TheClark Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Intriguing for the price.... http://www.marinedepot.com/AquaticLife_Macro_Aqua_Flow_Swing_Wavemaker_Flexible_Ball_Socket_Tubing_Plumbing_Parts-AquaticLife-AK01367-FIFTFB-vi.html?utm_source=MarineDepot.com+Newsletter&utm_campaign=db49a2d98f-Marine_Depot_Newsletter_RODI_Systems_Sal4_9_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8741a9ea99-db49a2d98f-225009565&mc_cid=db49a2d98f&mc_eid=7098ed676f 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paratore Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 I saw these the other day in a reefing article! They look super cool and I've been thinking of getting one or two to put in my nem prop tank! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadams7 Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 I just bought one! Very cool for the price. Only got to play with it for about 20 minutes before I had to hit the road so I can't give a full review yet 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramy Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 I am going to give these a whirl and see how they flow =) Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paratore Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Let us know what you guys think! Highly considering getting a couple! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milesmiles902 Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 That is an awesome deal. In reality, I think the idea shouldn't cost too much. Glad to see it is becoming cheaper. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewie Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Longevity is key.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilmca Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Longevity is key.... yeah and i don't think the suction cups speaks well of longevity. going to need to be modified with magnets or just use rigid pvc to place it in the tank. i watched a video on their website and it does show it not needing the suction cup mount if you use rigid pvc and that seems like the best way to go IMO. for $20 it would not be a very expensive product trial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 Pretty rare to see any new reef hardware for 20 bucks! I like the design change, it makes allot of sense from a cost perspective to do it this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 I just bought one! Very cool for the price. Only got to play with it for about 20 minutes before I had to hit the road so I can't give a full review yet Please do when you can. This would be perfect for my 90g if it works well. Excited to see what you think. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted May 4, 2016 Author Share Posted May 4, 2016 Any updates? Just curious... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadySaber Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Yeah would love to know myself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SALTY Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 I bought two for my tank but have not used them yet I am hoping this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bicyclebill Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 Awesome, thanks for sharing Jeremy! I'm going to try one myself me thinks 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 More info. http://www.aquaticlife.com/pumps/flow-swing-wavemakers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 I am still disappointed that there are no detailed videos of setup with connection to a return line, and mostly of the diffusers operating dry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadams7 Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 Here is a little review from the one I got a little while back. Sorry for the late reply on this...work has been a bit nuts and I have been on the road a lot... Pluses - Only $20! It is a very solid, not cheap feeling piece of equipment that I don't feel bad about putting into my tank. I don't see any obvious flaws in manufacturing, nothing looks or feels like it will have a short life, though only time will tell (as with any piece of aquarium equipment). Great that someone finally put together a much cheaper, more ergonomically efficient (and much smaller) way to accomplish that of the big old sea swirls that have been around forever. I have opened up a sea swirl before, soooo much wasted space, and with so many more attention going to rimless tanks showing less and less equipment when possible, getting that big old cable box off of the tank is a big plus. And at a fraction of the cost! Pretty quiet. Noise wasn't an issue in my case, and I don't foresee it being one unless the unit hits the glass and rattles or something (which it hasn't done yet). I like the flow pattern, going slowly across one way and about twice as fast on the return. Good thinking. If only the flow could be angled/adjusted....(more on that below) Negatives/room for improvement: The cord seems a bit too short at only 5'. In order to add a proper drip loop, with both my display and frag tanks, that cord length is too short to have much extra for a loop in my case. Mount/suction cup and assembly in my application with bulkheads and hard plumbed returns is generally worthless. As we all know, suction cups and reef tanks are never good long term solutions (unless this is some new fancy suction cup that doesn't break down over time, not holding my breath there), but I would imagine with a little DIY you could rig up some magnets or something else. I would think a majority of people wouldn't even need the mount, but there may be some out there who can use it. In order to hard plumb this into my bulkhead fitting, it takes some work. My case may not be typical, so it entirely depends on each persons return plumbing. The unit needs some space in order to fit the elbow out, so in order to mount this relatively flush...kinda hard to accomplish. In the frag tank my pvc return comes up and over the overflow box, but fits too tight against the edge of the overflow to mount as close as I would like. So I need to add more length to the pvc return 'U' if you will, in order to mount this to it. Hard to explain this where it makes sense, when I get off the road for work I will snap a couple pictures that hopefully explain this better. As mentioned, the mount isn't really needed anyway if hard plumbed, which is the case for me. Also the mount/bracket has what I assume to be a stainless steel rod allowing the bracket to pivot. Works well in that regard, but we will see if rust is an issue long term (I am not sure if the rod is stainless or not). I guess time will tell on that for someone, because I am not using it, I wont be that guinea pig. Also, the unit slides out of the top of the bracket very easily. Not an issue I would imagine once installed, but its a PITA until that point. Again, not that big of a deal once installed, but worth mentioning. The biggest negative, and ultimately only one that means enough to me, is the wide diffuser. I have become spoiled with loc line, giving me the flexibility of adding on flow accelerators, or smaller ends to force and project flow a bit more than a normal wide opening allows. The wide birth on it just sort of spews the return water/flow out but doesn't reach nearly as far as it could/should. To me that half way defeats the purpose