Fluval 13.5 Wavemaker Placement

Eric Rap · Apr 21, 2020

Hey everyone!

Was wondering if you might be able to provide some insight on my tank. I recently purchased a Jebao SW-2 for my tank to provide some flow behind my rockscape and towards the back of the tank. My idea was that i would have higher flow in the back of the tank and lower flow towards the front. I also upgraded the return pump to provide better movement throughout the whole tank.

Is where I have my wavemaker at the back an acceptable position or will it provide problems in the future. It moved a bit of the sand behind the rock but seems to have settled now with not moving many particles. I also slightly tilted it upwards hoping it will keep algae or unwanted particles from settling at the back of the rocks as well.

Thank you for any advice or comments!

Daniel@R2R · May 21, 2020

Hi! What size tank is that? Can we get a pic of the whole thing? If possible, 2 pumps will be better for flow circulation

najer · May 21, 2020

13.5 G.
I have mine (Sicce 1000) pointing across toward the opposite front corner, across the flow of the returns to break things up a bit.
I want an SW-2 for mine.

Eric Rap · May 21, 2020

Daniel@R2R said:
Hi! What size tank is that? Can we get a pic of the whole thing? If possible, 2 pumps will be better for flow circulation

Thanks for the reply! My tank is a fluval 13.5 evo (13.5g tank). I have attached some updated pictures and as of now have taken out the wavemaker (i didn't know where best to put it) You can see where my return pump is and i have upgraded t he stock return pump to the siccee 1.0- return pump.

Any advice would be helpful and if it comes down to me not needing it, i'm ok with that also. The tank is a peninsula style so i really didn't want the wavemaker to be places on any of the sides or in a very visible area.

Eric Rap · May 21, 2020

najer said:
13.5 G.
I have mine (Sicce 1000) pointing across toward the opposite front corner, across the flow of the returns to break things up a bit.
I want an SW-2 for mine.

I thought about that was just worried it would be a problem for the overflow if i'm pushing the water away from it?

najer · May 21, 2020

Eric Rap said:
I thought about that was just worried it would be a problem for the overflow if i'm pushing the water away from it?

Think of a pool shot off two cushions and remember you have two returns with nearly limitless aim!

mikereefing · May 21, 2020

I also have a fluval 13.5 but I'm using the jebao ow-10 wavemaker and the sicce return as well. I have mine positioned like this mostly because I run mostly euphylias and they don't like too much flow. By running mine in the back, the current gets broken up as the flow turns each corner. It's not "hidden" per say but I rarely see my pump because it blends in with my black background.

Eric Rap · May 21, 2020

mikereefing said:
I also have a fluval 13.5 but I'm using the jebao ow-10 wavemaker and the sicce return as well. I have mine positioned like this mostly because I run mostly euphylias and they don't like too much flow. By running mine in the back, the current gets broken up as the flow turns each corner. It's not "hidden" per say but I rarely see my pump because it blends in with my black background.

Beautiful tank! Unfortunately i don't have the luxury of a black background as you can see my tank you can see right through the sides of it. I originally had it in the back (near where my frogspawns/hammer are pointing sideways towards the return nozzles but that was causing the one back right corner to have little to no sand, no matter how i placed it. Any placement suggestions for my specific setup? let me know if more pictures would help! Thanks again

mikereefing · May 21, 2020

Hmm it is a bit more challenging since you have the peninsula style. I also had problems with sand blowing off one corner as well in the past and didn't want to change wavemakers. I ended up angling the wavemaker all the way up and having it at a higher position so that the water "breaks" the surface of the water. When I pointed the wavemaker and ultimately having the flow higher up, I stopped having issues with the sand. At the same time, I had the wavemaker also point slightly into rock work so there would be a little turbulence. Lastly I turned down the flow (now I'm using 3 or 4 dots on Else mode) and everything is dandy now.

Easy Reefing · May 21, 2020

I have a fluval evo as well as the same wave maker . Here’s where I put mine

Eric Rap · May 21, 2020

Easy Reefing said:
I have a fluval evo as well as the same wave maker . Here’s where I put mine

that's exactly what i was thinking of doing with mine! thank you

Easy Reefing · May 21, 2020

Eric Rap said:
that's exactly what i was thinking of doing with mine! thank you

No problem, Goodluck !

GibsonGuitars · May 22, 2020

Figured I would check this post out since I have the same tank and went through a few placements as well to see if I could glean some insight. Ultimately ended with the Same as above, I placed the wavemaker (current USA) under the return facing slightly up. I tried several locations, had sand kicking issues. I figured this location would boost the return flow and create a circular flow leading back to the intake.

ZipAdeeZoa · May 22, 2020

My Evo is Bare bottom and I went pretty over kill with the flow (mp10 quiet drive) mainly because it was really important to me to have battery backup. Honestly I'm still not convinced I've found the best place for it- I definitely found the worse though! I had it pushing water towards the back chambers but because of the pumps strength even on the lowest setting the water was bouncing off the back panel and nothing was going down the overflow. I have since moved it so that its in the middle of the tank blowing through the main arch. I'll get a photo and post it tomorrow! I also upgraded the stock pump to the sicce 0.5 syncra silent and have a vivid aquatics random flow generator on the output.