RockStacker
Reefing newb
I found this out by accident after cleaning my Koralia powerheads.
The propeller magnet assembly on the 550 and 1050 are exactly the same size. Even the bushings and brackets.
After cleaning I did not realize I swapped out the propellers when assembling the powerheads.
So I placed my "550" in its usual place about 6 inches from the bottom of the aquarium and the "1050" near the top.
When I turned the power on, WHOAH! Sand, little rocks and hermit crabs that were on the corner of the tank with the "550" were flying halfway across the tank. And the "1050" was barely pushing water halfway across the tank.
I thought "There is no way I swapped the powerheads, their power cables look different". The 1050 has thicker gauge power cables.
So I pull out the powerheads again and inspected the parts. I noticed that the 550 and 1050 have different propeler blade shapes.
I'm not sure of the technical terms for propeller blade shapes, but the 550 has a shorter "pitch" where the screw grooves as spaced closer to each other while the 1050 has a longer "pitch" with the screw grooves spaced further from each other.
So if you were to use the same powerhead but swap the blades, the 1050 blade would be pushing more water because of it's shape.
Now, I do not know if there is a performance impact if a 550 motor is paired permanently with a 1050 propeller - maybe the extra drag could burn out the motor.
Putting in a 550 propeller in a 1050 motor however, seems to yield just about the same output as a full 550 pair.
So in closing:
1. Be careful when reassembling your Hydor Koralia Powerheads if you have different ratings.
2. If you have a 1050 Koralia powerhead that is too strong for your tank, a band aid fix would be to replace the propeller with a 550 propeller assembly. But then, you are using more power (.5W more) with a 1050 motor with a 550 output.
The propeller magnet assembly on the 550 and 1050 are exactly the same size. Even the bushings and brackets.
After cleaning I did not realize I swapped out the propellers when assembling the powerheads.
So I placed my "550" in its usual place about 6 inches from the bottom of the aquarium and the "1050" near the top.
When I turned the power on, WHOAH! Sand, little rocks and hermit crabs that were on the corner of the tank with the "550" were flying halfway across the tank. And the "1050" was barely pushing water halfway across the tank.
I thought "There is no way I swapped the powerheads, their power cables look different". The 1050 has thicker gauge power cables.
So I pull out the powerheads again and inspected the parts. I noticed that the 550 and 1050 have different propeler blade shapes.
I'm not sure of the technical terms for propeller blade shapes, but the 550 has a shorter "pitch" where the screw grooves as spaced closer to each other while the 1050 has a longer "pitch" with the screw grooves spaced further from each other.
So if you were to use the same powerhead but swap the blades, the 1050 blade would be pushing more water because of it's shape.
Now, I do not know if there is a performance impact if a 550 motor is paired permanently with a 1050 propeller - maybe the extra drag could burn out the motor.
Putting in a 550 propeller in a 1050 motor however, seems to yield just about the same output as a full 550 pair.
So in closing:
1. Be careful when reassembling your Hydor Koralia Powerheads if you have different ratings.
2. If you have a 1050 Koralia powerhead that is too strong for your tank, a band aid fix would be to replace the propeller with a 550 propeller assembly. But then, you are using more power (.5W more) with a 1050 motor with a 550 output.
