Tropheus and Wavemaker

4778 Views 7 Replies 4 Participants Last post by fmueller, Aug 17, 2018

fmueller

Discussion Starter · Aug 10, 2018

After a prolonged break from the fish hobby, I am setting up a new tank for tropheus again. The tank is 300cm x 60cm x 60cm - about 10' x 2' x 2'. It has a DIY filtration system, which does not provide much flow. I love to have a strong current in tropheus tanks. It helps with controlling aggression, the fish come from shallow shore areas that have a lot of wave movement, and they really seem to enjoy a current.

I am thinking about adding a wavemaker. I am in New Zealand and quite a few things available in the US are hard to come by here. Appliances that are exclusively for 120V don't work here at all. We have 240V. I am looking at the Jebao RW range which is available here. Does anybody have experience with these, and which one would you use for a tank my size, RW-4, RW-8, RW-15, or RW-20?

I will put it on one end of the tank to get the water circling around the tank - unless one of the wave functions turn out to be useful. I've only had power heads in the past. Never any of these newfangled shenanigans.

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Demonsoul

· #2 · Aug 14, 2018

use this thing

Jebao Jecod Marine Aquarium CP-25 CP-40 Cross Flow Wave Maker Circulation Pump

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fmueller

Discussion Starter · #3 · Aug 14, 2018

Thanks. Never seen it. I'll have to check it out.

What size tank are you using it in? What fish?

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Demonsoul

· #4 · Aug 15, 2018

I am not sure what power my friend is using. I guess it is the bigger one.
Using in a 300cm*90cm*60cm mbuna tank. It works really well he said.

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fmueller

Discussion Starter · #5 · Aug 15, 2018

Nice tank! I like the rock work.

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punman

· #6 · Aug 16, 2018

Any reason not to use a powerhead? That is what I have in my 90 gallon Tropheus tank. (Koralia 4 Powerhead).

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Steve C

· #7 · Aug 16, 2018

I have the Jebao RW8 in one of my tanks. I originally bought it for my 75g Bemba troph tank and then once I decided to get out of trophs I ended up putting it into my 6fft 240g hap cichlid tank. They are a very nice wavemaker for a pretty affordable price. The wave/pulse function is a nice feature to have, plus they have a night mode so when you turn the room lights out the light sensor on the wavemaker shuts the flow off so the fish can sleep without getting blown all around the tank. You can also adjust the strength of the flow as well which is nice. For your size tank I would suggest the biggest one they have RW20. My RW8 worked great in my 75g but only moves water in about half the length of my 6x2x30" 240g so going with the RW20 will give you much more flow through the whole tank plus you can always dial it down if it is too much for you. Trophs low playing in flow though so it will probably be a good size for your tank.

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fmueller

Discussion Starter · #8 · Aug 17, 2018

Thanks for the input. Nothing wrong with a powerhead. If you run these wavemakers at full blast in continuous mode, they are nothing but a powerhead. They just give you a few more options to play with, and I would like to check this out.

Before reading Steve C's comment, I had already ordered a OW25. OW is the newest series and just a couple of bucks more expensive than the RW series. So I thought I might as well get the newer model.

The OW25 replaces the RW8. We'll see if that thing has enough power for my purposes. I bought the biggest Jebao pump for my system, and my drainpipes simply could not handle the flow. I bought a much smaller pump, and have that running on minimum power. Didn't want to make the same mistake again. Maybe this time I underbought. :?

For what it's worth, here is some more info I compiled on the various generations of Jebao/Jecod wavemakers:

WP = Gen1 - reliability problems typical for a new product, very pinpointed flow, no wireless capability.
RW = Gen2 - wider flow, more control, better pump. Wireless capability means one pump in master mode can control several others in slave mode. Of course a power cable needs to run to every pump. This allows syncing of waves.
PP = Gen3 - improved bushing, less chance of seizing than RW. Same controllers, same flow pattern.
SW = Gen4 -smaller than previous generations, 0-10V external controller port added.
OW = Gen5 - quad-pole impeller for better, more reliable pump; 0-10V external controller port was removed and all electronics moved out of the pump into the controller, which might make the use of external, non-Jebao controllers (like APEX) difficult or impossible; head that can be rotated in all different directions within the mount (some users report it does not hold the direction well).

The general recommendation in the reef keeping community is to avoid early generations, especially WP, but also RW, due to reliability problems. Most likely these problems are caused by exposure to saltwater and built-up of coralline, and would not apply to freshwater use.

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