Question About Powerhead, sel.  1/28/10
Hi,
<Hello PD>
I have a 3 gallon Eclipse tank that doesn't seem to have enough current. I am thinking of buying a mini powerhead for it but don't know what to look for. Can you recommend a mini powerhead and how much gph is proper for a
tank of this size. I'd like to have a nice current on top but not too much that it will stir up everything in the tank. Any advice would be gladly appreciated.
<Something around 30-40gph would work fine here. The Mini Maxi-Jet would be a good choice here as it does have an adjustable flow rate and will allow you to adjust the flow to your needs.
See here.
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Co
de=MINI-JET404&Category_Code=Maxijet>
thanks.
<You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)>

Fire in the tank, powerhead failure  19.01.09
Dear helpers of the fish,
I have had my 120 gallon salt water aquarium for 7 years, all has gone well for the last 5 years. No issues, until tonight. Our powerhead went haywire and exploded in a profusion of bubbles and smoke was billowing out of our tank.
<Yeeikes!>
We got everything unplugged quickly and got the powerhead out of the tank. Our whole living room filled with smoke and when we opened the top of the tank it reeked of smoke - we did an immediate 65 gallon water change but of our 6 fish and one starfish the only fish to survive the ordeal is the Maroon Clownfish and the starfish. The Orangehead Sleeper Goby looks very still but is still upright. I called our fish store and they said they'd never heard of anything like this happening.
<Save the burnt out unit... Contact the manufacturer...>
We have no corals, only live rock. Can you tell me what we could have done to prevent this
<Perhaps nothing... but I would have all appliances wired through at least a GFI, possibly a surge protector as well. Read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/gfcimarines.htm
and the linked files above>
- all seemed in good working order until the moment it started bubbling like crazy. Also what do we do to keep the one remaining fish alive?
<Either another set-up or doing what you can to salvage the present one...>
Will our live rock be effected?
<Possibly, but worth trying to keep... Activated carbon, Polyfilter use... IF through assay (your livestock not living), I'd bleach all... and re-use>
Will we be able to add more fish or what would be your protocol to getting our tank back in order. I did take our water in to be tested and the levels all seemed ok but I'm nervous as to the long term ramifications.
What a tragic night - I greatly appreciate any and all help and/or advice you might give me. Not sure of what specs you need: 2 Magnum 350 canister filters, MaxJet1200 powerheads (had 2 now 1 but I'm nervous about leaving it in the tank),
<MaxiJets are generally very reliable... again, I think the maker would like to have this unit to examine>
we had a damselfish, a lipstick tang, a bi-color angel, and a 6 line wrasse in addition to the Sleeper Goby and the Clownfish. We had Astrea snails and some crabs as the cleaning crew.
Warm Wishes,
Amy
<I am very glad that no one was hurt, the house wasn't further damaged. Bob Fenner>  

Equipment/Power Heads  - 03/22/06 I am planning on setting up a 30 gallon reef tank with live sand (40 lbs) and live rock (40 lbs). I want to house a few clowns, <Nothing larger than the percula, and no more than two with your other choices.> a royal Gramma, some snails and small crabs. I plan on adding some LPS corals. I will be using an Aqua C Remora for skimming.  <A big plus.> My question is about circulation. When calculating tank volume, do I subtract the volume taken up by the sand and rock?   I plan on using 2 Maxi-Jet power heads.  The small ones come in 106 gph and 160 gph. Which ones would you recommend?  Two 106's would give me 212 gph, two 160's would give me 320 gph? Would 320 gph blow stuff around too much?  <I like the Maxi-Jet by Aquarium Systems, one of the very few that works well with wavemakers if you ever so decide.  Two model 600's (160gph) would work well if this is your only means of circulation.  If current seems a bit strong, they are adjustable.> Thanks in advance for your time and insight.  <You're welcome.  James (Salty Dog)> Eric B. Tab A into Slot B I read in an answer from P.F. <Speak my name and I shall be summoned. ; ) > that the Maxijet-1200 was a great upgrade from the Rio 1400 for the Remora so I bought the Maxijet.  Now, can you please tell me how to go about doing the change out from the Rio 1400?  I know I am not the sharpest tack on the card but have been able to keep salt water fish for years successfully so I can't be hopeless. <We all have things we're good at, and some we're not. Cars require gas, oil changes, and air in the tires. After that... it's off to the garage for me.> Is there some kind of conversion kit I need in order to attach the Maxijet? <Nope, I just got some tubing from an LFS and cut a short length of it (like 2" short) to act as a coupler. I think it's 1/2" tubing, slip it over the short tube that come with the Maxijet. Wish I had a working camera, I'd just send you a picture. Now to sweet talk the wife into replacing the camera...> I have really not been as impressed as I had hoped with the Aqua C and thought maybe this would be the answer.  Thanks for this great resource. <Your welcome, hopefully that helps, if you have questions about your unit, you can contact AquaC directly (not that you can't contact us mind you) here: http://www.proteinskimmer.com/contact.htm  They're very nice and quick at responding. Have a good one, PF>