[sandoval]

i'm interested in buying either two maxi jet 900's or a seio m620 powerhead. which one is better for my 20 gallon reef tank? which brand is better ? does anybody recommand any other powerhead brand, if so which brand and what model?

[ldrhawke]

MaxiJet's quieter, cheaper, and better built.

[Steven Pro]

I refuse to use anything Rio (and in case you didn't know Seio are made by them). They have had a lot of problems in the past with defective products. Maxi-Jets on the other hand are very reliable.

[sandoval]

do you think i should get one maxi jet 1200 or two maxi jet 900's? thanks for the advice on the rio powerheads.

[Steven Pro]

I would use two 900's. They have a better gph to watts used ratio. Plus, with two powerheads it is easier to minimize dead spots.

[ldrhawke]

Originally Posted by Steven Pro

I would use two 900's. They have a better gph to watts used ratio. Plus, with two powerheads it is easier to minimize dead spots.

I agree withh Steve....plus, you always have a 50% standby when one fails. The bioggest problem with any mag drive pump is keeping the space between the shaft and rotating mag free and clean. It has a tendency to build up calcium and lock up; then the shaft rotates in the rubber bushings and you get premature pump failure. Run the pump over night in a bowl of water that contains a cup of vinegar every 6 months and it will self clean out calcium deposits.

[sandoval]

where should i position them in my tank? also do you really think i need a wavemaker ? if so which one would you recommand ?

[Steven Pro]

Where to place them depends on your rockwork, the corals, their growth over time, etc. In short, there is no general rule here. You will likely put them one way and move them around to get the flow that works best for your particular tank.

As to wavemakers, they are definitely not necessary, but can be kind of neat visually. See here for my review,
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume...Wavemakers.htm

[Reefland]

For a wavemaker I like the MJ / Red Sea Wavemaster combo.

[Cims]

i like maxijets

[lepete]

I use them both. I like them both.

If you are going to use a wavemaker. You CAN NOT use the SEIO. It is not designed to be constaintly turn on/off.

The SEIO is made of cheap plastic. It feels week. It makes a little more noise than the Maxijets. It is physically larger than the Maxijets. However, its claim to fame is its low power usage (8W for 620 GPH) and wide beam. Less power consumption is less heat to your water.

The maxi will have narrow beam. I would not put anything less that 6" infront of the nozzle.

[Meric]

I also use both. I have Seio 620 and 1100. I like them, they are very much like the Tunze Stream pumps. They have a lot of flow over a wide area.

For the MaxiJets, I have the Hydor Flo rotating deflectors on them to prevent direct flow from hitting the corals all the time. These actually work well, except they grow algae on them and the snails can't get on them to eat it.

The one issue I have had with the Seios is the impeller can become jammed pretty easily and you have to keep it clean.

The big advantage to the Seio's is that it would take 5 Maxijets to equal the flow of just the (2) Seios. So even though the Seios are bigger, (5) maxiJets would take up much more room and much more power.

[golfish]

The Seio's move A LOT more water then any MJ PH can but like Steve said they are made by Tamm. I have two of the 820 (someting like that) they work pretty well as long as I'm not using my kalk reactor, once I put it back in line (using Zeovit off and on) those Seio's will lock up in a week. Something about using both a Ca and kalk reactor just seems to melt the ceramic shafts and guides together.

FWIW, I did burn up a Seio pump . It didn't pollute the tank like my Rio 2100 did when it burned up but it was close.