Powerhead/Wavemaker Warranties

jacobreynolds6883

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For the past year and half I have ran 2 Eflux 2100 pumps on my 90g and everything has been great, however that ended a couple months ago. One of the pumps went out just before the one year anniversary and was replaced by Orbit Marine but now my second pump has went out at 17 months old and out of warranty. Sure I could pay $100 and just replace that pump myself but after 2 pumps going out I've have no confidence in the Eflux quality. Having no faith in their quality I decided to just replace my pump system. So the research started, I wanted high quality pumps that allowed automation that could be controlled from an app, bonus points if the same manufacture produces return pump, dosers that use the same app for future upgrade. I currently only use AI app form my hydras and would be nice to stick with just one app but AI doesn't produce return pumps nor dosers. While spending hours researching difference powerheads I have came to a standstill due to warranties that the companies offer. Most of the major companies that I am considering AI NERO, Redsea Reefwave, Maxspect Gyre, Icecap Gyre only have a 1 year warranty. Now Reefbreeders Reef Power offer 18 months and Reef Octopus Octo Pulses offer 2 year warranty. Other than Reef Octopus these companies must do better than this. Other than the Reefbreeders being the cheapest option for two new pumps will cost me nearly $400-$600 and they cannot guarantee their work longer than 1 year! That's absolutely non-sense imo, atleast offer a option to buy extended warranty. This hobby is expensive enough without having to replace equipment yearly due to manufacture quality and poor warranties. Ok now with my rant over I still need new pumps, which one out of these three would be my best option? Octo Pulse, Nero, or Reefbreeders? Anyone happy with Octo Pulse since they have a great warrant, , is the cheaper Reefbreeders Reef Power any good, am I crazy that I keep returning to reviews of the Neros?
 

NowGlazeIT

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I’m with you, i can’t suggest any because none are guaranteed to stand the test of time. For the money we pay, you’d think these companies could stand by their products longer then a year.
 

jt8791

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After reading about saltwater wicking inside the wire insulation of the icecap gyre pumps I’m going right to vortech wave pumps. Price tag is gonna kill the bank account but I’d like to get all wires out of the tank. Now idea what ecotech has for a warranty, better be a good one for the pricing.
 

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jt8791

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Well that warranty period sucks for the money they charge but their wave pumps seem to last a long time. Only thing I’ve heard that seems to kill them is dropping the dry side. Guess being the only wave pumps with no wires in the tank grants them a bit of leverage in the market.

Was initially gonna go with tunze but now I’m leaning towards ecotech for the simpler battery backup and no wires in the tank. Granted I’ll have to replace the battery every 3 years but it’s simple enough to plug in and forget about it till them. Not that the tunze is that much more complex.

Icecaps battery backup is simple but with their shoddy wiring corroding out it’s more likely to burn the whole place down. Got sprinklers in my building but I’m not eager to wake up to 1000 gallons of water and a freshwater tank. Not sure how many gyre pumps they had with that water wicking inside the insulation problem but I’ll never buy one after reading about it.
 
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jacobreynolds6883

jacobreynolds6883

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After reading about saltwater wicking inside the wire insulation of the icecap gyre pumps I’m going right to vortech wave pumps. Price tag is gonna kill the bank account but I’d like to get all wires out of the tank. Now idea what ecotech has for a warranty, better be a good one for the pricing.

They only advertise 1 year from purchase date, however several people I have spoken with has had great success with their customer service outside that window. I do like the idea you can replace the we side or dry side only, this could be a way to fix one if something went faulty. I'd like to hear people chime in on how many years they have had a vortech without issues and the average life to expect? That would be a daily great poll for Reef2Reef!
 

minus9

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My Tunze ATO has been great for over 2.5 years now, but I struggle with their pumps and not being appealing to my eye.
My Tunze ATO is close to 7 years old and still going strong (all original parts). For nano tanks, the 6040 is one of the best powerheads out there. I agree, most of their other pumps are a little bulky, but with proper placement, can get lost in the rock work and do a great job (and last forever).
 

jt8791

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Im thinking of bumping up to the koralia 565s and the wave controller, put a foam filter for a shield around the input for a temporary solution. At least till I save up enough for 2 mp10wqd, not sure the 425s run one at a time would be enough flow for a bta, especially after putting a foam filter guard around it.

No idea what I’m getting for an actual flow rate on these hob filters, rubble rock slows them down a bit. From what I read they don’t like constant flow, that’s why I debate on the wave controller. The power heads are dirt cheap anyways to use for now.

Planning to wait a few more months but if the lfs an hour from me ends up having more tank raised rose bubble tip anemones available I’d like to have the tank ready. Has been running about 8.5 months now anyways.

The tunze wave pumps with the rock surround was one I was debating on trying a while back. Nice way to hide the wave pump, their rock coral racks are nice looking as well. Still might consider Tunze wave pumps before I jump right into the ecotechs. I have yet to decide on an ato, have a hard time trusting equipment to do a simple task I can do myself, but I’m only running a 30 gallon.
 

jt8791

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Hmm yeah thinking my smartest bet would be to go with tunze wave pumps for the time being. Hard to stick with hydor when tunze has controllers and battery backup. Will keep ecotech as a future upgrade. Glad I started following this thread.

Edit: okay that’s new, the usb controller doubled in price or the old $100 one is off the market. Think this one does 4 pumps and want to say the old one did 2
 
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minus9

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Hmm yeah thinking my smartest bet would be to go with tunze wave pumps for the time being. Hard to stick with hydor when tunze has controllers and battery backup. Will keep ecotech as a future upgrade. Glad I started following this thread.
They can be controlled by apex or Hydros too. For any tank 40-50g and smaller, the 6040 is one of the best pumps out there. The flow director makes it so versatile and cleaning them is a breeze. I think they are one of the most overlooked pumps out there. I think the stream 3 was based off this pump (pure speculation on my part)? I’ve had my 6040’s since 2016 and they are still going strong in my nano. I’ve never had an issue with them or replaced anything. They are completely covered in coralline algae and working like a charm. You’ll never see a post speaking about Tunze pumps not lasting.
 
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