Pump Placement: Ultimately, pump placement plays a big role in where the pumps can effectively move water in your display.You need to recreate these conditions in your aquarium to produce the most ideal environment and move corals to different areas of your aquascape based on flow needs. Soft corals and LPS are often found deeper or in areas where currents are less turbulent. For example, many SPS corals grow on the tops of rocks and in shallow reefs where currents are strong and turbulent. There are varying degrees of preference here but for the most part, we categorize them as high, medium, or low flow corals which is a direct result of where they are naturally found. Corals: The type of coral matters because SPS corals require much stronger currents than your LPS and soft corals.Sometimes rocks will demand that you place your powerheads in different locations or simply add more powerheads to move the water effectively. Rocks will most certainly deflect water flow and change how that flow moves inside your display. Aquascape: Try to imagine how the flow pattern will complement your aquascape.Wide and conical flow patterns are more suited for short aquariums or situations where distance really isn't a concern. Laminar and narrow streams of flow are best used in long aquariums because they travel farther. Tank Dimensions: This is super important because different flow patterns are best suited for different situations.Ultimately, you need to move the entire volume of water inside your display as efficiently as possible without blasting your corals with constant streams of strong flow. There are a few factors that come into play when it comes time to choose the best powerhead. A narrow, much more focused flow travels farther but doesn't spread out as much. Just as it sounds, wide flow patterns are spread out over a larger area but typically don't travel as far in the aquarium. Gyre pumps are best known for creating a flat, laminar flow. Laminar flow is flat, like a sheet of paper that travels farther in the aquarium. External propeller-style pumps create these conical flow patterns. Conical vs Laminar FlowĪ conical flow pattern is a cone-shaped pattern of flow that covers a wide area but doesn't travel long distances. Your tank dimensions and aquascape are the biggest dictators over what type of flow patterns you need. Understanding the different flow patterns is important so you can choose pumps that will best provide the flow you're looking for. When choosing a wavemaker, the pump design is most important because of the flow patterns it is capable of creating. Some of these pumps can even be controlled using your smartphone and have some incredible features like operating on a schedule, feed holds, preset flow patterns, and temperature alerts. You can control the pump speed and vary the flow patterns using integrated controllers. DC powerheads use a DC-powered motor and have now dominated the market because of the available control.You cannot control the pump speed or vary the flow pattern outside of using a classic timer to turn the pumps on and off. AC powerheads are controlled by an AC-powered motor which is intended for continuous duty.Regardless of design, all wavemakers fall into two categories. Gyre-style pumps are even more unique in design and create a completely different flow pattern. External propeller-type pumps that have an open pump cover with an exposed propeller instead of an impeller have proven to be much more effective for creating natural water movement throughout our entire display. Modern wavemakers have taken on a completely different design than your classic submersible pump and there are new designs popping up all the time. While we are still learning about the incredible importance of water flow, these are the main reasons for providing flow inside an aquarium above and beyond the flow from your filtration. The term "wavemaker" was coined because these submersible powerheads can be controlled to create wave-like water movement and varied currents which is the biggest difference over a typical water pump that is best used to create a constant and concentrated stream of water flow. Sometimes called a powerhead, a wavemaker is a special type of water pump used to create internal flow inside your display aquarium. When it comes to making the best pump choice for your aquarium, it's important to understand the differences and what features matter most. While each of these flow pumps is equally important, they are very different in design and function. A return pump is used to push water through the filtration system and powerheads or "wavemakers" are used inside the display aquarium to create natural-like currents. In a saltwater aquarium, water flow is achieved two ways.
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