Saltwater Fish Tank Pumps

Video Transcript

"This is a Maxi Jet pump. This is a standard look of a power head. They'll be a hanger so that it hides, hangs on the side of the tank and one thing to look for on a power head or a pump; power head's another name for it, for a pump in, in the aquarium industry is something with a large strainer 'cause if you have small strainer your, your fish could possibly get stuck in the pump and we wouldn't that to happen. The Maxi Jet comes with a decent size strainer. It's one of their options. There's a number of parts in a box set that can be confusing because you won't need them all; but this is one of the optional strainers tat they give. And basically what that pump does is it sucks the water in through the strainer and blows it out of this tube and you can direct the two of them wherever direction you need to be in. You can also hook up tubing and use it to power other devices. Occasionally you'll have to clean the power head and then somethings also wear out on a power heads. It's very easy to, to clean the power heads. It's, of course unplug it and take it out of the tank and you just twist it and until you find the spot where the cap comes off and inside you'll see an impeller and I'm taking all part, ha. Impellers what, what drives the pump and you want to inspect the impeller make sure everything is okay. Usually if your pump has stop you may find some debris stuck in there. You'll also want to inspect the inside, inside your power head; see if there's any sand or anything; you can brush it with a Q-tip or a toothbrush. When you're inspecting your, your power head if you've been using it for any length of time, you might want to look at the shaft of the power head; see if that's worn out. Sometimes you'll see a little bit of wear on, on the shaft and that'll will cause the magnet to ravel around and it'd be time to replace the impeller which you, which is available. Another part that might be, to be replaced on on this power head is the oil ring. After two or three years the oil ring will decay and it'll, it'll loosen so you, you'd want to replace that and it is available. And it's very easy to put back together; and back together. Yeah, some pumps they don't come with a very good strainer but Aqua Clear Power Head through another popular brand and they have this quick, quick clear filter cartridge that will, that could be attached to their power head or other power heads. Inside there's a, a floss cartridge that will clear up your tank in a matter of hours. But I generally don't use that. I like the cage of it, this at all. I'll just use this. There's a rather a large thing to put in your tank but if you have things like an Animes or, or delicate fish that you don't want to get stuck in your power head, this will draw the water through a large area so that things won't get stuck to it and it's a pretty good thing to have on your power head. There's one in this tank right, right here. It's been there for years. A new type of pump or power head that's come out is; instead of using an impeller it uses a propeller. This is a Hydor Koralia. lt's relatively inexpensive for this type of pump so it has become very popular and it's easy to use; you'll almost never have to take it apart; but I'll take it apart to show you what it looks like. This is a propeller and this is, it has a large strainer and it blows a large volume of water through the tank. It draws the water through the sides and through this cage so there's usually not a problem I think getting stuck on it and nothing can really swim in there 'cause the force of the water coming out is so strong, that, that's not an issue. And these are very good in reef tank for creating a lot current. There's one in this tank up. And another, another nice feature of what this is, the holder is magnetic and magnetic suction cups. So you place the suction cup where you want it; you can place the other part of the magnet in inside of the tank with the power head on it and it holds it fairly well, you know. So this, that's another reason these are becoming so popular and it's a lot harder to take off than it is to put on. And that's pretty much a wrap up of, of power head or pumps for a saltwater tanks."