SCWD Wavemaker

[kymsflower]

Hello all, I got a whole mess of aquarium "stuff" in a big box when I got my aquarium and decided to go through it today. I came across a SCWD. Did a search of it on the internet and found it interesting. Tried to do a search for it on this site however, the search engine is not working.... does anyone have one of these? What do you feel about it? Does it do a good job or do you need more? And can you post some pics of how you have it set up. I was going to attach it to a magnum 350 on the outflow will this work?

Thanks!!

[sassafrass]

They are dependable however they greatly reduce the flow , the makers claim by 20% from experience I would say more like 1/2 the flow.

[Jeremy Blaze]

Do you have the 3/4" or 1" version?

[kymsflower]

I have the 3/4 version.

[Jeremy Blaze]

I would not recommend it then, as said it does cause a large amount of back pressure/ flow reduction.

The 1" model is much better though.

[leeweber85]

I don't think they reduce flow THAT much, but they do often stop working. Might as well give it a try since you have it already.

[mc-cro]

jeremy, did you install that 1" yet in the customer's tank, and if so, what the overall take on the product

[UrbanSage]

I had the 3/4" running without maintenance for over a year on a 75g.
In my opinion it added great value to the water dynamics in the tank.
On a mag9 I still had to throttle down the flow a bit so my overflow could keep up. A mag7 would on the same setup run full blast without the SCWD so the flow can't be too restricted, or at least expect a bit of loss and choose pump based on this.

[kymsflower]

So do you think trying this with my Magnum 350 would be ok, don't want to restrict it so much that it would hurt the motor?

[UrbanSage]

I think the mag9 was perfect. I think they are rated quite a bit beyond that pump even?
Been some years so I don't recall anymore.

But as far as cheap equipment goes, it does a great job of adding some random flow.

[fcmatt]

i used the 3/4" swcd for more then a year without problem on a ehiem 1252 pump. My only beef with it was
that it did create a noise as it switched from side to side.
Otherwise it was a nice piece of gear.

[d3rryc]

It's important that you somehow screen or filter the incoming water for SCWDs. The manufacturer's site suggests a coarse sponge or something similar. Unfortunately, the intake for my closed loop is in the center of the tank toward the back glass, making it impossible to reach from the top of the tank, so I can't get a sponge down there, much less maintain it. The only screening I have is the 1/8" grated cap on top of the drain. Particles that make their way through the grate and blow right through the Snapper driving the closed loop will jam the four 3/4" SCWDs. I've got one right now that's permanently stuck, despite a couple of efforts to dislodge whatever's caught in there. I like the water motion they provide, but they have the potential to be a pain from a maintenance standpoint.

[herostar]

I've used one for a year with no problems, never cleaned it, and it's silent. I ran it first with a Quiet one 2200 and the flow was ok, but I switched some pumps around and now run it with a mag5 and the flow is not that great. This is on my 58g rr oceanic tank.

[michaeldaly]

I did not have a very good experience with mine. It reduced the flow greatly and jammed after about 8 moths and stopped switching sides.

[Jeremy Blaze]

I have only tested the 1" model for a short time, but was very pleased with it. It is going on a tank that is in the process of being set up now.

I ran a 3/4" model for a few months but was unhappy with the loss of output from the pump.

The 1" is also easily disassembled for cleaning.