Zoo Med power sweep = dead fish

[treesprite]

A few days ago, I came home to find that the thing was not running. I don't know how long it was off, but the water looked bad. I did a water change then prayed the two little tangs in the QT would be ok - they still looked ok at that point. The next day when I came home from work, the littlest one was dead (was as small as they usually come in shops) - they both have seemed very healthy since purchase, so I'm pretty sure it was lack of circulation. I'm not sure if this is generally a crappy power head, or if it's just the fact that it's 8 years old. The "sweep" action hasn't worked for several years.

 

Anyway, that power head has been re-assigned from QT duty to water mixing duty.

Edited June 10, 2010 by treesprite

[Coral Hind]

Do you know why it stopped running? Did it need a good cleaning?

 

 

[Big Country]

I had a couple of those power heads years ago, no matter if you keep them clean or not the sweep action doesn't work for long. I had better luck with a hydor rotating device that I attached to a maxi jet, it worked pretty good for a couple of years.

[Jon Lazar]

treesprite,

 

Sorry to hear about the fish. As others have mentioned, the rotating feature seems to get stuck quickly with sand, coralline algae, or other stuff. I'd be suprised though for the impeller of any powerhead to last 8 years. I use MaxiJets to pump water between containers, and I usually through them away after a year or two because they start leaking current and shocking me.

[gmubeach]

I like the hydro koralinas but they don't move. I've never had a problem with them.

[zygote2k]

I like the hydro koralinas but they don't move. I've never had a problem with them.

stop smoking the hydro- you must mean Hydor Koralias.

[treesprite]

It seems to be not re-starting after the electricity to it is cut. If I lift it out of the water then put it back in, it will start.

 

The past couple years I've only used it a few times, most of the time it's in the tank junk closet. I cleaned it about once a month when I was using it all the time.