Hydor Smartwave Unboxed

The new Hydor Smartwave that I ordered finally came in today and I just got it installed and running. Out of the box it looks like a very solid and well constructed unit, like everything Hydor makes. Don't be alarmed by the massive size of the instruction book as it's written in not 2 or 3 languages, but 11! The unit has three modes: feeding, synchronous, and alternating.



Post Smartwave (note the randomness in the Euphylias and the gorg.)

Feeding will turn all pumps off that are currently connected to the unit. Synchronous will turn all pumps on and off at the same time regardless of which channel they are on. And alternating will turn one channel on while turning the other channel off. Each channel will stay on or off for the same set amount of time. That's all set by a turn of the first dial. The second dial will set the time ranging from 5 sec to 6 hrs. This is how you set the on/off intervals. There are prelabeled time spans on the dial but once you start turning the knob you realize that there are more intervals than what is labeled, i.e. there are actually about 3 stops in between the 5 and 10 sec intervals. I have yet to time this stops to see if in fact they will be say 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10 sec if you catch my drift. Coming out of the unit is a plug for each channel. Hydor says that each channel can handle 100W max, with each of my Evo 750s running at 4-5W each, that's an astonishing 20-25 Evos on each channel, 40-50 total . In order to accomplish this you would have to get a splitter for each channel as there is only one plug.

A nice feature I discovered about this unit is it's timed feeding modes. The dial on the right has two slots with either one or two feeding symbols. Setting the time to one of these slots will automatically turn all of the pumps off either once or twice a day for a 5min period. The two feedings per day will be spaced 8hrs apart. Say for instance you start up the unit at 10am and have it set for two feedings per day, then at 10am the unit will turn off for 5min and then resume. Then again at 6pm the unit will turn off for another 5min. During these times you can have whatever set food dispenser you like turn on. The one thing that doesn't come in the box is a suction cup to attach the unit to the side of your tank. For me this was not a problem as I just mounted it with a single screw inside my stand.

Now for testing. I currently have two Evo 750s in my tank and plugged one into each channel. I set it to alternate with a 10 sec interval. The Smartwave performed just as expected. The two evos alternated being on and off for 5sec each. The one thing I noticed was the clicking sound each Evo made upon turning on or off. This has since died down some since first turning on the Smartwave. I'm hoping that it will go away completely upon further break in. To be honest, the only time I notice it is when I'm actually listening for it. It has helped to alternate my flow more so than before. Does it compare to a Vortech, that remains the question. I think that with some larger Evos and maybe one or two more, you can come pretty close. However, never have owned a Vortech I couldn't tell you for sure. But for the price, $70, I think it's a great wavemaker for someone on a budget. Here are some pictures and two videos, one before the Smartwave and one after. My return pump puts out some good flow so it's hard to notice the changes off hand and I'm not sure how well they'll show up in the videos or not but believe me, I can definitely see the difference. But I'm a stickler when it comes to my tank and notice any change.









Pre-Smartwave

Post Smartwave (note the randomness in the Euphylias and the gorg.)

 

Thanks for the write-up. It sounds like you are quite pleased with the wavemaker, thus far.

I can't view your videos, as you have them set to private.

 

Sorry about that, they should be fixed now. Let me know if you still can't see them.

 

Working now. Thanks.

 

Excellent review! thanks for posting. and your tank looks awesome man, good job.

 

I really like that rock on the top right area.

 

looks great i have 40 breeder with same pumps my reefkeeper lite wave maker has blown both front grills on my pumps seems like they hit hard when they turn on hydor relplaced them does there wave maker start pumps a little softer

 

It would appear so. I haven't noticed any problems yet. I will definitely update if it does happen.

Thanks. That will be my new SPS garden in the near future. You don't know how many rock combinations I tried to get it at the right level that I liked.

 

What is that big green coral on the left side of your tank it's very bright.

 

trachy coral - google image search aka, "open brain"