# powerheads are they needed?



## artemisblossom (May 22, 2008)

I just bought an aquaclear fliter for one of my smaller tanks and I noticed there was a powerhead right beside it on the shelf for sale. This may be a dumb question but what do they do and are they necessary? My aquaclear seems to work just fine without it


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

for additional water movement - filters shouldn't be your primary source of water movement, they should be filters first and foremost. Powerheads provide additional movement where necessary.


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

Powerheads are good at replicating natural water movement ie. current.
It really depends on the type of fish you have in the tank. For instance, clown loaches are from flowing streams so they would gladly accept powerheads as a suppliment to help replicate their natural environment. Another good thing I find with powerheads, is it gives your fish exercise if you turn it on periodically. Just be sure to know the natural habitat of your fish because there are some who are not fond of constant high currents.


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## artemisblossom (May 22, 2008)

Thank you for your responses, I have a better understanding of this now. In my 125 gallon tanks I have blood parrots, angels and oscars (not all in the same tank) do you think these fish would benifit from a powerhead? They have canister filters with spray bars and bubble walls.


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

*Angelfish* I find do fine without one and prefer calmer water. Although I do use one but positioned at the lower portion of the tank for my loaches.

*Oscars* I don't think would mind, especially if you attach it to a sponge filter for extra bio filtration / aeration. To be honest, the last time I had an oscar was when I was when I was around 13 and I never even knew powerheads existed. 

*Blood Parrots* my buddy uses one in his parrot tank. I really don't know much about parrots so I can't comment on that.

I suggest googling powerheads to find out more about them. They have many uses which may or may not suit your fishes needs.


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

none of your fish would benefit from water movement. They all prefer calmer waters.


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## Sameer (Sep 30, 2007)

I use a power head to mix in the CO2.


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## max88 (Aug 6, 2009)

What about pumping water from bucket to tank for water change? I was thinking that would save me some time and effort of holding the bucket on top of the tank.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

They can be used for that too. There's lots of applications for powerheads. 

Best non-aquarium application: door stop. those suction cups work great on hardwood floor.


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

ya, having a couple of powerheads around is always handy whether you need water movement or not.


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

max88 said:


> What about pumping water from bucket to tank for water change? I was thinking that would save me some time and effort of holding the bucket on top of the tank.


Since they are more aimed at being in the tank with the water they pump, I've found not all powerheads develop enough pressure to be capable (at a decent rate) of pumping water up, out of a bucket, through a hose and into a tank unless you have your bucket at or above the same level as the tank.

(ie: bucket on the floor, up a hose into a tank on a stand...probably not, a pump rather than powerhead would do a much better job of this.)


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

Good point. Power heads aren't really pumps, and don't develop much head pressure. In addition, they are not necessary in a tank, unless you are keeping fish that need high current flow, such as hill stream loaches. People with large fishrooms, rarely have mechanical filtration such as HOB or cannister filters, and they do just fine. In this case, I can't imagine where the need would be. Many people use ridiculous amounts of filtration on their tanks, with the misguided idea that more is better. While redundancy can be beneficial, adding more filters and not keeping them clean is of no benefit, except to the hydro utility.


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

I use a powerhead with my co2 reactor to smash up the co2 bubbles so they dissolve faster. 
Powerheads increase the circulation in large planted aquariums to get the nutrients and co2 to the plants where needed. A very important asset as it eliminates dead spots. Also it makes the plants sway in the current which is aesthetically pleasing. 
You can use a powerhead with an air hose between the venturi and above the surface of the aquarium to aerate the water column more efficiently. My BN plecos enjoy that.
I have sponge attached to the powerhead intakes so they serve as mechanical/biological filtration as well.


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## max88 (Aug 6, 2009)

Mr Fishies said:


> Since they are more aimed at being in the tank with the water they pump, I've found not all powerheads develop enough pressure to be capable (at a decent rate) of pumping water up, out of a bucket, through a hose and into a tank unless you have your bucket at or above the same level as the tank.
> 
> (ie: bucket on the floor, up a hose into a tank on a stand...probably not, a pump rather than powerhead would do a much better job of this.)


That's what I thought. I have noticed my HOB filter starts to struggle when water level falls as siphoned during water change.

As for pumping water to/from tank, what kind of pump is required? Or any aquarium pump sold at LFS would do? Thanks.


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

It would depend a little on how strong of a pump you would need. But all of the "pumps" sold in LFS would work, the powerheads wont work.


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

max88 said:


> That's what I thought. I have noticed my HOB filter starts to struggle when water level falls as siphoned during water change.
> 
> As for pumping water to/from tank, what kind of pump is required? Or any aquarium pump sold at LFS would do? Thanks.


I would think so, there are plenty of pumps that would probably work, it's a matter of how much and how high you need to pump vs. how long you're willing to wait vs. what you want to pay...decisions.

I found some el cheapo submersible fountain pump at Walmart for ~$25-30. It was repackaged import shtuff from a company called Jebao, but I only use it for water changes so I wasn't too worried about reliability. It will pump 20 gal up 5ft into my tank from a garbage can in about 10 minutes...I think...never really timed it. At 0 ft lift it's rated for 450 gph, but at 5 ft it's down to 120 or so.


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