Wave Maker

[Shep]

Hey,

Is having a wave maker or something similar such as a power head on a timer necessary to have a healthy reef?


Thanks,
Shep

 

[Aquarian]

No it is not necessary but it does help with dead spots and provides a more random flow for the corals.

 

[reeffreak]

They are nice to have but isn't necessary for a successful reef.

 

[mariobrothersleeve]

here is my two sides......

Vortex - vfd ( variable frequency drive) pumps are the way to go. They are known to break rimless tanks because of the surge and shear power they have. They are a detritus be gone and have notice alot less turkey bastering.

Now those pos wave maker timers....... they tend to make ac motors turn backwards after time and goes thru power heads sooner. You max amp draw is on start up, so power consumption is more and life is shorter. They are a waste of 50 bucks imho.

I feel better now that I got that off my chest

 

[Northstar24]

While I wouldn't go as far as to say they are neccesary for a reef - I can tell you that after getting some random flow in my tank I noticed that the whole system was doing better as a whole. I saw more coral extension / growth, and the fish definitely seemed to be more active. I also agree with mario though. I spent a lot of time and money with the various cheap wave maker solutions and I burned out a lot of Koralia's. I finally bit the bullet and bought a pair of VorTech MP40's for my tank. Overpriced for what they are? Absolutely. That being said, they literally move a WALL of water in my tank, and I think that either VorTech's or the Tunzes are the only way to go

 

[Shep]

My tank in only a 20 gallon, would those be a tad overkill?

 

[Sakura2282]

My tank in only a 20 gallon, would those be a tad overkill?

If you are talking about the pumps maybe even the Vortex MP10 could be too much for a tank that size. The wave maker is fine for a 20 gallon, I think they are use just to have random flow in the tank.

 

[mariobrothersleeve]

It all depends how you look at it. You can run the pumps at a low percent while in this tank, but you always upgrade your tank in the future. One mp10 would work great

 

[Northstar24]

My tank in only a 20 gallon, would those be a tad overkill?

The MP4-'s would be, but I would think the MP10 would work well

 

[Old Tom]

For most of my years in salt water I used only power heads, recently I decided to purchase a couple of timers from a local hardware store and plug my powerhead into the timers to make my own sruge monitors. I do think that the corals do like the wave action better when there is heavy movement then lower movement. I set one timer for on three hours and off for one hour set the other for on two hours and off for one hour, i have one power head that runs all the time in the tank. The sun coral is out more during the day and the soft corals have jst taken off in growth. Some of my SPC look like they are growing a bit faster, but hard to tell as they do grow more slowly.

 

[Shep]

For most of my years in salt water I used only power heads, recently I decided to purchase a couple of timers from a local hardware store and plug my powerhead into the timers to make my own sruge monitors. I do think that the corals do like the wave action better when there is heavy movement then lower movement. I set one timer for on three hours and off for one hour set the other for on two hours and off for one hour, i have one power head that runs all the time in the tank. The sun coral is out more during the day and the soft corals have jst taken off in growth. Some of my SPC look like they are growing a bit faster, but hard to tell as they do grow more slowly.

So did you just use any timer that they had there or was there a special brand that you used?

 

[rrbigdog]

You can also look into the Jebao WP-10 pumps. They are lower cost. I have been running two WP-25's on my tank with good results. I even wired them into my Apex for more flexibility.

 

[Old Tom]

Shep: I used a timer that had multiple settings nothing special, one that had the pins that you push in or out and you set every 1/2 hour ad is a 24 hour timer. The timer has two outlets so you can plug in two power heads. I purchased my at Lowes.