SeaSwirl or SCWD?

[scytale]

After 4 years of happy reefy (minus 1 very painful tank crash in January)--I've decided to mix things up a bit by FINALLY adding a sump! to my 80 gallon AGA system

Question is: what's a better wave-maker to add on my return line: a SeaSwirl or SCWD?

Right now I'm just using a clear-tote to "test-fit" my return pump/overflow/plumbing design before I install my actual sump (have to temporairily remove the center brace in my stand to fit the sump in).

Currently I'm running a mag12 as both my return and skimmer pump (plus another external mag12 to power a very remote chiller)--So I'm curious what people think is a better flow maker--1" SCWD or a 3/4-1"Seaswirl?

My tank used to be LPS and softy friendly (before the crash)--now I'm thinking I'd like to have a more SPS- and/or clam-friendly setup....

Thanks!
Travis.

 

[Krish]

I had a sea swirl and loved it!! I'd vote for the sea-swirl, but just keep in mind that if you use it on your return line from the sump, you will have to drill a small hole in the output to break the siphon in the event you loose power on your return pump. If you don't, when that return pump is turned off, it will back siphon all of the water that sits above the nozzle back into your sump until the head /openeing of the nozzle is exposed to air to break the siphon. I had this happen to me when I first got my sea-swirl and almost flodded the place! . I had to drill a hole to fix it.

 

[mfinn]

I vote sea-swirl. I use 2 on my tank and they are great.

You will loose flow with the SCWD.

 

[scytale]

Oh yeah, I already have a 1" check valve installed, so I have no back-siphon from my return line anymore. AND I WILL be drilling a hole for siphon-break too, when I get my final plumbing installed. Because I've already had 1 flood** with the temporary plumbing (Wind-storm knocked out the power in my neighborhood, at THE WORST possible time) So I know you can NVER be too careful, redundancy, redundancy.

**Now here's my funny story about why I was on my hand-and-knees running a carpet extractor @10pm that night, by candle-light...

I had my new sump in place, but needed to modify it because I knew there wasn't enough room for the drain-down... I was using rigid foam insulation sheets to mock-up where I could add an internal, empty baffle for over-flow.
So this wind-storm hits, and I wasn't home.

I get a frantic call from wife as I'm sitting in the barber's chair (the barbershop also lost power at the exact same time, thank fully my haircut was 90% done ;-)--I had told my wife the steps to do in case something went wrong, the day before (pull out the return line to break siphon, pull out the foam sheets to make more room for overflow in the sump, etc.) but obviously she wasn't ready for it then.

Thankfully, probably only about 3-4 gallons over-flowed; and fortunately I have a huge power inverter that I now hook up to my car during power failures---so I had plenty of juice that night to run my tank + some fans + the small carpet extractor + plenty of candles!

 

[returnofsid]

Don't trust a check valve!!! They fail. Drilling a siphon break is real easy and works great. Make sure you drill it, facing down. Otherwise, in the event of a power outage, when the power comes back on, water will shoot out of the hole, usually into your lights, outside your tank, onto the desk next to the tank! Don't ask me how I know this!! Suffice it to say, I have a desk, right next to my tank...lol.

Definitely go with SeaSwirls. SQWDs are great, for a small nano sized tank. They need to be disassembled and cleaned, on a very regular basis, when they stop spinning. SQWDs also can only handle so much flow, and will choke your return flow.

 

[scytale]

So you run 2 sea-swirls overlapping? I thought that would be a good idea---nice alternating current, right? But not sure if I have the room for 2 swirls on my tank-lip.
That why I was leaning towards the SCWD (just need space for 2 small return lines then.)

I actually not too concerned about the flow issue.
I currently have my Mag12 powering both the return line and my HOB skimmer, but I have it dialed-back alot right now.
The durso in my external overflow box seems to max out at about 600pgh, if I push the flow much further than that I get the annoying "flushing" noise.

But if I was able to open up my return line all the way (which would probably exceed my overflow box) it could probably push 800-900 gallons, even with the head-loss from the SCWD.

I noticed that the 1" SCWD has a much longer switching time than the 3/4" does (30-155 seconds, vs 4-22 seconds)--which seems like a better interval--how fast does the SeaSwirl rotate?

 

[scytale]

Oh Yes, I do NOT trust the check valve only--like I said, I AM going to drill a siphon-break hole (2! actually!) when I install my final plumbing. ;-)
I'm just using a temporary plastic-tote right now, which has more room for overflow/drain-down than my actual sump does.

 

[klwheat]

I have a seaswirl on my 100gallon, it came with the tank and I'd never even heard of them before. However, my reef loves the changing flow. I'm considering getting another for the other side return - but again, definitely drill the siphon break.

 

[Luckedout]

Seaswirls are pretty fragile and expensive. I'd rather lose some flow and have the reliability and cost savings of a SCWD. With the cost of a couple swirls, I'd rather put some of that money towards a Vortech.

 

[mfinn]

Seaswirls are pretty fragile and expensive. I'd rather lose some flow and have the reliability and cost savings of a SCWD. With the cost of a couple swirls, I'd rather put some of that money towards a Vortech.

Don't know where you heard that, but I bought one 6 years ago that was used and it still works fine. Bought another about 4 years ago that is still working as well.

 

[Krish]

Don't know where you heard that, but I bought one 6 years ago that was used and it still works fine. Bought another about 4 years ago that is still working as well.

I agree with Martin. I man handled mine and never had an issue. Constructed very well IMO and seems to be very durable. Infact, I don't think I've ever heard about anyone having an issue with them although I have heard some negative things about scwd's.

 

[gimmito]

Gotta agree with the vote on the Sea Swirls...I have 2 on my frag tank that I bought used on another for sale site for cheap.

 

[returnofsid]

Seaswirls are pretty fragile and expensive. I'd rather lose some flow and have the reliability and cost savings of a SCWD. With the cost of a couple swirls, I'd rather put some of that money towards a Vortech.

Have you every actually used Seaswirls? They're bullet proof, for the most part! SCWDs, on the other hand, need cleaned on a weekly basis and something as simple as a small snail, will stop them from rotating.

 

[Luckedout]

I have used 2 in the past and both had problems. One I accidentally put my arm close to the armwhile doing some fragging and it stopped rotating. The other went out for reasons unknown, and so I got rid of them and got SCWD's. I used SCWD's for over a year on my 90 gallon returns without any issues and I'm a very lazy maintenance guy with my plumbing. Plus they don't use electricity which is always a plus with reef tanks. Just different past experience I guess, but I'd go with SCWD's over swirls still.

 

[Krish]

I have used 2 in the past and both had problems. One I accidentally put my arm close to the armwhile doing some fragging and it stopped rotating. The other went out for reasons unknown, and so I got rid of them and got SCWD's. I used SCWD's for over a year on my 90 gallon returns without any issues and I'm a very lazy maintenance guy with my plumbing. Plus they don't use electricity which is always a plus with reef tanks. Just different past experience I guess, but I'd go with SCWD's over swirls still.

Bummer dude!! The only thing about a sea-swirl that use to frighten me a bit was the elbow that sits on the top of it where the water comes in. I was afraid that weight on top of that would snap it so I shoved filter floss in between the fitting and the body just to be safe. . Here is a picture to show what I mean

Other than that, I had no concerns or issues. With that said, I'm glad to hear you have had great success with the SCWD's. Really good to hear.

 

[larry.beck]

I'm definitely in the Seaswirl camp - my SCWD was great when it worked, but the mean time between failure kept decreasing over a couple of years so I finally pulled it out.