them clogging up or stoping. I havent had to bang them to get them to work either. there also fairly cheap off the internet.
I had a rio powerhead in my last tank. Call me crazy, but I blame it for cracking my glass. Suddenly from nowhere, the front payne shattered. not in the corner, not at the seam, but right in upper corner next to the rio. at the time i noticed the entire top of the powerhead had blown off, i didnt think anything of it. i wanted to save all i could so i put my LR and fish into a big tupperware bin, and then i got that rio powerhead with the top off , and i put the top back on and put it into the tupperware. I plugged it in, and later I went to reach into the tupperware and it shocked the hell out of me. Somehow the rio had a short, and was shocking everything. its all i could think of that caused the explosion on my tank. maybe it was just coincedence, who knows. but i know i'll never own another rio.
 
tangman99

tangman99

Active Member
I had a RIO 2500 return pump that failed to restart. Lucky I was home and it was less than a year old. I will never buy another RIO. I have Maxi-Jet Power Heads in my tank which restart flawlessly as I turn them off every time I feed. I also use a Mag7 return pump in my sump. The mags are not that much more expensive that comparable pumps. You can get a Mag7 for little over $50 if you look on the internet. At an LFS, expect to pay about $100.00. The Mag will add heat to your tank though. It raised my tank's temperature about 3 degrees. Four Maxi-jet 1200's had no effect on the tank temp.
Tangman :)
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
I have to use a rio to run in my skimmer's prefilter. I've already had to replace 1 during the last yr. :mad: Too bad, too, because the rios have some nice features.
What I wish someone would invent is a good way to attach PH's wo sucition cups. My cups never stay attached for long and causes problems with disturbing my dsb all the time.
Double :mad: :mad:
 
fshhub

fshhub

Active Member

Originally posted by danrw84
mags tend to run hot though
and are $$$
is money realy an issue here?????
I personally would prefer to pay some $$ and get reliability and stability. What is a few extra bucks here? IMO, a worthwihile investmetn, again, JMO. That is like a skimmer and lighting, is it really worth it to spend all this and fight with garbage vs spending 40 ro 50 more if need be? NO!!!
Another thing to consider is not only failure, but other problems, some pumps are known for spewing oil into the tankw, when they fail. Here I would really prefer to not save any money and wind up with them. NO WAY
I only like hagen Aquaclears and Maxijets(iI also do think mag drives are worth every $$)
 
marinemarty

marinemarty

Member
Hi All, I currently run two RIO 3100's 1 for my skimmer and 1 for my return. i also run a RIO 2500 for my sump to refugium connection. I bought all LifeReef product's and Jeff from LifeReef has stated that the lower powered RIO's are the problematic ones and he has not had a problem with the 2500's or 3100's. i will keep you all posted:eek:
Martin
 
slothy

slothy

Active Member
i had a rio 2100 as a return pump, after a month of turning it off for feeding, i had to shake it for it to start back up.. needless to say it got replaced with a mag 7 and the rio is now used to mix my water change water..
 
barracuda

barracuda

Active Member
I had the same problem with Rio pumps. They just don't want to start after the power failure. I think EHEIM is a good choice.
 
elcid

elcid

Member
I have a Maxi Jet and I am very pleased with it, I do not have any problems and it is veeeery quiet
 
mikegronholz

mikegronholz

Member
I have 2 Rio 1400's running and have had no problems. Then again, they never get turned off.
On the flip side, I have been thinking about using 2 Mag 5's in my display and running PVC to make powerheads out of them.
Am I crazy ?
 
mikegronholz

mikegronholz

Member
Umm...ok :confused:
Was thinking either dual Mag5 or Mag 7 with pvc running to exactly where i want the flow to be. At least with that I would have a HIDDEN bulk with hidden pvc rather than a HUGE grey box in the corner.
My chief complaint with Rio's is with every foot you go, their gph drops FAST !!! As soon as you put an elbow on it (2 inches @ 90 degree), you just lost 1/3 of your flow. That's BS !!! Then my MAG 5 is pumping 300gph at 6 feet !!!
Shoulda' , Woulda' , Coulda'
 
fshhub

fshhub

Active Member

Originally posted by MarineMarty
Hi All, I currently run two RIO 3100's 1 for my skimmer and 1 for my return. i also run a RIO 2500 for my sump to refugium connection. I bought all LifeReef product's and Jeff from LifeReef has stated that the lower powered RIO's are the problematic ones and he has not had a problem with the 2500's or 3100's. i will keep you all posted:eek:
Martin
are we selling something here? or someone?
Rios, IMO are not the recommended pump or powerhead for any sw aquarium, I don't give a hoot, what any salesman tells you. I am a business man and salesman, I will tell you I hate salesmen(except any good one that works for me).
Right now, I am in the proccess of trying to straighten out a great big mess($1000s in stock, and even 10,000$ in profits and liabilities), b/c a salesman told my buyer "this" and it was not so, fortunately for our company, I do have the law on my side. But ask him, and he will sell you some more, if you let him. NO morals, NO cooth and definitely NO truth(unless it benfits him). His name is Jeff too.
 
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