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View Full Version : Wavemaker breaking a tank?


vyerous
06/10/2009, 10:52 AM
I was at a friends house admiring is mp40s when I asked him why he doesn't use the wave mode. His reply was he is terrified of ripping the tank at the seams.

Supposedly there was this woman who had a 300 gallon tank who was using a whole bunch of mp40s on wave mode and it put so much stress on the walls that it ripped at the seams. Anyone ever heard something like this?

I really need intermittent flow in my tank and I've been toying with the idea of getting mp10s when they are released, but I am hesitant about using the wave pattern because of this story, and because I don't know how old my tank really is.

username in use
06/10/2009, 10:59 AM
I've heard rumors, but, even if true I dont think that we know enough of the details to say that it was the wavemaker that did it. Theres just too many variables to take into acount to say that is what did it. I would imagine an mp10 on a 55 gallon wont be a problem. And for what its worth, I think you get more benefit from the reef crest mode than from the wave mode. You get much more randomized patterns. I dont think ive ever been under water and seen the wave action moving back and forth as fast as they do in the tanks with wave makers. The wave pulse is more like every 30 seconds to a minute as opposed to every 1-3 seconds like in a tank. Just me, but I think the reef crest is more realistic to what corals actually receive.

vyerous
06/10/2009, 11:03 AM
Woops, I have a 90g now I need to change that.

Yea I was thinking of doing like 2, maybe even 3 on randomized patterns. I like wave because its moving everything rather than just a constant flow in one direction, I just need more flow everywhere plus I feel its better for the corals.

username in use
06/10/2009, 03:32 PM
I think people drastically underestimate the abilities of a sea swirl compared to power heads and wavemakers. They are the best. and compared to vortechs, you could have a pair of sea swirls or one mp20

der_wille_zur_macht
06/10/2009, 04:49 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15170662#post15170662 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by username in use
I think people drastically underestimate the abilities of a sea swirl compared to power heads and wavemakers. They are the best. and compared to vortechs, you could have a pair of sea swirls or one mp20

It's a completely different way of creating "random" current and IMHO not really comparable to a Vortech. A sea swirl simply oscillates a narrow "jet" of flow around the tank, whereas a vortech creates movement EVEYWHERE and has the ability to vary the intensity of that movement. Vortechs are the only powerheads I've ever seen that create such widely dispersed flow that you see it *all* over the tank. Even the undertow across the sandbed is amazing.

Plus, a sea swirl requires a pump to work - either your return or a closed loop.

I'm not knocking sea swirls at all (I used a home-made device similar in concept for years) but IMHO the two concepts are so different that they're just not mentionable in the same sentence.

vyerous, if you have a commercially produced 90g in good shape there's really no worry, especially if you go with MP10's. People are using MP20's in really tiny tanks (like 20 - 30 gallons!) with no problems, so using the smaller MP10 in a tank three times as big won't be an issue. Plus, if they really were that destructive, I garuntee you that there would be stories ALL OVER the forums, not just a rumor of someone who knew someone who knew someone who had a problem - as popular as the vortechs are, people in hobbyist forums love dirt, and news of failures like that would be everywhere if they were true IMHO.

vyerous
06/10/2009, 07:31 PM
That is a really good point der_wille_zur_macht.

I looked into sea swirl but I already have my tank plumbed and I don't want to have to replumb my return to fit a sea swirl.

Like he said though though you can't beat the wave motion of corals whipping back and forth =D

I can't wait for the mp10 to come out.

Thanks.

der_wille_zur_macht
06/11/2009, 06:29 AM
What's your livestock and current flow like?

Honestly, in a 90 gallon tank, I would just go for an MP20.

g8gxp
06/11/2009, 06:39 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15169048#post15169048 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by vyerous
I was at a friends house admiring is mp40s when I asked him why he doesn't use the wave mode. His reply was he is terrified of ripping the tank at the seams.

Supposedly there was this woman who had a 300 gallon tank who was using a whole bunch of mp40s on wave mode and it put so much stress on the walls that it ripped at the seams. Anyone ever heard something like this?

