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View Full Version : Wave is almost out!


Kinetic
11/13/2007, 03:23 AM
I have a 48" x 20" x 20" tank, and I just installed two vortech's with the wireless controllers.

I put them pretty far apart on the back of the tank, and set them to pulse very fast (1 or 2 iterations from the fastest). I'm almost at 3000gph each.

I'm getting two amplitudes (I think they're called), one on each corner, and one in the center of the glass on all 4 sides.

It's pretty intense. The wave gets bigger, then gets broken up a bit. The fine tuning isn't "fine" enough to get the perfect occelation, but if I did I think I'd have no more water in my tank.

There's a back and forth movement lengthwise AND widthwise!! It's not one big wave though with one focal point, but two. It's a little more chaotic I guess, but I have nothing in my tank right now except rock.

I have a few questions:

1. How much less GPH will this give me in the fast pulse mode? Half as much?

2. I have one pump that is higher pitched than the other (I've played music my entire life), almost annoying. It's not drastically different, but it is noticeable and a bit annoying. Is this a problem, or just a minor difference? I've tried shifting things around and such, with no help.

3. How long should I watch the wave to be assured that it won't spill over? At times it's reaching almost an inch or less to the tip of the tank. This is braceless tank mind you. =)

4. How do you cure sea sickness?


Overall my impressions are that these are extremely high quality units. The wave it makes is great, and the flow it provides is also very good. At lower gph it's completely silent, and let's just say the waves are amazing.

Pros: Great design, controllers look cool, the pumps are pretty low profile, and gives create movement in the tank. The controller works pretty well and instructions are fairly well done.

Cons:

Vortex's - Without the foam guards they're still prone to vortex's even with the wet side turned correctly if too close to the surface (not a huge con since moving them down is probably better anyway.

Ramping - The ramping up and down in Sync mode, is really annoying when at the highest speed, while in Anti-Sync it's a little more bearable.

Noise - They're a bit loud for my taste, louder than anything else in the tank, but still pretty quiet. I can't compare them to anything else, I've never had such strong pumps before in my life...

Power Supplies - The power supplies are bulky and can't be mounted with any screws, I had to use double sided tape and zip ties. I like to keep all my power chords above the ground in case of water problems.

Speed - I can't tell what speed I am at without sort of "guessing". No notches or measurements to tell you. Am I missing something?


I'm just nitpicky, but even with the cons, I still love these units. Only thing that would move me towards another is probably the sound. But again, I've never had pumps this strong before so it might be better than usual.