Aquarium Pumps

Aquarium Pumps and Powerheads include pumps to simply pump large volumes of water around the aquarium itself or to pump water from a sump filter tank below back up to the main aquarium itself. Circulation Pumps are more commonly used in marine aquariums although also used in freshwater fish tanks too. The main purpose of aquarium circulation pumps is to quite literally circulate the fish tank water. By shifting the water around the tank, this ensures a much more healthy and stable aquarium without dead-spots or areas of debris and fish waste is collected. Reef tanks for example can be circulated internally anywhere from 10 to 20 times per hour which is a large circulation of aquarium water. Most corals and fish also need this large turnover of water to help replicate their natural environment and help keep them in better condition.

Powerhead aquarium pumps are also commonly used to simply circulate water around aquariums but can also be used to power certain aquarium equipment such as internal filters, undergravel filters, protein skimmers etc. When choosing an aquarium pump to power any undergravel filter system we recommend aiming for around 4 – 5 times per hour. Maxijet powerheads are very good quality powerhead and providing they are cleaned regularly, should rarely let you down. Juwel also use a range of powerheads in their own filter sytems which are of a high quality. When replacing a Juwel powerhead, it is important to use a Juwel powerhead in order for it to fit and operate properly. When heavy stocking your Juwel aquarium, its usually beneficial to increase the powerhead size to the next size up to cope with the demand.

Filter sump pumps are usually used in Marine sumps and refugiums to simply pump the water back up the main aquarium. The aquarium pumps need to be of a high quality and dependable due to them running the main heart of the aquarium the filter. They don’t come much better than the Aquamedic Ocean Runner pumps which are of a very high standard and German made. These pumps are also sometimes used to power other filters, protein skimmers, to circulate aquarium water etc.

A very handy and essential aquarium pump has to be the Aqua Medic Niveaumat which is used to top up the main aquarium water from another source. You can set the top up switches to the desired water level and when the water level drops below the Niveaumat will simply pump water from your external source to the main aquarium until the desired level is reached again. Meaning you don’t have to worry about keep checking the level on your aquarium. Remember to always top up evaporation on salt water aquariums with RO (Reverse Osmosi)! Not salt water!