Hydor Koralia Smart Wave

[MrCote]

Im looking for a pump controller to swich my powerheads back and forth every 10 seconds and I found the Hydor Koralia Smart wave. Its very affordable and seems perfect for what Im looking to do. I want to control 2 koralia evolution 750 GPH powerheads. Running the one on the right for 10 seconds, then that one shutting off and the one on the left running for 10 seconds and I want them to continually switch doing this.

Is this constant change in water movement good for corals? this 10 second left to right interval would be 24/7 never stopping or changing. And does anyone have any experience with one of these?

thanks

http://blog.marinedepot.com/2011/10/product-review-hydor-koralia-smartwave.html

 

[frank180reef]

it is good for the corals
I have had problems (and I think others too) pulsing Koralias.................

 

[mike030987]

The guy at my lfs said the reason behind the fact that koralias usually broke down when pulsating is because the magnet can turn either way when it's started and if it's turning the impeller the wrong way there is a stop mechanism that starts it going in the correct direction. This is ok if it is only done now and again but repetition breaks it down. Now the smart wave controller from what I was told doesn't fully stop the powerhead but slows it to almost a stop where it doesn't fully turn back on and mess with the mechanism at all. I am planning on getting the controller for the koralias I have for this reason.

 

[frank180reef]

hmm good luck
I might have the model wrong but werent the evolutions claim to fame a year ago that they could be put on timers/wavemakers? As I mentioned in an other post (and others also) , now my Korellas run backwards...................

 

[ava420]

mine ran backwards for a bit.. till i noticed it. i put some tiny O-rings on the shaft on the outer side of the impaler and they haven't ran backwards since! their also quieter when they flip on. not nearly as much clunk clunk... they are on an ACjr and flip back and forth every 20sec.. i had to try a bunch of different amounts of rings till i found what worked. i think i have 3 on my K3, 2 on my K4 and 1 on my K1 in the sump... works great for me so fair....

 

[MrCote]

I have two older model Koralias... they are the 800 gph and not the evolutions. Those clunk a lot almost every time I shut them off and turn them back on. The evolutions I guess arent supposed to do this but Ive never owned an evolution. But the older models of Koralias I would NEVER put on a controller like that. I didnt even like 12 hour intervals with them. I dont know of any other good quality powerheads that are affordable and good for controllers.

 

[tanksalot]

I just saw the Koralia controlers on Ebay for a good price both two way and four way. Four was around $350.

 

[banshee1]

I just saw the Koralia controlers on Ebay for a good price both two way and four way. Four was around $350.

For that price wouldn't it be worth it to spend the extra 100 bucks on an mp40?

 

[tanksalot]

The Koralia controller is programable and controls 4 powerheads of any size or type. The 350 is just for controller no power head.

 

[MrCote]

I found one for $70 on ebay. They can hold up to 32 koralia Evolution powerheads that are 1200 GPH. But there are only 2 outlets and each outlet can hold 16 of those powerheads. But you can only set them up to switch back and forth by two groups of powerheads. The one with 4 outlets makes 4 controllable groups I would imagine. But I wouldn't sent $350 on a controller. Ill stick with the $70 one

 

[Bobbofin]

Don't do it!!! All 120VAC pumps fail and spin in the wrong direction if put on wavemaker. Save your money and buy a Vortech or Tunze.

 

[MrCote]

but this controller is only made for 120VAC. It says do not use 12VAC. And It also seems like it was made to work with the koralia evolutions. Ive heard maxi jets are really good but they seem cheap and you get what you pay for. And the Tunze are also 120VAC arent they?

 

[cilyjr]

these new drivers are supposed to work for the evo pumps i have no experience with them. i also agree that when you turn powerheads on and off in a cycle that are not really made for you are going to ware it out faster.

the 2 and 4 way controllers are very different they are controllable more like a vortech (i use the 4 way one) in that you can pretty much make any pattern you want. they can be cycled from min to max and you can set a %. ie only bring up the pumps to 85% of max flow. i bought these because i did not have enough clearance for the dry side vortech when i set up. also i wanted flow from 4 places and i did not want to buy 4 vortechs at the time. the controller. also the pumps that are plugged in to the control computer are around 70 or 80 bucks to replace and a vortech wet side assembly is around 100

 

[mordibv]

but this controller is only made for 120VAC. It says do not use 12VAC. And It also seems like it was made to work with the koralia evolutions. Ive heard maxi jets are really good but they seem cheap and you get what you pay for. And the Tunze are also 120VAC arent they?

Depends on the Tunze . The AC powered units will not run a wavemaker . (soft start or otherwise ) . The DC powered tunze's are great and run on a tunze controller . Sicce Voyager's are a lil bulky but work fine on any off on pump controller ...RSPWM / The 2 gen evo's work fine on a RSPWM ...

 

[Bobbofin]

but this controller is only made for 120VAC. It says do not use 12VAC. And It also seems like it was made to work with the koralia evolutions. Ive heard maxi jets are really good but they seem cheap and you get what you pay for. And the Tunze are also 120VAC arent they?

Tunze and Vortechs are 24vdc. DC pumps always start the right direction but are more expensive. No need for stupid bumpers that wear out to "kick it" the right direction.

 

[MrCote]

Well Now Im concerned haha. I want 2 pumps that put out about 800 GPH. That would come out to almost $300 with the Tunze pumps. With the koralias I could do it for under $100 for the both of them.... money money money. If only I had more of it to spend on the reef tank

 

[mannysmusic]

Has anyone tried out the koralia smartwave controller? I was thinking of getting one, but don't want to do it if it's going to mess with the power heads.. Is it critical to have the power heads on a wave system? Wondering how much better coral will respond?