SCWD Wavemaker Thoughts

[Reef Monkey]

I think the title says it all. What is everyone's opinion on the SCWD Wavemaker. I'm looking at buying one of these to create some alternating flow on my return but I'm not overly familiar with this piece of equipment or if its even worth purchasing. Thanks for any input/thoughts/opinions. My return pump is going to be a Mag 7.

 

[Scooterman]

Might work well for you, I had one & didn't like it but JMO! They are cheap to experiment with & I've heard others like them. If you spend a little more you could get a sea swirl for the return, I hear they work well.

 

[lizardarm]

I had bought one when they first came out and it worked like a champ for a couple of years before it needed cleaning. But once it needed cleaning, it needed it frequently (maybe I wasn't doing a good enough job). There are a lot of people out there that say that they've had them fail pretty quick though. There was also a thread on RC recently about a guy that took one apart and modded it (pretty much rebuilt) to make it work better http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=845649&highlight=SCWD+mod.
That being said, there are better options IMO. Like Scooter said, check out the Sea swirl, or what I chose, the Oceansmotions unit: www.oceansmotions.com
SCWDs are the cheapest option though.

 

[theJ]

Reef Monkey,

I really liked the scwd whn I first got it. It was cheap, VERY energy efficent, and added no heat to the water. My water conditions were not that great, so I had some algae growing in the tank which clogged the scwd a few times when it got sucked in the return. One time, my alk got out of control, and I had a bit of a snowstorm in the tank, and the scwd clogged. Another time, the scwd got louder and louder, then silent, and i noticed the door inside had some crap under it that caused it to go a bit off balance and screw the base into the 'door' and break the plastic. I glued it back together, but the door never was fully strong, it kept breaking.

I modded the crap out of my scwd, and had a lot less issues (especially since I got water quality in line) because I was able to clean it easily with a cleanout adapter, and re-glue the door that broke, eventually using zip ties to get it to stay together. I even added a 3/4 adapter to the bottom and drilled out the top outlets for more flow.

I dont use a sqwd any more, because I got tired of fixing the damn door, and cleaning the thing out every few weeks. I ended up getting the OM 2 way squirt which I am IN LOVE with. It had a lot of microbubbles at first, but I am addressing those issues. Also the motor gets hot, but I cant see any real increase in water temp due to that (the motor is out of the water). This is an expensive option, but saves me a lot of time during water change day from cleaning the scwd, and this this is not going to have the same problems the scwd's pinwheel and revolving door will have.

I say depending on what you are looking for, the scwd is a fine choice, but has its own kind of maintenance like any other piece of equipment out there. There are other options with less maintenance, but you always pay for conveinance.

 

[mfinn]

I've had one running about a year and it is still working. I haven't messed with it at all.
One thing I noticed is it really reduces the flow of the pump I am using on it.

 

[Reef Monkey]

Thanks everyone, I think I've decided against getting one. I"ll probably look at 1 or 2 of the SeaSwirls when I get enough funds.