Powerhead placement in a cube

[Floyd-]

I have a JBJ 45 cube and im having the hardest time getting my powerheads placed right. I was told to place one on the left rear and front right but it makes the whole tank a whirlpool with soft corals blowing in one direction. From there I placed them across from each other on the front and they just cancel out and the corals dont move at all. I have two of the Jebao SOW3 heads set at maybe 50% with wave pulse set with slow intervals. Should I just use one head for such a small tank? I'm at a loss for what to do. Everything I try doesnt work and I keep placing them in the whirlpool effect config.
See picture of where they are at the moment.

 

[WVNed]

Place them across from each other and use the mode where they are synced but run at opposite times.
Then you will get back and forth.
Also only one will be running at any one time so you dont blast your tank

 

[Floyd-]

Place them across from each other and use the mode where they are synced but run at opposite times.
Then you will get back and forth.
Also only one will be running at any one time so you dont blast your tank

Ill try. The issue is that when they are in master/slave mode it messes with the reefbreeder lights on my other tank. Maybe I can place the controllers in a foil lined box to limit the crosstalk?

 

[WVNed]

Ill try. The issue is that when they are in master/slave mode it messes with the reefbreeder lights on my other tank. Maybe I can place the controllers in a foil lined box to limit the crosstalk?

says it will work
Can aluminum foil be used as a Faraday cage?

Yes, it is possible to use common aluminum foil as a Faraday cage so long as it has no holes in it, has an insulating layer between its surface and the item to be protected

Perhaps 2 boxes that nest and wrap the outside of the inner one with the foil?
I would also get as much of the cords as possible inside the box.

I dont know, never had this problem with my Reefbreeder lights.

 

[Tchung23]

Following

 

[Floyd-]

I dont know, never had this problem with my Reefbreeder lights.

My other tank is about 15-20 feet away in another room but when I place these in master/slave mode my reefbreeder lights (I have 2) get out of sync and do some odd things. I was told that the SOW3 pumps are not UL certified and have been known to cause interference with electronics.
Ill try tonight placing them facing each other in master/slave and see how the flow is and worst case if it messes with the other lights ill make a cage for these.

 

[WVNed]

I use a 48 inch Photon V2 and have used Jebao wavemakers in the past that were synced in pairs but had no problems.
I am not doubting you, I am just not sure how to fix it. I would try the box you mentioned as the best solution.
But there are some rules to making a faraday cage work. I am not sure about getting the wires into the box without making it not work. I would google making one. The biggest problem may be that the interfering signals may be broadcast by the wires going to and from the Jebao controller.

A second option

Point the 2 wavemakers at each other but set them to vary different pulse times and dont sync them.
One makes a slowly changing wave in the tank and the other a fast one. You get random flow from the two interfering and crashing into each other.

The technical jargon
If you have 2 wave trains of different frequencies interacting over time the peak and troughs will go in and out of phase.
So sometimes they will add and be more powerful and sometimes cancel each other out.