Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 48

Thread: WAV Placement

  1. #1
    Director, Customer Experience Paul's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Neptune Systems
    Posts
    224

    WAV Placement

    Hi,

    I've read forum posts here and there about WAVs flow pattern, intensity settings, and configuration. In reading these forum posts, it is sometimes touched upon, but its importance cannot be understated- WAV Placement- and I'd like to make some general comments about it:

    • The WAV pump has a significant amount of momentum associated with it and that momentum allows for the opportunity for different types of placement. In that, typically we think (and have been trained) that the best placement for power-heads is on sides of the tank—which for many power-heads is true.
    • Due to the momentum associated with the WAV flow, in my experience, the best location for placement is typically on the upper -middle corners of the back wall.
    • Adjust the WAV so it directs the flow slightly upward and turn the magnet so that it hits the front glass about 1/3 of the way from the side of the tank. Once the WAV's flow hits the front glass the flow will become chaotic and disperse throughout the tank. Typically this will create an excellent side to side flow pattern AND bottom to top.
    • As you are deflecting it off the front glass, you can now use the power associated with the WAV to get more effective flow and create a larger resonance if you so desire.
    • As you aren't using the side of tank for a power-head you have another unobstructed viewing area.
    • If it is on the back wall (which is black for most tanks) the WAV simply "disappears" in the background.




    This placement suggestion may not work for every setup but remember the WAV outer magnet is submersible and quite strong and there are many options available to you. Feel free to share in this thread what in your experience is most effective for your WAV power-head placement!

    Paul

  2. #2
    New User
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    Est
    Posts
    1
    I will be setting up my WAV starter kit this weekend and will definitely try this out. The quick start manual says to put them on the left and right side, but i'm glad I saw this post because i'm always game for trying something different.

  3. #3
    Regular Vistor
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Tumwater, WA
    Posts
    21
    Any chance we can start to get some folks posting pictures of their WAV placements? I think that would be awesome to get a visual to what other folks are doing including the Neptune team.

  4. #4
    Frequent Visitor
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    US, Central Time
    Posts
    61
    Quote Originally Posted by Paul View Post
    Hi,

    I've read forum posts here and there about WAVs flow pattern, intensity settings, and configuration. In reading these forum posts, it is sometimes touched upon, but its importance cannot be understated- WAV Placement- and I'd like to make some general comments about it:

    • The WAV pump has a significant amount of momentum associated with it and that momentum allows for the opportunity for different types of placement. In that, typically we think (and have been trained) that the best placement for power-heads is on sides of the tank—which for many power-heads is true.
    • Due to the momentum associated with the WAV flow, in my experience, the best location for placement is typically on the upper -middle corners of the back wall.
    • Adjust the WAV so it directs the flow slightly upward and turn the magnet so that it hits the front glass about 1/3 of the way from the side of the tank. Once the WAV's flow hits the front glass the flow will become chaotic and disperse throughout the tank. Typically this will create an excellent side to side flow pattern AND bottom to top.
    • As you are deflecting it off the front glass, you can now use the power associated with the WAV to get more effective flow and create a larger resonance if you so desire.
    • As you aren't using the side of tank for a power-head you have another unobstructed viewing area.
    • If it is on the back wall (which is black for most tanks) the WAV simply "disappears" in the background.




    This placement suggestion may not work for every setup but remember the WAV outer magnet is submersible and quite strong and there are many options available to you. Feel free to share in this thread what in your experience is most effective for your WAV power-head placement!

    Paul
    Pics or it didn't happen:P

  5. #5
    Frequent Contributor
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Santa Cruz, CA
    Posts
    1,842
    Fine...Here are my WAVs that are setup close to what Paul described...

    Dec_15.jpg
    Jon

  6. #6
    Frequent Visitor
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    US, Central Time
    Posts
    61
    Not sure how I would put it on mine?

  7. #7
    Regular Vistor
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Saint Louis, MO/CST
    Posts
    16
    image.jpegI think I'm still a lil off on my flow.

