Wave Maker

[peacher213]

Hey I'm looking at this wave maker for the 60 gallon. Is this going to be too much flow? When Im done, I will have about 1800-2000 gph of water flow. Should I just get two smaller power heads, One on each end of the tank? Need some thoughts and opinions here.

1600 GPH DUAL HEAD WAVE MAKER AQUARIUM PUMP POWERHEAD | eBays I plan on having hard corals, and would like a BTA too. Clown fish will be the main occupants.

[Original Fin]

No name stuff like that scares me. That is a too good to be true price, and they don't explain what makes that a wavemaker. In order to do so, each of those heads would need to be capable of running independently at random intervals and cycles. If they are both on all the time, that's not a wavemaker, it's just a dual powerhead, and most likely a cheap one at that.

I would not trust anything with a powercord that gets submerged in your tank, unless it's from a well known, respected manufacturer that has a reputation to protect. You can't even tell who makes this one, so who would you go after when the thing malfunctions, and/or possibly electrocutes someone?

Using two propeller style powerheads on opposing ends of the tank is probably the least expensive and practical way to get the flow you need. You won't get especially random and chaotic flow that way though, which can be a benefit to corals, especially SPS.
You will come across wavemaker timers in your research, which are basically just glorified lighting timers that you are meant to plug two or more prop style powerheads in to. The problem with this is that most of those prop PH's don't do well with constant cycling, and either fail to start, start in reverse, or burn themselves up.

For SPS dominated tanks, achieving random chaotic flow is important. Vortech powerheads are designed with this in mind, and have controllers included to cycle power at user defined rates. This is a very popular way of doing it at the moment, especially considering how little room they take up. But it's also quite costly.
Another tried and true method are rotating return line fixtures like SeaSwirls, but there you are limited by return pump flow rate. Theres another product called a SCWD, that opens and closes multiple return lines from a common junction. They operate without electricity...a plus.

Closed loop systems can utilize the Oceans Motion product, which behaves similarly to the SCWD, switching flow between up to four different return lines, but I believe it is powered.(
Then there are wave boxes. Check out Tunzes product. It works extremely well, but it's a big ugly box you have to put in your tank.
The last method I'm aware of is not available as a product to my knowledge, but instead a DIY approach to building a surge device. Basically, it's a separate vessel that slowly fills with tank water, then as it becomes full, it release it back into the display all a once. Some work with tilt trays and gravity, and others with float valves. Either way, these are not practical for your average livingroom setup because of their bulkiness and lack of aesthetic appeal.

I hope I didn't just add to the confusion there!

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[peacher213]

Yea I think you may be on to something here. Maybe I needed to hear the hard truth about products like that. I guess I'll go to petco and get a couple 500gph powerheads and place them on opposite ends of the tank. I have two power filters on the back of the tank that will provide water movement from back to front. The Aquaclear has some incredible water movement of its own. Water hits the front glass and has a rather hard down force of water movement. Having the two powerheads on the ends should have enough random flow in the tank. (I hope)

[chrisfont23]

I just bought a Vortech MP10 for my 29g. I suppose the MP40 would be better for you. PM me if you need a hand / have ques