rygh
Guest
Not sure people have noticed, by Hydor Koralia has come out with a new generation of powerhead.
http://www.hydor.com/eng/prodotti-tecnici/movement-pumps/koralia-3rd-generation.php
So I bought one to test out. Specifically the 1950.
Here is a quick review.
Noise : GREAT!
Amazing. Nearly dead silent. And I am very picky. For example, I think the Gyre is way too noisy.
New mount: VERY GOOD.
Instead of a post from mount that inserts into a hole in the powerhead, they have an
extra magnet system. So the powerhead itself connects to the base with a magnet.
External Magnet -> Tank Wall -> Base Magnet -> Powerhead magnet.
This is a big win in my mind.
It reduces space, with no post.
It makes it a lot easier to adjust, since that friction ball joint could be a pain.
But best: you can very easily pop the powerhead out for cleaning, without disturbing base.
The downside is that it moves a bit too easily. Easy to bump and change direction.
Magnet strength: POOR
As usual for Koralia, cheap weak magnets.
Says it is capable of half inch, but would fall off with a little touch.
Efficiency: GREAT!
These are the best for power efficiency by quite a bit.
Moving 300 GPH / Watt is amazing.
Compare that to the fairly efficient WP-40 at 85 GPH / Watt.
Controls: BAD/GOOD
This is strictly on/off. So no fancy wave modes, so rather poor by modern standards.
But it is soft start, and seems to work well, so good for an old relay based wavemaker.
FLOW: FAIR
Frankly, I was a bit disappointed. It was not bad, but not what I really wanted.
I have no way of measuring the strength in exact GPH. So cannot comment on that.
There are 3 flow nozzles to play with. I primarily checked using the "normal" one.
Flow was not very even coming out. Stronger at one angle, about 25 degrees off center.
I would say by feel that the old magnum-5 was stronger. But stronger can
mean more of a jet, less diffuse. And diffuse is usually a good thing.
OVERALL:
If you want quiet high efficiency diffuse flow, and don't care about fancy wave action,
this is a really great product.
It should be a good fit for my new fuge/frag tank.
But for my long main display tank, I need something different.
http://www.hydor.com/eng/prodotti-tecnici/movement-pumps/koralia-3rd-generation.php
So I bought one to test out. Specifically the 1950.
Here is a quick review.
Noise : GREAT!
Amazing. Nearly dead silent. And I am very picky. For example, I think the Gyre is way too noisy.
New mount: VERY GOOD.
Instead of a post from mount that inserts into a hole in the powerhead, they have an
extra magnet system. So the powerhead itself connects to the base with a magnet.
External Magnet -> Tank Wall -> Base Magnet -> Powerhead magnet.
This is a big win in my mind.
It reduces space, with no post.
It makes it a lot easier to adjust, since that friction ball joint could be a pain.
But best: you can very easily pop the powerhead out for cleaning, without disturbing base.
The downside is that it moves a bit too easily. Easy to bump and change direction.
Magnet strength: POOR
As usual for Koralia, cheap weak magnets.
Says it is capable of half inch, but would fall off with a little touch.
Efficiency: GREAT!
These are the best for power efficiency by quite a bit.
Moving 300 GPH / Watt is amazing.
Compare that to the fairly efficient WP-40 at 85 GPH / Watt.
Controls: BAD/GOOD
This is strictly on/off. So no fancy wave modes, so rather poor by modern standards.
But it is soft start, and seems to work well, so good for an old relay based wavemaker.
FLOW: FAIR
Frankly, I was a bit disappointed. It was not bad, but not what I really wanted.
I have no way of measuring the strength in exact GPH. So cannot comment on that.
There are 3 flow nozzles to play with. I primarily checked using the "normal" one.
Flow was not very even coming out. Stronger at one angle, about 25 degrees off center.
I would say by feel that the old magnum-5 was stronger. But stronger can
mean more of a jet, less diffuse. And diffuse is usually a good thing.
OVERALL:
If you want quiet high efficiency diffuse flow, and don't care about fancy wave action,
this is a really great product.
It should be a good fit for my new fuge/frag tank.
But for my long main display tank, I need something different.
But, pumps are hardly contributing to any excess heat in the tank as it stands, so whether your pump is 40 watts or 10, you're likely to not see a difference in temperature (or more importantly, power bill)