Tunze vs Hydor

[purplepolypeater]

is there really so much of a difference that the huge price is worth it. please let me know as i am looking at wave packages from JL and the price diff is massive i have only used seio.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

What particular products are you wanting to compare? The Tunze Nanostreams to the Hydor Koralias?

If so, I prefer the Hydors. Less expensive and I had nothing but problems with my Nanostream.

[bv_reefer]

no idea about the controllable series, but i have the non-controllable koralias and am very satisfied, easy to take aprt and clean, gives strong even flow, and IMO are worth every penny. don't know much about the nanostrems but have heard that there clips break alot of times. i also really like how strong the magnets are on the koralias. if you're looking for a larger, controllable unit, hydor now has all 5 models with matching controllers available, at a much more decent price..

[fkshiu]

I have one of the controllable 6055 nanostreams on a multicontroller and love it. The whole clip issue only affected the first couple of runs and has now been resolved.

If you are on a budget, the hydors will do a fine job, but its controller price isn't exactly cheap (although J&L currently has them at 20% off).

When you move up to the tunze, you get a controller that can do a lot more and a smaller, less noticeable powerhead in your tank. Plus, two minutes with a dremel tool and some sandpaper will instantly add a good 25% more flow to any nanostream.

A cheaper tunze alternative is the single controller which is quite versatile itself.

[marie]

I have a couple of hydors and absolutely hate the stupid ceramic shafts on the impellors.I like to clean my powerheads every couple of months but every time i go to take the cover off to clean it I seem to break them. One of the hydors I'm not using anymore because i refuse to buy a new impellor and the other I don't dare take the cover off of. I'll never buy them again, they're a piece of junk as far as i'm concerned :mrgreen:

I don't have any experience with the nanostreams but the turbelle streams that i have I just love for the ease of cleaning

[sphelps]

I've noticed that although the hydors are cheaper you really need to compare flow rate. The nanostream 6045 is rated at almost 1200 GPH, the nano hydor is only 250 GPH, you have to use the largest hydor pump (4) just to match the 6045. Although still a decent price difference the nanostream is a fraction of the size, something well worth the extra money when it comes to creating a cleaner look.

The controllable version 6055 is a big jump in price, but the actual controllers are cheaper than the hydor controllers so it's not too bad. I myself use the 6055 it plugs right into my profilux which gives way more controllability than anything else, another feature not available with the hydors.

It's all about what you want, the hydors really can't produce much flow only comparable to the nanostreams. The nanostreams are much smaller with the idea of being used in smaller tanks. If you have the space for the hydors then you should be considering the tunze streams, although more money produce waaay more flow. In this hobby you almost always get what you pay for.

On a side note I'm not sure why everyone complains about the clip problem, soon as I got mine I just super-glued the clip to the inside magnet and problem solved. Not sure why tunze never made that one piece to begin with.

[skylord]

You are confusing clips with tabs....tabs break and super glue fixes the problem....clips break in half and no amount of super glue fixes them. I have 3 clips broke in half so I now use expensive nano streams to mix water. I also have 3 hydors. Both types of power heads have their issues. I have one hydor with a broken shaft and another that wont stay together no mater what I try...did I mention I have 5 power-heads for mixing salt and one unusable?

Scott

I've noticed that although the hydors are cheaper you really need to compare flow rate. The nanostream 6045 is rated at almost 1200 GPH, the nano hydor is only 250 GPH, you have to use the largest hydor pump (4) just to match the 6045. Although still a decent price difference the nanostream is a fraction of the size, something well worth the extra money when it comes to creating a cleaner look.

The controllable version 6055 is a big jump in price, but the actual controllers are cheaper than the hydor controllers so it's not too bad. I myself use the 6055 it plugs right into my profilux which gives way more controllability than anything else, another feature not available with the hydors.

It's all about what you want, the hydors really can't produce much flow only comparable to the nanostreams. The nanostreams are much smaller with the idea of being used in smaller tanks. If you have the space for the hydors then you should be considering the tunze streams, although more money produce waaay more flow. In this hobby you almost always get what you pay for.

On a side note I'm not sure why everyone complains about the clip problem, soon as I got mine I just super-glued the clip to the inside magnet and problem solved. Not sure why tunze never made that one piece to begin with.

[skylord]

I think one of the best buys and arguably the most efficent is using a Maxi-Jet 1200 with the sure flow maxi upgrade kit. Under $50 for both and you get either 1600 or 2000 gph.

Scott

[Drock169]

Scott, I agree with the maxijet being more efficient for flow, but depending on your system, it might not work very on a wavemaker.

[Chowder]

I agree with Scott. The MJ 1200 with the mods seem to be the best bang for buck. The MJ's are almost indestructable but I have heard some issues with hooking them up to wave makers.

[christyf5]

I used to have my MJ's hooked up to christmas light timer plugs (they're like 99 cents around christmastime). If this wasn't a test of a MJ in action I don't know what was. They cycled on and off for about 2 seconds each. I'm really surprised they didn't burn out. I used the timer plugs for about a year before I upgraded to Tunze 6060s.

Anyway, not that MJs can survive anything but I was always really impressed with them. I just wished they pushed more water :biggrin:

[Delphinus]

The only issue that caused me to take my "upgraded" MJ's off a wavemaker was not that after a while they would burn out or whatever - but that after a while, the little swing arm that holds the pump to the glass magnet bracket would break. It seems that every time the pump would start, the pump would shake just ever so slightly. After a few months of this the little swing arm literally just snaps in two, and then you have a pump dangling by the power cord, facing down, cheerfully starting and stopping and blowing sand all over the place. I just run the upgrade kits on all the time now. The wavemaker flow was awesome but not worth buying a new kit every few months just to replace the swing arm. For $20 or whatever the cost of the upgrade kit, you can't beat what you get out of the MJ. If you have the MJ's already then it's a slam dunk. If you don't, then maybe look at the Koralia's or Tunze's instead because they're probably a better option than buying the powerhead, the upgrade kit AND the magnets all separately.

I've been running a Tunze 6055 (not sure of the model -- the smallest non-controllable Tunze) in my FW. Save for power failures it's been on and running without so much as a cleaning in well over a year. Sometimes I pull plant leafs out of it but that's not really a "cleaning" per se. It does make a little bit of a rattling noise which I wish it didn't, but other than that I can't say I've had any problems with it.

I haven't tried the Koralia's yet but that's because they weren't available to buy when I was looking. Can't beat the price so I'd probably try them if I was looking for something. I like the Koralia nano's, I almost switched from Seio to one of those for my 20g until I realized I'm still getting several times over the flow out of my 820 than I would get out of a single Koralia, so although it's large and bulky, I'm sticking with the Seio.

[Darth Wader]

I run 2 koralia 4's and a k3 in my large tank and when I started a nano tank I wanted to try out the Tunze ph's so I picked up 2 of the 6025, took out some plastic cutters and modded them and they are amazing. I wish I had the money to buy 2 6101 for my larger tank. If I ever start another tank or have the money to put new ph in my big tank I will go with Tunze all the way. Rock solid products and they put out amazing flow. Cost more but from what I've seen its well worth the extra bux!!