Sea Swirls - how reliable these days?

[Greg Hiller]

I never owned one, but I always thought they were a cool technology. I'd heard about problems with them when they first came out years ago.

Who has one out there, how long has it been running, and what type of problems have you had? Whould you purchase again if you had to do it over?

I'm considering a 3/4" one on a 120 gallon system I'm helping to set up. It would probably be for a Gen-X Mak4 pump, pumping from the sump up about 4 feet.

 

[nunofs]

No experience with the SeaSwirls, but I noticed there's a similar product now, may be worth looking into: http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...Product_Code=FC-WV-B&Category_Code=Wavemaking

Nuno

 

[Syris]

I bought a 3/4" SW 2nd hand from a BRS member 2 yrs ago for my 75g using a Mag 9.5 for retun pump. Never had any problems. I now run it on my 125g using a MAK4 pump (return is split) and still love it.
If I wasnt spending so much money on other aspects of this hobby right now I would probably buy a second 3/4" SW

 

[Jill & Brian]

The wavy sea looks cool

 

[Moe_K]

No experience with the SeaSwirls, but I noticed there's a similar product now, may be worth looking into: http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...Product_Code=FC-WV-B&Category_Code=Wavemaking

Nuno

Dang, $250 each?! Ouch.

 

[PenMan]

All ready asked them about group buy. Waiting for price and numbers. Also trying to get one for the auction.

 

[nunofs]

The wavy sea looks cool

More info, videos, etc here: http://wavysea.com

Moe: and the "plus" version (up tp 3600gph) costs $300... not cheap, but it sure looks promising.

Nuno

 

[Yaktop]

I've owned 2 3/4's now for 2 years. one bound up and I had to replace the linkage for $20 bucks I think. other than that no issues.

 

[dblount]

I have a 1" running on a pan world 100pxx I have it almost 2 years now and I already had it replaced completely at 10 months (free of charge) and it looks like this one wont last much longer. I know my pump is oversized for this unit but it feed 2 reactors and a sump after going through a chiller so i probably only send a 1000gph to the sea swirl. I find the big problem is it sits so low in the tank that if you kill the pump to feed the siphon wont brake unless you drill a good size hole which causes air bubbles. If I was buying one today I would probably buy the wavy sea or just spend the money on another Tunze stream.Hope this helps

 

[sdesi2005]

To me, any moving parts exposed to light in the tank, ie. the output of the sea swirl, is going to be subject to calcium buildup really quickly, and just seems like potential for a lot of problems.

I myself have been really looking at getting one of these recently, but for the money, I think I'll be going with the OM instead, you get a lot more possibilities with it. Not to mention, the opportunity for much more erratic water movement.

Would anyone be interested in a group buy on these? I'll try to set one up if anyone is interested?

 

[Greg Hiller]

Thanks to all. Don't you guys know though that you are all suppose to give the same answer so my head doesn't explode, something like....oh, they're great, or oh, they always break.

 

[Behrmon]

oh, they're great!

 

[nunofs]

oh, they always break

 

[besl]

Dang, $250 each?! Ouch.
Moe: and the "plus" version (up tp 3600gph) costs $300... not cheap, but it sure looks promising.

... and let's not forget the price of the pump...

Per the WavtSea website: "While WavySea works with both the MaxiJet powerheads and the other external water pumps, we recommend using an external pump."