adam87
New member
I own the Sicce Voyager HP4000 and I love it. Got it on ebay for $30.50.
Wavemakers??? YAH!!! or NAH.....
- Thread starter Douggie-Style
- Start date
I own the Sicce Voyager HP4000 and I love it. Got it on ebay for $30.50.
Kevin Says
Member
Do you have yours on a wavemaker? If so what are you using?
adam87
New member
I did not use a wavemaker when it was in my 220. But I only had one, if I had two or more, I would use a wavemaker. Its a great pump.
El Dude
New member
There's four ways of going about it (that I can think of...NOT intended to be a definitive list):
1. Surge device:
Pros: Best way to get the effects we want. Great directional flow, random currents created by a sudden surge of a large volume of water. Closest thing to actual surge in the ocean.
Cons: Big. Bulky. Noisy. Messy. Requires a great deal of space above the tank. If too large it places terrible stress on the structural integrity of the tank. Best left to public aquariums.
I learned to build these in an aquarium sciences lab in college. We built about a dozen of various designs for the display tanks at our marine lab. I made a siphon driven one for a 60g I used to have in college. It was terribly loud and there was incredible salt spray all around. I don't think I would do it again unless I was keeping the tank in my garage or somewhere sound/spray isn't an issue.
2. Wavebox:
Pros: Moves water in every corner of the tank. Great surge movement.
Cons: Price. Noise. Can be finicky to dial in. Doesn't really provide flow, just back and forth movement. Places stresses on the tank that the tank was not designed for.
One of my baller friends has a 200g acrylic tank and bought a tunze wavebox. The results are stellar. Just youtube tunze wavebox to see what I mean. You have to supplement it with powerheads to get actual flow of course. The wavebox will stir up detritus but you still need strong powerheads to get the detritus to the overflow. Back to my friend with the acrylic tank...after I believe 6 months of having his wavebox his tank is getting stretch marks. The acrylic is showing signs of stress with white stretch/stress marks. The entire tank volume sloshes back and fourth and our tanks were not designed to endure those kind of stresses. So eventually they will fail. I hate to admit it because I was so excited when the wavebox came out, but that is a consequence I cannot accept.
3. Wavemaker/powerheads:
Pros: If done right it can provide great results comparable to real ocean surge. Can be quite. Most practical approach for us hobbyists.
Cons: Difficult to fine tune. Can be pricey. Drastically shortens the life of powerheads if they were not designed as a controllable powerhead. Requires a controller.
This might be the best technological option for us given the current state of our hobby. Of course we all know this option requires a controller. It is best to opt for powerheads designed for this purpose. The constant on/off cycle can drastically shorten the life of powerheads not designed to deal with this wear amd tear. There are great kits that include all necessary components. JBJ, Koralia and Tunze come to mind. I'm sure there are other brands I fail to recall. I have to go with the other Tunze enthusiasts. They may be very expensive and noisy, but they are designed for wavemaker purposes and they do keep their heat out of the tank.
4. SCWD
Pros: Most economical method of "wavemaking". They have variable flow-driven timing.
Cons: They require a relatively strong return pump to get the desired effect. They need to be plumbed into the return. It only deflects in two directions. They put resistance on your return pump on order to work.
Switching Current Water Deflectors are a low tech answer to a high tech problem. Some love them, some hate them. All they do is alternate the returning flow between two separate returns in your tank. If you are running a Berlin style or sumpless system forget about this option. A rotating deflector inside the unit uses the return pump pressure to alternate the flow, reducing actual return flow gph. I'm a fan and will be integrating one into my new 150g build. They don't provide the turbulent flow we want but they do provide a moderate surge effect.
Hope this helps...
1. Surge device:
Pros: Best way to get the effects we want. Great directional flow, random currents created by a sudden surge of a large volume of water. Closest thing to actual surge in the ocean.
Cons: Big. Bulky. Noisy. Messy. Requires a great deal of space above the tank. If too large it places terrible stress on the structural integrity of the tank. Best left to public aquariums.
I learned to build these in an aquarium sciences lab in college. We built about a dozen of various designs for the display tanks at our marine lab. I made a siphon driven one for a 60g I used to have in college. It was terribly loud and there was incredible salt spray all around. I don't think I would do it again unless I was keeping the tank in my garage or somewhere sound/spray isn't an issue.
2. Wavebox:
Pros: Moves water in every corner of the tank. Great surge movement.
Cons: Price. Noise. Can be finicky to dial in. Doesn't really provide flow, just back and forth movement. Places stresses on the tank that the tank was not designed for.
One of my baller friends has a 200g acrylic tank and bought a tunze wavebox. The results are stellar. Just youtube tunze wavebox to see what I mean. You have to supplement it with powerheads to get actual flow of course. The wavebox will stir up detritus but you still need strong powerheads to get the detritus to the overflow. Back to my friend with the acrylic tank...after I believe 6 months of having his wavebox his tank is getting stretch marks. The acrylic is showing signs of stress with white stretch/stress marks. The entire tank volume sloshes back and fourth and our tanks were not designed to endure those kind of stresses. So eventually they will fail. I hate to admit it because I was so excited when the wavebox came out, but that is a consequence I cannot accept.
3. Wavemaker/powerheads:
Pros: If done right it can provide great results comparable to real ocean surge. Can be quite. Most practical approach for us hobbyists.
Cons: Difficult to fine tune. Can be pricey. Drastically shortens the life of powerheads if they were not designed as a controllable powerhead. Requires a controller.
This might be the best technological option for us given the current state of our hobby. Of course we all know this option requires a controller. It is best to opt for powerheads designed for this purpose. The constant on/off cycle can drastically shorten the life of powerheads not designed to deal with this wear amd tear. There are great kits that include all necessary components. JBJ, Koralia and Tunze come to mind. I'm sure there are other brands I fail to recall. I have to go with the other Tunze enthusiasts. They may be very expensive and noisy, but they are designed for wavemaker purposes and they do keep their heat out of the tank.
4. SCWD
Pros: Most economical method of "wavemaking". They have variable flow-driven timing.
Cons: They require a relatively strong return pump to get the desired effect. They need to be plumbed into the return. It only deflects in two directions. They put resistance on your return pump on order to work.
Switching Current Water Deflectors are a low tech answer to a high tech problem. Some love them, some hate them. All they do is alternate the returning flow between two separate returns in your tank. If you are running a Berlin style or sumpless system forget about this option. A rotating deflector inside the unit uses the return pump pressure to alternate the flow, reducing actual return flow gph. I'm a fan and will be integrating one into my new 150g build. They don't provide the turbulent flow we want but they do provide a moderate surge effect.
Hope this helps...
superslinky911
New member
good breakdown. i still wana try a surge box one day tho. theres gotta be a way to make it not so crazy loud.....
El Dude
New member
Thanks! Sorry for it being a little long. I get carried away easily...
Surgeboxes deliver the results we demand: surge, directional and random flow. They're amazing! Just need to figure out a way to muffle the noise...
superslinky911
New member
ive only seen a few in person. but i would think air is making tho noise, so how do we dump all that water without letting air into it. but how.........