Zoomeds powerheads

saltymist

saltymist

Member
Im curious what others find about the Zoo meds powerhead that has an automatic side to side outlet. So it disperses water that it pulls in in a right to left fashion.
I saw them at ***** today, and thought that would be a great form of a cheap wavemaker for smaller tanks, allowing more motion in the ocean so to speak.
What is the general concensus on these units. I know they come in like 160gph, up to somewhere around 270gph, but just wondering about the longevity, as well as the circulation aspect of them.
Thanks,
 
007

007

Active Member
unfortunately they don't work as well as it seemed. They tend to jam up and stop working.
 
saltymist

saltymist

Member
What about cleaning the gears? I managed to open one of the boxes and looked at some piece of paper, that said if it stops rotating, simply open it up and clean the gears. If the gears are completely corroded with deposits then just soak them in vinegar or lemon juice and it should work as functioned.
So this has me wondering how often they stop working, I mean if it's like every 6 months then I dont mind soaking the gears in vinegar for a couple hours to restore it's rotational function.
Anyone have first hand experience with these?
Thanks for the reply.
 
fender

fender

Active Member
I had two of them for about a year. If you clean them weekly they will work most of the time. IMO they required TOO much maintenance to stay functional and they were too bulky.
I wound up gutting the gears and then eventually tossing them.
I have maxis now (and a couple of rios). Cheap, reliable and small.
 
saltymist

saltymist

Member
Okay, well Im going to pickone up today after work and see how well it works, since they are relatively inexpensive for a powerhead, I just like the idea of it more resembling the motion of the ocean than just a static powerhead.
Also, why did you have to clean it weekly? What was getting into your gears that were causing a problem? Were you using the prefilter sponge with it or what?
Thanks,
 
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