Re: water current

["S. Hieber" <shieber at yahoo_com>]

Arthur said, in part: Lazarus Miskowski 

> I am thinking of buying a zoo med rotating power head.

Have you used these before?  If not, you might be
dissappointed.  These have been reported as being very 
(and I mean VERY) finicky about any biofilm or detritus
collecting in them -- even the newer "redesigned" models. 
I've used both and noticed little difference -- my
experience concides with the unfavorable reviews.

At first they work fine -- the sweeping motion seems
steady, constant, and certain.  But after a while (perhaps
a month, perhaps less) they need to be cleaned every few
days to keep them rotating, and even then, the motion is
very jerky and irregular with lots of stalls.  I had a
number of conversations with the About.com reviewer and
then with the company, which sent me several "newer design"
parts.

I tried a number of ways to "clean" the pump without having
to disassemble it.  But, confound it, it seemed to insist
on disassembly.

The sweeping motion can be put to attractive use on long
thin leaves that lay over the water surface.  And the
irregular motion isn't necessarily a bad thing, imo, but
the need for frequent disassembly and cleaning got to be
too much of a pita for my tastes.

YOu might be better pleased with a regular power head or,
if you really want sweep action, one of the higher priced
rotation systems -- although they usually require very high
flow rates.  Good luck. Let us know how it turns out.

Scott H.

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