Starting to put together a 180, need some advice

[Legonch]

I started ordering parts for my 180 with all the black friday sales going on. One item I havent ordered yet are wave makers. Im looking for some advice on some real world experience with different models. Ecotech is nice, but way pricey. Currently im looking at some Tunze 6105s, Jebao rw-15s, and ecodrifts. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Huskyguy]

if you have Apex Neptune, I would go with the WAV pumps. I have them and love it.

 

[Legonch]

I do have an apex, interesting you mentioned the wav pumps, I was looking at them for a bit, but my concern was these were gen 1 pumps. How long have you had them, whats the good and bads about them?

 

[jda123]

If you buy the Tunze, you will buy them for life (or a long time). I have 10+ year old units running as well as the day that they were new. Ecodrift are good - a good substitute for the Chinese crap and you help support a local company.

I am also a wavebox guy - I won't run a tank without one anymore. You can buy one or make your own. They are different than a wave setting on a flow pump. I use a box and then some flow pumps - Tunze on the 240 and an Ecodrift on the 120.

 

[MuralReef]

I have Jebao, Tunze, and Ecotech. The Jebao pumps don't seem as strong as they used to be. My Ecotech pumps are louder then I'd like them to be. I would go with the Tunze pumps like Doug said. They will last a long time and are quiet and hook up easily to an APEX.

 

[TheRealChrisBrown]

No love for the Gyre?.....

 

[Legonch]

Not sure on the gyre Chris. Does it make a true wave like having a pump on each end of the tank would?

 

[Sctip]

I have a gyre 150 in my frag tank 4'x2'x12" and it has a lot of flow. I added a jebao to help with the randomness of the flow.

I have two gyre 130 in my standard 65 gallon and up almost all the way. I traded these out with two MP40s and honestly was happier with the Ecotech.

I have one gyre 130 on my bowfront 40"x18"x18" and will add another pump.

While the gyres do move a ton of water I'm not sure I am happy with the pattern, if that makes sense. The 65 has decent flow just not enough for my tastes. Although I'm not knocking maxspect for their products it does seem to break a lot compared to ecotech in the long run they are a much better product which saves us money in the long run.

I have no experience with tunze except the ATO which is a high quality product. I hope this helped a little.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

 

[Legonch]

Great information guys. So far it sounds like tunze is a winner. I think Jebao just came out with a sw series. I think you can control them directly from an apex. Im looking into that as well. Anybody running tunze or Jebaos pumps running them off apexs? Are the hard to program? Do you take out the included controllers that come with the pumps?

 

[TheRealChrisBrown]

Apparently the Gyre can wave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpVndhPV5GA

 

[SynDen]

Honestly Tunze and jebeos arent even in the same category. Ya they have some nice options but their pumps last a year and then die, so if you go with that be prepared to replace them yearly. I dont know about their newest models but previous models you had to make your own wire to connect to apex.
Honestly you are better off to go with a quality pump. You will save money in the end if you do, since you wont have to replace them all the time.

 

[Huskyguy]

I do have an apex, interesting you mentioned the wav pumps, I was looking at them for a bit, but my concern was these were gen 1 pumps. How long have you had them, whats the good and bads about them?

I had mine for 7 months and love them better than the MP60 that I have. you can control them so easy by the Fusion.
also one important thing. next month Apex is going to have its own ATO sensor that could be linked to the LINK 1 that the WAV uses.