  8. #8
    New User
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    miami
    Posts
    7
    If you can sketch an illustration as to how you mean, that would be excellent.
    thanks

  9. #9
    Regular Vistor
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    NY
    Posts
    32
    If it's a on the back wall, even if the pumps are pointed up - won't all the sand get blown all over the place with reflection off of the glass?

  10. #10
    Frequent Contributor
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Santa Cruz, CA
    Posts
    1,842
    Quote Originally Posted by nvladik View Post
    If it's a on the back wall, even if the pumps are pointed up - won't all the sand get blown all over the place with reflection off of the glass?
    If you look at my picture in post 5 you can see a little sand indents in the corners of the tank, but that is as far down that the sand has gone and I have my WAVs use all the different profiles throughout the day.
    Jon

  11. #11
    Regular Vistor
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    NY
    Posts
    32
    Not horrible... will have to give this a try.

  12. #12
    Frequent Visitor
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    US, Central Time
    Posts
    61
    Quote Originally Posted by jonmos75 View Post
    If you look at my picture in post 5 you can see a little sand indents in the corners of the tank, but that is as far down that the sand has gone and I have my WAVs use all the different profiles throughout the day.
    I'm going to try this this weekend.. What % and profiles do you use throughout the day? What is best for mix reef (sps,lps)? My tank is usually capped out around 60% max power but my pulse I set to 100% to get a full up and down effect.

  13. #13
    Frequent Contributor
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Santa Cruz, CA
    Posts
    1,842
    Quote Originally Posted by expo703 View Post
    I'm going to try this this weekend.. What % and profiles do you use throughout the day? What is best for mix reef (sps,lps)? My tank is usually capped out around 60% max power but my pulse I set to 100% to get a full up and down effect.
    You can look at my signature and it will give you access to my reeftronics data, but I use and unorthodox way of programming as I use the season table and have setup profiles and VO in combination with the Fusion wizard, but my highest percentage is 45% for now in my 65G tank...

    Your have a larger tank so I would assume you will have a higher % then I do.

    Capture.PNG
    Capture1.PNG
    Capture2.PNG
    Capture3.PNG
    Jon

  14. #14
    Frequent Visitor
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    US, Central Time
    Posts
    61
    Interesting, so you do pulse,tres,mav,ricon, I pretty much do the same thing. My tank is 6 feet long hmm I wonder if i'm not getting enough flow to my corals my hammer/frogs/torch/duncan seem to be getting blasted if I go above 60%..

  15. #15
    Frequent Contributor
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Santa Cruz, CA
    Posts
    1,842
    If you can get the WAVs flow to not be direct on the corals then you can turn them up more then if the flow is directly in the path of corals...
    Jon

  16. #16
    Frequent Visitor
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    US, Central Time
    Posts
    61
    Quote Originally Posted by jonmos75 View Post
    If you can get the WAVs flow to not be direct on the corals then you can turn them up more then if the flow is directly in the path of corals...
    How is this placement? They are both on their sides aiming at the corners of the front glass.
    20151218_183929.jpg

  17. #17
    Regular Vistor
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    NY, United States
    Posts
    42
    I picked up a WAV kit during the Black Friday sale and I'm planning to install next week.
    I have an aqueon 120g with dual overflows. What is the best position to place these powerheads?
    I Google and found a picture of what the tank looks like. I would like to place them on the back wall, but the way the 2 overflows are positioned, I don't know if it makes sense.120gtank.jpg
    Currently I have 2 MP40s on opposite sides of the tank. I'm planning to take them out if not needed.

