nor_cal_nano Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Been thinking about picking one of these up for awhile... No matter which way I point my return nozzle in my 29 gallon Biocube, a steady flow of water rolls down my front glass to the sand bed and really upsets my mushrooms. I want something that will give me a little more random and turbulent flow throughout the display. Does anyone have any personal experience with these? In a Biocube, or otherwise? Link to comment
bluenassarius Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 garbage bro. after a while they lock up and require cleaning. after a while they stick and don't unstick.. get a controllable powerhead to get some random flow. Link to comment
BLoCkCliMbeR Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 this is a pretty good product, it definantly randomizes/decreases flow, and its cheap, but i find they can be broken easy by snails....if it gets stuck in one position the teeth of the gears gets worn down and they wont spin anymore....ive had snails that habitualy took rides on mine.... other than that id give it 4 outa 5 stars..... Link to comment
nor_cal_nano Posted November 3, 2009 Author Share Posted November 3, 2009 garbage bro. after a while they lock up and require cleaning. after a while they stick and don't unstick.. get a controllable powerhead to get some random flow. $$$ is my problem =( Link to comment
nanoreefnate Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 they work for like 6 months (with intensive cleaning) then they just never spin for longer than 30 mins... you could get one though...they do work really well while its last. Link to comment
JohnOTS Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 For the price it is a great product. I have been using mine for almost 7 months, completely covered in coralline algae and still going strong. Yes it will break down eventually but then you just buy another.... A great cheap way to get variable flow… oh yea, and I have never cleaned mine. And many snails have taken rides on it... Link to comment
doctaq Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 there is also a sweeping one by zoomed, my brother has been using it for a few weeks and it is doing fine Link to comment
nanoreefnate Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 i just recently took my flo's off of my 75g because they stopped working... altogether... with intensive cleaning... the just (I)ME your lucky to have them still... Link to comment
nor_cal_nano Posted November 3, 2009 Author Share Posted November 3, 2009 For the price it is a great product. I have been using mine for almost 7 months, completely covered in coralline algae and still going strong. Yes it will break down eventually but then you just buy another.... I think I could deal with that. They're like $10 or something. Do they have to be glued into place, or anything... or do they just pop on? (in regards to the biocube) there is also a sweeping one by zoomed, my brother has been using it for a few weeks and it is doing fine Hmm. Never heard about that. Thank you for the tip, doc. Link to comment
Goonie0 Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 I have one hooked up to my MJ900 in my NC12DX. I use it in addition to a Hydor Koralia Nano. I've had it now for about 2 months, and have cleaned it once with no problems. It does a great job of distributing the flow, although I think it does decrease flow from the pump by a bit. I was able to pop it on the outtake with one of the fittings that came with the unit. Link to comment
JohnOTS Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Yea they do reduce flow a little bit, but IMO it's worth it. Link to comment
nor_cal_nano Posted November 3, 2009 Author Share Posted November 3, 2009 Yea they do reduce flow a little bit, but IMO it's worth it. I've heard that from just about everyone, but I also have a Koralia 1 running in there so I don't think it'll be much of a problem. Link to comment
BLoCkCliMbeR Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 while the zoo med power sweep gives nice random flow, its generally a POS.... its big,its ugly...it takes up ALOT of real estate, and is 3-4 times the price of something that will pretty much end up with the same problem...worn out plastic gears.... ive gone through alot of hydorflo deflectors......and still buy em for any nano 14gal or less i set up..... if i had a 40 breeder or better then id look into something more reliable... but bang for your buck, if you can get a year out of a hydorflo, you got your moneys worth... i save all my old ones and i piece together another to get me by month to month.... now if only someone would make one with carbon fiber or ceramic gears.... maybe we would get better wear and tear out of one....... Link to comment
got2envy Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Great product for the price. It does reduce the flow quite a bit and like others have said eventually the gears will stick and can't be fixed 4 outta 5 for me Link to comment
KoTToN Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 i use it in my 12dx with a mj900 and it works great. Snails do like to go on rides and sometimes make it stop, but all i do is knock them off and it starts rotating again. So for $9 and the 2 months its been going strong without any cleaning i would def reccomend it. Link to comment
pdowden Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 I also have a NC12dx with a mj900 and the hydo-flo and I love it. I have had it foe about ten months and have taken it off and held it under the sink once to clean it. My snail have ridden on it and a large snail used to get stuck on it btw the glass and stop it and still mine works like a champ. I would recommend it for sure Link to comment
LogansRunRx Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 i've got one on my BC29. i ran into the same issues though with it just put on the stock inlet... blows all the sand out of the bottom left corner down to the bottom of the tank. solution = add loc-line so you can point it where you want. simple mod: 1. remove the duck bill from the stock flow deflector 2. sand down the ball side until if fits into a standard loc-line (i think it's 1/2" loc line) 3. snap on the flo done. i've been very happy with it. 3 months and no problems. cheers... Link to comment
FrankenReef Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 I've had mine for 6 months and my frogspawn and other lps love it. I've cleaned twice and it seems to be doing just fine. Even if it breaks these things are so cheap I would be fine buying one every 6 months Link to comment
gregzbobo Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 I've been running one of these in my NC12-DX for 4 years (yes, years) powered by an MJ900, it has only stopped a handful of times, usually due to a bit of chaeto or other debris getting stuck inside or rarely a snail snooping in the back of it, often I can get it rotating again with a tap or two (or carefully removed snail), but sometimes I need to remove it, in which case I take a toothbrush to it inside and out. Guess I've got my money's worth out of the device. On a side note, I used a short piece of thick reinforced vinyl tubing to attach it to the stock outlet nipple, it seems to work a bit better that way (maybe my imagination), as the only adapter that would work went inside the nipple, very slightly reducing flow (imagination again?). Since doing this, its never "popped off" the nipple like it would sometimes do with the provided adapter. Link to comment
uwwmatt Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 I used it for a little while in my biocube with an upgraded pump, then it broke. Didn't find it worthwhile to buy another one. Link to comment
Argent Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 I've had one on my BC8 with the MJ900 for a few years now - other than the occasional snail riding it (and then wedging themselves against the rock and stopping the whole thing) it's worked mostly flawlessly - occasionally like mentioned it will just stop spinning but generally a small twist or tap to the unit will get it going again. I had a problem for a while with it shooting out of the outlet on the back wall - but I fixed that by superglueing it in the hole Link to comment
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