Flow Is King
When you analyze the elements of marine aquarium keeping, there are a few aspects that are critically important, and the top of this list is likely temperature, and right there with it is salinity. After these two checkboxes there might be some discussion as to what the most important things is to supply for a healthy aquarium, but pH has got to be up there and depending on what type of animals you are keeping in said tank, perhaps light and then other water chemistry concerns. The element that gets talked about the least but is perhaps just as important as the big two, is flow.
Creating random, turbulent, but also gentle and non-laminar flow is a vital component in marine aquarium success and with some fish and invertebrates, is absolutely critical! (Laminar flow is constant and in one direction, which is bad for almost everything.) Most marine aquariums should have flow that is at least ten times the volume of the tank in gallons per hour. So, if you have a 100-gallon tank, all the flow devices and return flow volume should add up the 1000 gph (or more)!
This can sound like a daunting challenge, but truthfully, if you make good technology choices, and apply them well, gentle flow to your entire aquarium is easily achieved without taking up too much real estate in your tank! To this end, we proudly offer a line of Tropical Marine Centre wavemakers that we also use in house in some of our flow critical holding tanks. TMC's Reef Flow Wavemakers offer excellent flow distribution and feature simple manual control by utilizing three pre-set wave patterns. These wave patterns are by nature diffuse, natural and randomized in a way that few others are. Further, they feature unparalleled water movement in such a small unit! Reef Flow Wavemakers represent some of the best engineering available in any water movement device. Across the line, all of the units utilize safe, low voltage 24v direct current power. The powerful external magnet that these units utilize to attach means they can be used on any aquarium that has glass or plexiglass less than 0.6 inches thick, which is pretty much every tank under the sun less than 200 gallons, and some that are more! These wavemakers all take advantage of specialist heat resistant materials and a self-cooling architecture that channels water through the motor to ensure optimum operation temperature. In addition, they are engineered to supply a constant supply of water over their impellers which is a vital bit of tech that aids in the prevention of calcium and detritus build up! Each unit comes with three interchangeable “nozzles” which allows the home aquarist a lot of different options when customizing the desired flow in just about any display!
It is this ability to adjust the flow both with programming and nozzles that makes wavemakers superior to just about all other flow generating devices. This means more flow gets to more places and it does it in a way that is gentle. TMC Reef Flow Wavemakers get tons more oxygen into the water, they keep more detritus suspended so that it can be removed by filtration, and they offer a fresh supply of water to any of the invertebrates that are stuck in one place (the term for this is sessile).
We offer all our retail partners the full line of Reef Flow Wavemakers, and you can find them at quality Local Fish Stores and select online vendors throughout North America. The smallest of these units is the Reef Flow 2.0 1000 Nano, offering a stunning 260 gph with an internal profile just a hair over 1.5 inches thick! This incredibly compact design makes it perfect for desktop, pico, nano and jar aquariums. It can also be used as a supplemental flow device for eliminating low flow areas on larger aquariums!
Next up size wise is the Reef Flow 2.0 2000 Nano, which shares the same minuscule profile as the 1000, (1.5 inches thick) but offers a robust 528 gallons per hour! It is perfect for tanks from 55 to 100 gallons depending on your needs and like its little brother can also be used in very large displays for killing no-flow zones.
The Reef Flow 2.0 4000 is another super compact, high flow device for the home aquarium. It has a diameter of less than two inches and is not quite two and a quarter inch tall (profile inside the tank), while still delivering a wallop of precisely controllable, diffuse flow. The 1056 gallons per hour it can push doesn't even seem possible from such a small device! All of a sudden, that 1000 gallons of turbulent flow doesn't seem that hard to achieve anymore!
Got a bigger tank? Or are you a full flow fan that needs MORE POWER? The Reef Flow 2.0 8000 is a serious flow machine for hobbyists that require broad swaths of turbulent current. Pushing 2113 gallons per hour this bad boy is still only two and a half inches thick and a smidge more than two and a quarter inch around! This is big flow in a negligible footprint. Got 100 gallons of pure SPS coral? Maybe 200 gallons of LPS coral? Ask your LFS about the 8000.
There is another option, but it's not for the weak of heart or the small of aquarium. Maybe you should just head to your LFS now and ask about one of the other models. But maybe, you're that kind of reef tank owner? Well, if you have the tank for it, and the livestock for it, the Reef Flow 2.0 16000 is the pinnacle of gentle, yet turbulent water flow machines. You'll unpackage this wavemaker, and you'll see its tiny, less than three-inch diameter. You'll notice its hardly noticeable 3.1-inch profile and you'll scoff at the idea that it could possibly push 4226 gallons per hour, but we are here to tell you this is indeed the situation. If your desire for flow just can't be quenched by lesser machines, this is the one for you.
Flow is king. Once the basics of your aquarium are dialed in, there is nothing more important than how much flow you have, and how that flow gets delivered. It keeps tanks clean, oxygenated and can even help level out pH instability! We're stoked to be able to offer you this line of equipment and know you're going to love what you get once they are in your tank. Now here today we're just talking about their applications for reef and other saltwater aquariums, but they can also be used in freshwater tanks that require abundant flow. If you've been looking for the final flow solution, you've found it. Head to your LFS and ask them about the Reef Flow line of Wavemakers from Tropical Marine Centre and Quality Marine today!