Reef Discussion

[Adam_w]

So have a bit of time at work at the moment so thought I'd do a trawl and spend some money on fish-street...

Stumbled across this thing-----
http://www.fish-street.com/coral_box_auto_motion_rotation_system

Looks like a hanging arm you can attach powerheads to, just spins and turns the flow on them. Anyone have it?? Is it worth getting?

To me it seems like a cool concept and would help with random flow, a pulsing wave maker on there could cause some very odd flow patterns

 

[Mattres]

Looks like it would act the same as a Sea Sweep or Sea Swirl.

Both of which owners rave about for their flow characteristics.

 

[OSCAR85]

look great and i think its a great idea

 

[Franklin Dattein]

I've used a couple of DIY Sea Swirls long long time ago and I used to love the flow they created. At the time, it was the closest to a "wave maker" you could get.
They were great for SPS tanks, because they would allow very strong flow without damaging the colonies.
Also, as SPS grows against the water flow and the Sea Swirl could be hidden inside of a canopy, it was possible to direct the flow from the front glass, which promotes a forward facing growth pattern that was visually pleasant.

However, with the advance in technology, they became a bit bulky in comparison to variable speed pumps. They also required regular maintenance and added risk of leaks, because of the moving pipes.

If I had a large SPS dominated tank, with canopy to hide it, I would most certainly use it again.