wavemaker or power head how many?

[b4tn]

All, I think I have just about all the parts I need for a basic setup except for something for DT flow. I am a little confused with stream pumps, power heads, wavemakers, and recommended flow. I was all about the vortech until I saw the price!! Are these things made of gold lol. 10 years ago I just slapped in some maxijet powerheads and called it a day but it seams things have changed a bit. So bottom line, My 75DT has a 1500GPH overflow and my return pump is Sicce 3.0 thats rated at 714gph. The return is about 4.5' high so I am guessing somewhere in the 450 gph ballpark.

So my confusion first is in recommended flow. 10x 75 is 750 gph. My return does not meet that so do I get a power head/stream pump/wavemaker that makes up the difference of 200 gph minimum for inside the DT?

Second, is the drain/return flow recommendation separate from in tank flow? and if that's the case how is flow calculated? Do I get one pump or two for one on each side?

Third, What exactly is the benefit of a stream pump over a power head if your not controlling it?

Last, I am over my budget for the time. What would be the recommended in tank flow setup for a successful mixed reef at the lowest price? Or the lowest priced upgradeable option.

 

[Amoo]

Sorry I don't have a ton more time to specifically answer all of your questions, as I have the baby today and I smell a poopy-butt which needs my attention, YAY.....

On a budget in a 4' tank I would start with 1 Jaebo RW8 at one end. Next month add a second to the other end.

 

[b4tn]

Sorry I don't have a ton more time to specifically answer all of your questions, as I have the baby today and I smell a poopy-butt which needs my attention, YAY.....

On a budget in a 4' tank I would start with 1 Jaebo RW8 at one end. Next month add a second to the other end.

Oh man do I remember those days lol. Thanks though, that's much more affordable than a vortech. I am guessing because the flow rate is so much lower.

 

[Amoo]

Yeah, fear not. He's 2 and a half and our one and only (unless nature trumps science) so hopefully only another 6 months or so.

Basically the reason Jaebos are so cheap is because they are Chinese imports. They've only been out for a couple of years so there really is no way to tell how long they last. You also basically can't find parts for them, they are considered 100% disposable. The RW series has only about a year old, so again, hard to tell on longevity. You'll get many different stories on both sides of the spectrum on em. The bottom line is, they move water in a decent flow pattern, they have a controller allowing you to vary the flow and they're cheap. You basically buy them knowing you can buy a new one every two years for the next decade and still not hit the price of a Vortech. You've been around the forums long enough to hear somebody say "You get what you pay for in this hobby" at least a dozen times by now. Jaebo is no exception to that, the only difference to that is the price gap between the two make more then a good many reefers, myself included, decide to put their funds elsewhere.

Now to your other questions, and I'm going to kind of give you a combo answer for all of them. It really depends a lot on what you want in your tank, and that is what makes wavemakers like Jaebo, Tunze, Vortech, Gyre so popular. Softies want little flow. Hard corals want to have a fire hose taken to them. Nems are different depending on the kind. Basically anything that can give you command of the flow is more versatile in your tank. You can have 4 of the same pump in your tank, all running at a different setting all set to accomplish a different task. You get a regular powerhead and you get one speed, 1 flow pattern, no variation.

HTH.

 

[tigerdragon]

Agreed with sump flow prolly 5-10x per hour flow through sump is good. Flow in tank is diff from sump softies and lps prolly 10x dt vol, sps like 20-50x per hour hope this helps