  18. #18
    Frequent Contributor
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Santa Cruz, CA
    Posts
    1,842
    You could put them on the overflow boxes with the magnet in the overflow box (One of mine is mounted this way) or put then in the center back wall between the two overflows and you could have one high and one low at 45 degree angle towards the side glass walls
    Jon

  19. #19
    Regular Vistor
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    NY, United States
    Posts
    42
    Quote Originally Posted by jonmos75 View Post
    You could put them on the overflow boxes with the magnet in the overflow box (One of mine is mounted this way) or put then in the center back wall between the two overflows and you could have one high and one low at 45 degree angle towards the side glass walls
    I didn't considered mounting them on the overflow boxes because the boxes stick out about 3-4 inches and adding the pump would make them stick out even further. Besides, one of the boxes is almost completely blocked with rocks and corals.

    But I do like the idea of placing both in the middle and angling them differently. They might not even be visible in that location. I will try this and see how it works.

  20. #20
    Classic User
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Alexandria, Virginia 22311
    Posts
    753
    ...and you might want to aim them slightly upward.

  21. #21
    Frequent Visitor
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    United States
    Posts
    97
    Old thread, but just to note two can be done on a 50 gallon 24"x24"x20" cube...

  22. #22
    Frequent Visitor
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Sweden
    Posts
    53
    Pictures?

  23. #23
    Classic User
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Alexandria, Virginia 22311
    Posts
    753
    An option for mounting them on the overflow chambers, if you have sufficient space inside the chambers for the magnetic backplates, is to mount the WAVs on the outward facing sides of the chambers, directing their flow toward the side panels of your aquarium to get a bank shot toward the front panel.

    Each "bounce", side panel then front panel, will do two things. The wavefront will suddenly broaden and streamlines within the flow pattern will be forced to interfere with each other as they bounce off the panel. This produces turbulence which is generally desireable.

    As the flow broadens and bounces back from the front panel toward the rear of the tank, the flows from the two WAVs should collide, mix and spoil each other in the vicinity of the middle of the tank. Experiment with the vertical positioning and the attitudes (2D angles) of each WAV. They probably should not be equal to each other positionally or angularly, horizontal or vertical angles. You can tweak the flow to work best with your reefscape. Pick up some sand and drop it into the WAV streams to see how the currents are behaving (old scuba divers trick).

    Do your experimental work for setting their attitudinal positions with both WAVs running at full speed. Then when you run them through various profiles you will have assured that they give you good flow patterns that will not blow out your reefscape, no surprises.

    Once you have your WAVs positioned and oriented the way you like them run each profile that you think you will use. Watch for resonant behavior that may develop in your water movement that could become damaging to your tank structurally, to your tank's contents or that may slop over the sides and cause spils.

    This process does not have to be accomplished all in one go. You can revisit your tweaking whenever you feel you need to until you think you finally got it right.Take notes along the way. A good way to document the orientation of your powerheads is to take three photos of each one; one looking straight down at it, one from the side and one from the front. Sometime later when you decide to muck around with your setup they will save you time and hassle.

    Good luck setting your powerheads to give you the currents, cross currents, and overall water movements you like best for your aqusrium.

  24. #24
    Frequent Visitor
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    United States
    Posts
    97
    Quote Originally Posted by PatrikD View Post
    Pictures?
    I"ll get a tank shot later when there is enough light to get a pic.

    SVVYKup.jpg

  25. #25
    Frequent Visitor
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Austin, Tx
    Posts
    188
    I'm getting my set tomorrow. I'd planned on putting them and the end wall on either side of the overflow box. Think it would work well if I put them on the angled sides of the box so they deflect off the glass? Tank is 6ft.

    tank.jpg

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. WAV Peninsula Placement Help/Schedule Advice
    By brandonrush1 in forum WAV Powerheads
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 02-01-2022, 16:27
  2. Placement of wav powerheads
    By Luciencote101 in forum WAV Powerheads
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 11-16-2020, 18:31
  3. Wav Placement Help!
    By brandonrush1 in forum WAV Powerheads
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 01-11-2019, 18:45
  4. Wav placement in a Redsea Reefer 250
    By Dixie in forum WAV Powerheads
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 11-16-2018, 06:08
  5. Yet another WAV question for placement and power.
    By TLeTourneau in forum WAV Powerheads
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 03-28-2018, 13:58

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •