So I really can't spend a ton on a d/c wavemaker but I am tired of trying to get flow correct with ac pumps. I know jebao is a chinese brand but they are in my price range. I am worried about stray current, flow reversal, or or failing in a short period. Can someone with experience with these pumps add their input? I am also looking for other recommendations.
I’ll tell you a story about my RedSea ReefWave25. I bought it in June 2020, not yet 2 years old. When I first got it, it was difficult to connect to my WiFi and not because the instructions were difficult, it just didn’t want to connect. Every time my router or worse yet, my modem went down, I struggled to reconnect the RedSea ReefWave25 to the WiFi. Finally, this past month, it lost connection to the Internet and for the life of me, I haven’t been able to reconnect. I contacted RedSea and they have been very gracious. They contacted me back after two inquiries over email and we went through the reset process several times and couldn’t get the controller to reset itself and connect to the Internet. I have a mesh satellite system in my house and only my iPhone, iPad, a speaker and my other aquarium controllers are connected to the WiFi. I have a 1,300 sq ft house so, there is no overload whatsoever. The woman that I spoke with at RedSea offered to send me a new Controller, which was cool. What is not cool is that my animals have been without a strong enough current for several weeks while I have been trying to diagnose this problem. The manual operation of the controller doesn’t work very well, at all. I love RedSea and I love their aquariums, but this ReefWave25 has been problematic from the beginning. The RedSea ReefWave25 sells for $280 and I would be hesitant to purchase another one based upon my experience which is really sad and unfortunate because the RedSea company has so much going on, you would think that they would be able to pull off making a wavemaker for a 50 gallon tank and be consistent…don’t you think?
I sort of keep giving these ‘wishy-washy’ posts about what you do is what you decide that you want or what you need, ultimately. I mean, I can’t decide for anyone about how they choose their equipment, I can only tell you about my experience. Maybe I got a lemon? Don’t know. I am not happy about it, for sure. I love my RedSea aquarium. It is awesome! I love RedSea salt and their other products like AB+. I’m just not crazy about the ReefWave25 at this point. Having said all that…The RedSea ReefWave25 is relatively easy to set up (if it easily connects to your WiFi), it is easily installed, it has 5 different waves and 5 different intensities going both directions, it is a ‘bar’ so, it is not a power head and doesn’t need a partner to create the gyro effect. It is a great wavemaker for all intents and purposes. I, personally have had trouble getting it to connect to the Internet. Maybe others have a different experience. This has been mine. Best of luck to you in your search. This is an amazing forum for asking these questions. Listen to what folks have to say…they absolutely know what they are talking about. Cheers JL