Is a wave maker necessary?
- Thread starter Irecruitfish
- Start date
I have an fx4 an fx6 and a wave maker all on my 150 gallon tank. I would not say that all that is necessary. It just depends on your fish. I have never kept Arowana as or knife fish so I don’t know if they like high flow or not my bichir doesn’t seem to care. If the fx6 is working now I would just stick with that.
I have never used wavemakers. They might be good, but they are not necessary.
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Wave maker not necessary I've kept all three species without using one.
Good to know and my wallet thanks everyone here! I was about to buy one haha.
The silver arowana would appreciate a wavemaker, the knife fish and bichirs; not so much.
It depends on what you want out of it. I have a wavemaker that was gifted to me that I didn't really need for flow, but I set it up on a timer, it kicks on once a day for an hour or 2, can't remember what i set it at, but it blows across the bootom and stirs up any debris stuck in the corners or beside decor, gets it back into the water column so the filter can pull more out. But it's more flow than I would want constantly running with my stock.
To determine whether or not any fish "needs" a wave maker.
Although ........."Need" is a bit of a relative term
Look a videos, or photos that show what the natural habitat your particular fish lives in.
Does water move in a linear fashion? Is the fish riverine, or does it prefer sedate pools?
If they come from environs that look like these......they probably "need" a wave maker
I keep fish that come from habitats similar to the ones above, so beside the flow from my sump.
I add wave makers half way down the side of thank where flow starts to ebb..
But if the fish you keep come from waters like the two shots below, the term "need" may be an overstatement.
Then again, if their natural waters are similar to the moderate flow below....
A small wave maker that adds extra oxygenation may also be advantageous.
And can come in handy if a filter gets plugged, and slows, or fails, it can take up the slack until the main unit gets fixed of replaced
Although ........."Need" is a bit of a relative term
Look a videos, or photos that show what the natural habitat your particular fish lives in.
Does water move in a linear fashion? Is the fish riverine, or does it prefer sedate pools?
If they come from environs that look like these......they probably "need" a wave maker
I keep fish that come from habitats similar to the ones above, so beside the flow from my sump.
I add wave makers half way down the side of thank where flow starts to ebb..
But if the fish you keep come from waters like the two shots below, the term "need" may be an overstatement.
Then again, if their natural waters are similar to the moderate flow below....
A small wave maker that adds extra oxygenation may also be advantageous.
And can come in handy if a filter gets plugged, and slows, or fails, it can take up the slack until the main unit gets fixed of replaced
I have never used them but you could always stick an Aquaclear 110 on there. I'm a big fan of the canister and HOB filter combo. an FX6 and an AC110 would be perfect for a 210g
I was thinking about doing that but what the arowana and bichirs who jump I didn't want to risk it
