Are Wavemakers worth the hype?

[MediaOne]

I understand the advantages of keeping particles suspended in the water longer, and more dispersed current throughout the tank, but is it really necessary to have my powerheads on a wave timer or just to have lots of current in the tank.

I have never seen one in action so I don't know what the wave actions look like or anything else.

Fill me in!

Thanx, JO

 

[Iron]

Not needed but random current is better. IMo I don't like powerhead and didn't really like my redsea wave maker = the maxi jets would rattle sometimes and sometimes not restart. The are hard on the powerheads. i went with seaswirls and rigid nozzels. But you can but light timers and put thme on your powerheads like 1-2 and jsut have them shut off/on but having good current is probally more important than not having enough random or not. I do notice my corals seem to react to random current. = blast them give them a break ect...So adding a timer or another PH with a timer still will give you some different current and its cheap.

 

[esmithiii]

Yes. They are. I saw a good deal of difference in the health of my corals after installing one. I now have a sea swirl and one maxi-jet on my red sea powerhead.

Ernie

 

[GMH320]

I believe there is definately a benifit to having changing currents within the tank. At first I had the powerheads on light timers that I got from Home Depot, ones that cycled on/off every half hour. The problem with them was that they weren't very accurate, one would cycle, lets say, every 25 minutes, another every 40 minutes ( these times also varied). There were times when all pumps were off in the tank!

The only experience I have is with the Tsunami wavemaker which allows you to set all the times from 1 minute to 40 minutes. The only thing that I don't like about it is that 2 powerheads are dependent on each other, meaning that when one is on, the other is off. The third can be set by itself. They make some wavemakers that are pre-programmed with different random patterns, I'm sure someone can give you more info on them.

 

[esmithiii]

I am not sure why you would want a different setting (calmer) in the night. I don't use this feature on my Red Sea. The reefs of the world don't calm at night, do they?

Ernie

 

[tazdevil]

E, seas calm by night, as a result of tidal motion. FWIW, I bought a couple of digital timers at home depot that allow I think 14 cycles a day (cycle= to 1 on/off period). As well as 7 day program (so each day can be different if that's what tickles you). Drawbacks are that 1: Take up space on multiples (minor), and 2: unless you want all PH cycling at the same time, you'll need one for every PH. I have 4 on them, biggest hassle was figuring out cycling times. Knowing that tides peak at 12-3pm, that was when I had the most on at any point. At 3am, the tank is at it's quietest. The pumps don't seem to be "running rough" with this method, even though there is no "soft start". Just to give you a cheaper alternative (my LFS said a wavemaker was the only way to go, when I did this and told them about it, they told me to tell no-one, it might hurt buisiness!).

 

[MediaOne]

Thanks for all the input. You have been of great help.

Merry Christmas and Happy Reefing!

JO

 

[esmithiii]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

E, seas calm by night, as a result of tidal motion.

Is this true of all reefs?

E

 

[Anonymous]

The calmness is at slack tide. The time of slack tide is going to change every day, just like the tides. Sometimes the tides are early in the morning like 3 A.M. They do not occur only when the sun is out.

 

[SPC]

I have asked the same question in the past about calmer seas at night, the consensus was they were calmer do to less wind.
Steve

 

[HARRISON]

I use a Natural Wave power supply. It looks like a power strip but allows you to control three powerheads kinda like a wavemaker. There is a knob that controls the amount of time you want from like a few seconds to a few minutes of run time. There are also two "full time" power ports that are pretty handy as well. So it give you alternating current and gives you more plugs.

I would have gotten a wave maker just to get all the fancy settings and stuff but i found this thing on ebay cheap and decided for the bucks it was worth a try. I like it pretty well.

 

[toptank]

I have 3 Gemini on a Red Sea wavemaker and I really like it. It does have 4 setting. Gentle, rolling, Turbulent and alternating. You can run 4 powerheads off it. Has a feed mode and night program. So far the Gemini are standing up nicely without any problems. It has a slow startup.

JME

[ December 22, 2001: Message edited by: toptank ]</p>

 

[DEAN_480]

i have the light/wave controller 401.

there are 4 pump outputs and 4 light outputs also. there is a moon controller that i have hooked up to a 10 watt bulb. i have 2 magnum 350 set up on spry bar across the front and the other across the back that alternate every 45 sec. they are a little salty on price, but well worth the money. they have all the programming installed you just have to plug in your equipment and set up what stlye of wave and light s you want.

the tank took off after installation 4yrs ago and i would recommend it to everybody.

 

[tazdevil]

The winds (usually) are calmer at night, as the air cools and gets closer to the water temp, less air inversion occurs, results in less wind. Try flying at night over the great lakes, then at day (best example during summer). During the day, as the air heats up, the air just above the water is cooled. This causes wind to form. Now, at night, there is less temperature difference, resulting in less wind (turbulence in plane). I indicated usually as storms/hurricanes/other phenomena affect this of course. In essence, the seas are usually calmer at night.

 

[Anonymous]

OK... looks like I'm going to be the only one to answer in negation. Chaotic "seaswirl" or random, switching, powerheads does not mimic reef hydrodynamics at all.

 

[samurai9]

i agree with galleon.
I personally don't see much sense in trying to create calmer currents at night if the reason is to 'make the animals feel at home'. They are already out of their element with chaotic, multidirectional flow.
IMO, the purpose of wavemaking is that it washes away particles and waste better. Also it looks pretty cool

. But i wouldn't expect my animals to feel better. We're still a long way off from creating natural water conditions. Happy Holidays!

 

[Iron]

I would also go with seaswirls. But random powerhead is better than blasting current. If we were to mimic the ocean we would ne 300x turnover. And the seas aren't calmer at night= never was when i was crabfishing it was just as rough. some days and nights are calmer depending on the air temp and tide. I keep it rough in my tank all night/day mere 20x turnover

 

[KanUCme]

I have a "natural wave" powerstrip/wavemaker. I am using it in conjunction with three maxjets. My corals and fish like them. I just have a problem now(6-months)with keeping the stupid suction cups stuck to the back wall. This set-up at first looks real tacky, but when the powerheads get some corraline on them you can't really tell they are there. Nick