which wavemaker?

[uscamaro]

I'm in the process of building a reef and I'm not really sure where to start my search for a wavemaker, so I need some help.

I currently have a 55g corner overflow where the drain and return pipes are in the same corner. At the end of my return pipe I have 2 snake-like heads that are independently adjustable.

What I would like is to split the return hose, and get another nozzle/oscillating/rotating head. Would this work as a wavemaker?

Aquarium Plumbing & Wavemakers: Switching Current Water Director (SCWD)

Also, for the other side, what type of powerhead do you recommend?




Any advice/suggestions for other wavemakers will be helpful too

 

[Ziggy953]

I would not suggest putting a wave maker on your return line. That you want to be running continually.

I used the SCWD that you linked before but I used it on a closed loop for my first SW setup. Eventually it wore out and I had to toss it.

As for power heads, well that depends a lot on the kind of SW tank you are planning. If you are going to have a lot of SPS corals then you are going to want higher flow. If you are planning on have more LPS and soft corals then you wont need as much flow.

I used several different kinds of power heads and found the Nano Streams (Tunze) to be the best for flow and life. You can also use Korallia or even get Maxijets and put the sureflow mod on them.

 

[uscamaro]

Thanks for that info, but what wavemaker do you use? I see them pictured, but I have no idea how they are set up. Is it a controller that is connected to a fan/jet that moves water randomly? Is there 1 on each side, or just 1 that goes opposite of the return flow.

I will probably start with LPS but will get SPS later on when I can get MH/HQI lights, so maybe something that I can change from low-high flow at will.

 

[Ziggy953]

I never actually used a wave maker. I had 4 powerheads in my 120g reef. 2 Tunze Nano Streams (6025 660gph) and 2 maxijet 1200s with sureflow mod kits (1600gph each) so I had a total of 4500 flow just from my powerheads and they were on all the time full force. The way I had them arranged made the flow random. I have them in the four corners of the tank pointing towards each other and center of the tank. It worked very well.

 

[pat8you]

I am currently using the latest generation of korallia pumps on a wavemaker and i'm not real thrilled with them. I've been noticing signs of low flow in my tank and i looked the other day and it turns out that two of them are turning on running backwards and the third doesn't turn on at all. I have them soaking to get rid of any coralline algae that has built up on them in case that is the problem but they have only been in there for probably 6 months. I would avoid them.

 

[Krypt]

I never actually used a wave maker. I had 4 powerheads in my 120g reef. 2 Tunze Nano Streams (6025 660gph) and 2 maxijet 1200s with sureflow mod kits (1600gph each) so I had a total of 4500 flow just from my powerheads and they were on all the time full force. The way I had them arranged made the flow random. I have them in the four corners of the tank pointing towards each other and center of the tank. It worked very well.

I don't have as many PH's but this is what I do with my Koralia 3's and Maxi 600's. The experience I've had with wavemakers wasn't good. They caused my Korallias to literally shake themselves apart and it wasn't very quiet while happening.