of rotating flow, if the flow cant rotate far enough to reach much. It would be a HUUUUUUUGE improvement if I could add my own PVC or loc line fittings onto the end of this. And for this reason, I wont be using this unit in my main display right now (unless I get creative and find a way to modify it). Don't let the list of negatives misguide though...for $20 this little guy is hard to beat. Working in an engineering role I always look for improvements to be made, so I wanted to pass along some of the little 'gotchas' that I encountered. This will be running on my frag tank, as I am pretty content with the flow patterns I am getting in my display currently. If I am able to find a way to choke down the diffuser to blast the flow further, I may look to put one in the main display. Think a little bit about your own plumbing to see if its something you want to fiddle with (when DON'T we want to fiddle with our tanks, hehe), but also do not hesitate to pick one up and try it out. I have spent far more than $20 over the years on random little things that I think can make an improvement in my tanks, this is a pretty good buy. In fact I could see them easily charging 2x as much and it not stopping most people from grabbing them. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadams7 Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 I am still disappointed that there are no detailed videos of setup with connection to a return line, and mostly of the diffusers operating dry. When I get home in 4-5 days I will try to get some pictures and examples. Remind me if I forget! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted May 5, 2016 Author Share Posted May 5, 2016 Here is a little review from the one I got a little while back. Sorry for the late reply on this...work has been a bit nuts and I have been on the road a lot... Pluses - Only $20! It is a very solid, not cheap feeling piece of equipment that I don't feel bad about putting into my tank. I don't see any obvious flaws in manufacturing, nothing looks or feels like it will have a short life, though only time will tell (as with any piece of aquarium equipment). Great that someone finally put together a much cheaper, more ergonomically efficient (and much smaller) way to accomplish that of the big old sea swirls that have been around forever. I have opened up a sea swirl before, soooo much wasted space, and with so many more attention going to rimless tanks showing less and less equipment when possible, getting that big old cable box off of the tank is a big plus. And at a fraction of the cost! Pretty quiet. Noise wasn't an issue in my case, and I don't foresee it being one unless the unit hits the glass and rattles or something (which it hasn't done yet). I like the flow pattern, going slowly across one way and about twice as fast on the return. Good thinking. If only the flow could be angled/adjusted....(more on that below) Negatives/room for improvement: The cord seems a bit too short at only 5'. In order to add a proper drip loop, with both my display and frag tanks, that cord length is too short to have much extra for a loop in my case. Mount/suction cup and assembly in my application with bulkheads and hard plumbed returns is generally worthless. As we all know, suction cups and reef tanks are never good long term solutions (unless this is some new fancy suction cup that doesn't break down over time, not holding my breath there), but I would imagine with a little DIY you could rig up some magnets or something else. I would think a majority of people wouldn't even need the mount, but there may be some out there who can use it. In order to hard plumb this into my bulkhead fitting, it takes some work. My case may not be typical, so it entirely depends on each persons return plumbing. The unit needs some space in order to fit the elbow out, so in order to mount this relatively flush...kinda hard to accomplish. In the frag tank my pvc return comes up and over the overflow box, but fits too tight against the edge of the overflow to mount as close as I would like. So I need to add more length to the pvc return 'U' if you will, in order to mount this to it. Hard to explain this where it makes sense, when I get off the road for work I will snap a couple pictures that hopefully explain this better. As mentioned, the mount isn't really needed anyway if hard plumbed, which is the case for me. Also the mount/bracket has what I assume to be a stainless steel rod allowing the bracket to pivot. Works well in that regard, but we will see if rust is an issue long term (I am not sure if the rod is stainless or not). I guess time will tell on that for someone, because I am not using it, I wont be that guinea pig. Also, the unit slides out of the top of the bracket very easily. Not an issue I would imagine once installed, but its a PITA until that point. Again, not that big of a deal once installed, but worth mentioning. The biggest negative, and ultimately only one that means enough to me, is the wide diffuser. I have become spoiled with loc line, giving me the flexibility of adding on flow accelerators, or smaller ends to force and project flow a bit more than a normal wide opening allows. The wide birth on it just sort of spews the return water/flow out but doesn't reach nearly as far as it could/should. To me that half way defeats the purpose of rotating flow, if the flow cant rotate far enough to reach much. It would be a HUUUUUUUGE improvement if I could add my own PVC or loc line fittings onto the end of this. And for this reason, I wont be using this unit in my main display right now (unless I get creative and find a way to modify it). Don't let the list of negatives misguide though...for $20 this little guy is hard to beat. Working in an engineering role I always look for improvements to be made, so I wanted to pass along some of the little 'gotchas' that I encountered. This will be running on my frag tank, as I am pretty content with the flow patterns I am getting in my display currently. If I am able to find a way to choke down the diffuser to blast the flow further, I may look to put one in the main display. Think a little bit about your own plumbing to see if its something you want to fiddle with (when DON'T we want to fiddle with our tanks, hehe), but also do not hesitate to pick one up and try it out. I have spent far more than $20 over the years on random little things that I think can make an improvement in my tanks, this is a pretty good buy. In fact I could see them easily charging 2x as much and it not stopping most people from grabbing them. Excellent writeup! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gil&Fin Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 I agree with Jeremy--that was a great review and I appreciate the time you took to write it up. You might consider sending it to the manufacturer. It seems a fair assessment and might give them a few things to think about for the next generation. Great job! Sent from my SM-G928P using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paratore Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 Bumping up this old thread because I'm contemplating using these in my zoa/lps frag tanks as my only source of flow. I would run two return with maybe 5 of these guys. How have they preformed over time? Do you still like them? What are your thoughts...etc? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.