I really need intermittent flow in my tank and I've been toying with the idea of getting mp10s when they are released, but I am hesitant about using the wave pattern because of this story, and because I don't know how old my tank really is.

I don't think this is plausible under normal circumstances. Your wave can only be so big. If you've got 3 inches from the water line to the top of the tank, you're wave can only be a 3 inch wave. anything more will just splash out of the tank. now if that happens and you CONTINUE to leave it on a high setting that might be possible. Normally though, i don't think you have anyhting to worry about. Besides, some of the wave action is slowed down by water bouncing back from the far wall. Unless you've got a 20 year old tank or a tank with seam defects probably nothing to worry about.

Maybe the person in the story was running them from front to back on the larger pane vs running them lengthwise on the smaller sides.

vyerous
06/11/2009, 08:31 AM
Well I've got a mix of LPS, SPS, softies, zoas, and a whole mess of fish, and I'm using 2 Koralia 3's, and 1 koralia 4, and a mag 7 for return. I have enough flow at the moment, but I just feel like constant flow in the same area just doesn't work. The advantages of having flow over the entire tank, to me, seem worth the money. You virtually eliminate almost all dead spots, everything in the tank is happier, its not like one area is getting blasted and the other is getting low flow.

g8gxp - that's also a good point. I figured though that once you got a frequency going it could just increase in strength or something, kind like a mini tsunami in your tank and its just more stress on the seams beating back and forth.

I guess the way I see it is if you want to break something but you can't through brute force, you work at it, move it back and forth side to side. Tanks are strong, but they are meant to hold water, not necessarily take a beating of waves. However I'm not arguing I'm just trying to get the vision out of my head and onto here =D

Do you think an mp20 versus 2 mp10's is worth it?

L98-Z
06/11/2009, 08:37 AM
Tunze wavemakers point out that possibility. I'm worried about it as well since I plan to set up the wavemaker on my 300 gallon.

vyerous
06/11/2009, 08:41 AM
Yea and I guess in my size of a tank the chances are a bit less. But in your size of a tank or larger, I would just think that it could get out of control if you get the right frequency. If anyone can remember back to physics in high school, once you get a certain frequency and its bouncing back and forth, it amplifies its strength, its like the perfect wave in a sense.

I'm still going to get an mp10/mp20 though =D

I looked at the tunze wavemaker but I thought it was kind of bulky and expensive, you should try this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1duSSdjRb4

L98-Z
06/11/2009, 09:02 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15174397#post15174397 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by vyerous
Yea and I guess in my size of a tank the chances are a bit less. But in your size of a tank or larger, I would just think that it could get out of control if you get the right frequency. If anyone can remember back to physics in high school, once you get a certain frequency and its bouncing back and forth, it amplifies its strength, its like the perfect wave in a sense.

I'm still going to get an mp10/mp20 though =D

I looked at the tunze wavemaker but I thought it was kind of bulky and expensive, you should try this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1duSSdjRb4

I'm not worried about the wave growing without bound, I'm simply concerned with the force that a wave going back and forth in the tank can cause. That's alot of pressure shifting back and forth.

As for the vortech vs tunze, I chose the tunze since one should be able to make a wave in my 300 gallon. I'm not sure one vortech could do it in a 96" long tank.

With that said, I'm still a big fan of the vortechs and wouldn't mind having one or two.

sebrofjr
06/11/2009, 10:48 AM
Im running 2 mp40w's in my 90g and they are awesome. There are setup in anti-sync mode on reefcrest. I plan on having all type of coral so after some research i found this to be the best option. When i asked about using 1 mp20 in my tank, everyone told me i should have 2 mp40w's if I want the best flow possible. The mp20 is the same as the mp40 just with a less powerful driver, and you can upgrade them to mp40s later if you wanted by replacing the driver. The mp10's IMO are more for nanos and smaller tanks.

nikon187
06/11/2009, 11:06 AM
you will be wasting money getting the 10 or 20 for your tank. Mp40w all the way