Some Advice for the Koralia Smart Wave

[fishguy95]

I have been reading some of the reviews of the Koralia Smart Wave today and have some advice for the people who want to use it for a wave maker. I will go ahead and say that I don't own one of these but am considering purchasing one.

The main problem that I have read from people is that they bought the Smart Wave to use it as a wave maker but they wish that it had a shorter time interval than 5 seconds. I believe that this issue can be overcome with a little thought. Most people will buy a few large pumps to move the water in the tank. This, when combined with the somewhat long interval (5 seconds) causes a lot of water to start moving in one direction very quickly. This water is all being moved from one point at one end of the tank. By the time the 5 seconds is over the water has been at the other side of the tank about half the time. Then the other pump(s) will cut on and the same thing happens. This does not provide for a very good wave because the flow is inconstant. My theory is that you have several smaller pumps that equal a little more than the total gallons per hour of one large pump. Then have them placed at relatively equal distances from each other at one end for each group. This would provide you with flow that is more evenly spread, and reaches the other end of the tank closer to the end of each interval. This would provide for a smother, more constant, undirected wave.

For example: If you think you would need a Koralia Evo that moves 1050 gph at each end of the tank then you should use 2 Evo pumps that move 750 gph. Placing one near the top of the tank and one about mid way down at each end of the tank. This would mean that you would have a total of 4 pumps. This could be adapted to meet the needs of your tank.

This is not a proven method but, I thought it would help people get an idea of how to over come the issue of not having a shorter interval setting.

I have done my best to explain what I am trying to say. Please don't get upset if this does not work. The example I gave is just one way to do it, if someone has had tried this method please report back to this thread to share your experience.

 

[BigAl07]

I can't speak about the Koralia Smart Wave specifically but I can tell you that a "Wave" event can be hard to get stabilized in your tank without multiple pumps. It really depends on what the actual "Goal" is. I have a Votech MP10 in my RSM130D (34g) and the pulse to create an actual wave (literally wave across the surface of the tank) takes a burst about every 1.5 seconds. It takes more energy than you think to be able to create a reliable "Wave" in a tank.

• a) Random Flow - If you're wanting to create random flow (ie water switching directions mimicing wave coming in and then going back out) then literally almost any pump/time setting will accomplish this feat. It's just a matter of a pump being ON for a short period of time and then another pump in another direction (possibly even opposing the first) switching on as the first switches off. This will simulate the wave/flow coming in and going back out again.
• b) Wave Action (like the Ecotech/Vortech Controller creates) - This is a LOT more difficult to create for several reasons.
  
  [*]1) each tank has it's own "Harmonics" and the timing of the pulse will have to be micro-tweaked to match the tank at hand
  [*]2) Merely adding/removing objectsi n the tank will alter the wave/harmonics of the tank. If you move things around (add rock, add frag rack etc) you may have to re-tune the pulse to create the actual WAVE in the tank.
  [*]3) Smaller tanks take smaller pumps but they also require a much shorter "burst/pulse" and not all controllers can handle such a short time period.​

 

[Maxx]

I have a Smartwave running right now in a 40 breeder frag tank. I also have Tunze 6105's (4) and Tunze 6000's/6100's (3...same wet side, the difference between the two is the large black doughnut/transformer).

I havent been running it for very long, (about a week), but here's what I can see already:

The Smartwave is less expensive, and smaller than the Tunze controller. It has two controller knobs.
It also has less options, and only has two plugs for pumps.
The plug thing can be easily remedied by extension cord splitters made by companies like Ziotek etc. I have some of these on order and should get them later this week. According to Hydor, each plug of the Smartwave can handle up to 100 watts, so more than one Korallia can be used per side.
The less options thing is a bigger nuisance in my opinion.
You can run it with both sides on, or on alternating cycles. The drawback to both sides on, is that whatever time setting you have it on, is how long both sides will be OFF as well.
It has the following time cycles:
5 secs
10 Secs
15 secs
1 minute
15 Minutes
30 Minutes
1 Hour
3 hours with 2 feed time breaks
6 hours with 1 feed time break

The feed breaks on the last two settings occur whether you want them to or not. This is annoying to me since there is also a position on the left controller knob for feeding which shuts down the pumps connected to the controller. So the two longer interval settings with the mandatory feed breaks are annoying since the feed breaks are unneccessary for those two settings.

The other annoying issue (so far) is that the Korallia Evo's make an audible click when switching on. Its not hideously loud, but it is noticable in quiet set ups.
There are also some reports of the Korallia Evo's spinning backwards which is what they were designed NOT to do. Mine have not done it so far. But again, I've only been using it for about a week.

I plan on doing a review overall of this set up and comparing it to the Tunze's since they and the Vortech's are the two most common wave making devices in this hobby at the moment.

I havent used the Vortechs, but a LFS has them on display tanks and has been using them for about 6 months or more. I can tell you they are quiet and move alot of water.

So far, my take of the Smartwave and Hydor Korallia's in general is this:

Its a decent entry level wave maker that will do the job and is inexpensive, as long as you can live with its limitations.
It does not compare to the quality of the Tunze's or the Vortechs, but to be fair, it's also significantly less expensive than either of those as well.
A Tunze 6105 will cost you around $350 without a controller, and the Vortech MP40 will cost you about $450, again without a controller.

Nick