Gyre Generator vs. Wave Maker

[JCRove06]

I have a 40 gallon 4ft long tank whose power heads are on their last leg. I’m likely going to upgrade my tank to a larger 75-90 gallon custom all in one. (Need to get an AIO because I don’t have space for a traditional sump below the tank).

In the meantime I need to get new wave makers/power heads which will work well with the larger tank down the line.
While researching them I saw there are these Gyre Generators whose function and claim to leave no dead spots sounds really enticing.

Does anyone have any feedback on how they stack up? I was looking at getting 2 new powerheads (looked at current PH’s) or maybe this Grye option. I look forward to learning from you ladies and gentlemen yet again.

 

[Smite]

Personally I love gyres. I have the gyre xf150, I believe it was the first gyre released. Its still running with just basic cleanings. Its starting to make some noise but its gotta be about 3-4 years old now.

Pros:
Great flow
Can be placed very close to the waters surface allowing for strong indirect flow with minimal sand bed disturbance
Fairly quiet 1/2 power and down. Above that I can hear mine.
Comes with extra set of props and covers for cleanings

Cons:
My older version lacked controllability. I ended up paying for the icecap controller to control with my apex. Can't speak for the newer versions
Need regular cleanings or flow drops off drastically
Some of settings, like reverse flow, are gimmicks in my opinion. Not real use for it.
Not a fan of the dial for the controller. Some settings like pulse are hard to tell what adjustments you're making.
Claims of no dead spots still depend on your rock work. I keep high flow sps tanks and still end up with dead spots. Maybe in a rockless tank or something.


Overall I'd recommend the pump. Personally I like a combination of gyre with another style power head. Gives nice random flow patterns. BRS has a video about running gyres on opposing sides of the tank that looked like it gave great indirect flow patterns.

I have mp40s that I like as well. I want to try tunze sometime in the future. On the cheaper side I have a jebao wave maker in my frag tank that blew me away how much water it moves. Very little noise (can't hear it above the surface agitation). I'm thinking about giving them a try in my 180 when it gets here, but not as a lone pump do to failure issues.

Very nice tank by the way! Best of luck with the upgrade.

 

[JCRove06]

Great tips Smite. I’m always stoked to learn more from people like you that have tested different methods. I bought really cheap power heads. Sunsun 800 gph * 2. They lasted a year and were only $13 each. I’ll take a look at the Jebao also.
Thanks again bud

 

[Claus84]

I have a gyre xf150 and xf250 at opposite sides of my 4ft 90g hooked up to the maxspect advanced controller. I have them set to fight against each other throughout the day on various pulse settings which creates nice chaotic flow and then one on/one off over night so I get clockwise flow for a few hours followed by anti clockwise flow.
Both are great powerheads, the 150 is quieter than the newer 250, I think because they made some changes to the blade thickness to make them more robust. There is a third generation on the way soon so it might be worth holding off to see what these look like.

Overall I'm very happy with them, and actually own 5 of them in total, all of which will be going in my 300g which arrives next week.