Jebao / Hygger power head experiences?

[PotatoPig]

I’m getting ready to convert my FOWLR into a reef tank (soft corals only for now) and need to put a bit more flow in there.

It’s a 75 gallon with about 10x turnover at the moment, planning on pulling the weakest power head and replacing it with a back wall mounted gyre or wave maker from one of the above two brands.

Was wondering if anyone had experience with them and any recommendations on product within their lines to steer to/avoid?

 

[OutColdCRNA]

I love my jebaos. I have had a ow-10 in continues service for about 5 years. Not a single hiccup. Currently I have 4 mlw’s on my 65 AIO tank. MLW 20’s on the side walls and two MLW 10’s on the rear walls. They have fluorescent green 3d printed fish guards on them

 

[stoney7713]

Jebao's work well for most people. I know several SPS dominant tanks ran on nothing but Jebao.

I have a 90 and 120 gyre, Mow 9, a few of the Nero look alikes, jebao return pumps. The wifi ones a re a bit tricky but work well once set up.

 

[Hooz]

For perspective, I currently own five MP10s, i've owned a Nero 5, two Nero 3s, the Hygger Mini, a Tunze 6040, an Aqamai KPS and a few different Sicce powerheads.

I have Jebao return pumps and powerheads that have been running great for years now. I've had (or have) SLW, MOW, MLW and ELW powerheads, and I recently got an ECP gyre to try out.

I'm happy enough with them that the mixed reef tank I'm building now will 100% run on Jebao pumps.

If you're buying Jebao now, there's no good reason not to get the latest. That would be the ELW or EOW for powerheads and the ECP for gyres. Make sure you get the "m" versions (i.e. ELW-10m) as they have the additional option for direct wifi connection should you need it.

 

[doubleshot00]

They are not great but they work just fine if you clean them regularly.

 

[MyFirstCar]

I have a Jabao, and it's great, but isn't super tunable. I find the difference between the lowest and highest settings pretty small.

 

[7of9]

I run a Jebao SLW-10 on my 32g cube and it does a good job. I think they’re a good value for the price.

 

[Aiptaisia anemone]

hygger got good customer service, they will replace your broken ones no question ask

 

[Hooz]

I have a Jabao, and it's great, but isn't super tunable. I find the difference between the lowest and highest settings pretty small.

The way DC powerheads (and physics) work is that they require a minimum of about 30% power for the blades to overcome the resistance of the water and spin.

Some companies are honest about it (Jebao and some others) and let you set between 30% and 100%.

Others are less honest about it (AI and Ecotech) and let you dial their pumps down to 1% IN THE APP. But, if you check the actual flowrate IN THE SAME APP, you'll see that that 1% is actually about 30% of the pumps max flow... Just like all the others.

 

[billyocean]

I've had several brands Including ecotech. I run mostly jebao pumps these days with no issues. Yes, you have to clean them...but i had to clean all my other pumps too..lol. I love the fact that there are no wires in the tank with the mp's and cleaning only requires popping off a wetside. I hate the fact they can't be adjusted and only shoot straight ahead as a result...deal breaker for me but otherwise great pumps. I love having a few gyres in the tank ad well..and no matter the brand they all need more frequent cleaning than powerheads. The more random flow the better is my motto

 

[stoney7713]

I've had several brands Including ecotech. I run mostly jebao pumps these days with no issues. Yes, you have to clean them...but i had to clean all my other pumps too..lol. I love the fact that there are no wires in the tank with the mp's and cleaning only requires popping off a wetside. I hate the fact they can't be adjusted and only shoot straight ahead as a result...deal breaker for me but otherwise great pumps. I love having a few gyres in the tank ad well..and no matter the brand they all need more frequent cleaning than powerheads. The more random flow the better is my motto

So you need 1.5 inch RFGs?

 

[Doons32]

All of my Jabeo products (besides the gyre) are running strong for the past 2 years.

 

[PotatoPig]

All of my Jabeo products (besides the gyre) are running strong for the past 2 years.

With the Gyre - is this just a type of product that’s inherently less reliable? Was definitely thinking about one of these but the overall sense I’m getting is that gyres aren’t all that durable?

 

[Hooz]

With the Gyre - is this just a type of product that’s inherently less reliable? Was definitely thinking about one of these but the overall sense I’m getting is that gyres aren’t all that durable?

Gyres in general are more finnicky than "normal" powerheads. They just require more frequent cleaning, in my experience.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I have an old Jebao PP-8 in my mixing barrel. Its loud, like  REALLY loud. I would not want it in my tank but its fine for a Brute mixing barrel that I wont hear in my living room. When i get my mixing station built, I'll replace it with a better pump. I've ran tanks on all Jebao pumps in the past. In my experience, they last anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months before they ship the bed. Really not worth the money, when for a little bit more you can get something that wil last FAR longer.

 

[Doons32]

With the Gyre - is this just a type of product that’s inherently less reliable? Was definitely thinking about one of these but the overall sense I’m getting is that gyres aren’t all that durable?

As mentioned above - in general, gyres are more finicky and tend to have a decrease in performance as they get dirty and harder to clean compared to other types of powerhead styles (mp series from EcoTech and nero from AI).

 

[bbgobie]

The way DC powerheads (and physics) work is that they require a minimum of about 30% power for the blades to overcome the resistance of the water and spin.

Some companies are honest about it (Jebao and some others) and let you set between 30% and 100%.

Others are less honest about it (AI and Ecotech) and let you dial their pumps down to 1% IN THE APP. But, if you check the actual flowrate IN THE SAME APP, you'll see that that 1% is actually about 30% of the pumps max flow... Just like all the others.

I actually have MP10s and tried the new Jebao ELW series powerheads. The MP10s low is much lower than 30%. You can set feed mode to barely spinning which literally means just that.


MP10s seem to basically flicker on the power to spin slow, it doesn't seem Jabao has that capability so they are stuck with 30% as a minimum. The noise and so far flow of the Jebao has been great, but the programmability sucks as it can only vary its modes between 30% and whatever you set, so you don't get a true ramp up unlike the Vortechs.

 

[Reefing102]

I’ve had Jebao, Hygger, koralia, Neptune, maxi jet and others. I currently run a Hygger mini in my Evo. In my 65 I currently have the Neptune, Jebao gyre (not worth it imo, just too finicky for me), and sw-8. Once I redo my aquascape, I’ll be keeping the gyre but moved to the back wall as well as 3 slw 20s and 1 slw 30. I also run a Jebao return pump. Return and sw8 have been running going on 3 years for me and were bought used when I got the tank.

 

[Hooz]

I actually have MP10s and tried the new Jebao ELW series powerheads. The MP10s low is much lower than 30%. You can set feed mode to barely spinning which literally means just that.


MP10s seem to basically flicker on the power to spin slow, it doesn't seem Jabao has that capability so they are stuck with 30% as a minimum. The noise and so far flow of the Jebao has been great, but the programmability sucks as it can only vary its modes between 30% and whatever you set, so you don't get a true ramp up unlike the Vortechs.

Set the MP10 to it's lowest speed (outside of feed mode) and tell me what flowrate is listed in the app.

I've owned Neros (3 and 5), MP10s, Hygger, Aqamai, Tunze, Jebaos and several others over the years. The AI pumps can go down to "1%" in the app, but if you look at the listed flowrate (in the same app), it's ACTUALLY 30% of whatever the max flow is. Same with the Vortechs. It's just a DC pump thing.