Hiding powerheads/wave making devices

J

jepuskar

New member
Anytime I see a beautiful looking tank, my eyes are quickly diverted to the ugly pump(s) that provide the necessary water movement.

I know this topic is nothing new and many have tried various methods including an article I found going back to 2004:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/8/tips

I haven't seen many products out there, the one that comes to mind though is the Tunze rock, you just need to hide the cord.

To make matters worse, I'm thinking of buying a rimless tank...which then takes the option away of using the canopy etc to do some of the hiding.

Seems like a give and take issue...keep the pumps visible and easily reached and they are much easier to maintain. Start to hide them or do some elaborate plumbing scheme and then maintenance/replacement just became much harder...and possibly a flood waiting to happen.

Anyone else care? :bounce1:

J
 
Tunze rocks work very well but so does a black powerhead against a black background. I have always been more concerned about correct placement more than aesthetics. I have a Tunze Rock and it does blend in well but it is also a bigger pain to deal with when it is time to maintain it.
 
i have some suggestions but i would never try to help anyone who would wish me to see the abomination that is your avatar.
 
I'm interested in suggestions too. It's one of the reasons I've been looking into using wavemakers without powerheads. (Not going to use a wavemaker only, I "looked" into it and decided it was a bad idea)
 
Disturbing avatars aside, This is a topic I've thought about often. I tend to like minimalist aquariums that present a slice of the ocean and nothing else. It certainly makes for an engineering challenge, but I like that.

Here's an idea I had for my rimless setup before I broke down and just got a vortech:

Outside, linear actuators raise and lower a thin magnetic bar that is almost as long as (and presses against) one end of the aquarium. On the inside of the tank, a similarly long and slender magnetic bar is encased in a plastic or rubber shell that gives it a "fin"-like profile (maybe 1.5 - 3in. wide). Using some clever Arduino programming, the amplitude and frequency of the wave-making fin on the inside could be tailored to produce many different wave profiles.

potential problem: the wave machine develops a harmonic feedback loop effect with the tank, and water starts sloshing out :O
 
Interesting that the best ideas are still those found in the 2004 article. Not sure what to make of that but we have not "progressed" much on solving the problem over the last eight years.
 
when i see a reef tank or anytank for that matter,the last thing i focus on or look at is the powerheads/pumps.my eyes are glued to the beautiful corals/animals.
to have to tear down a stocked reef because of a faulty/dirty/problematic pump is the last thing i want to do.
dont get me wrong a tank with no visible pumps does look neat but is it really worth the hassle if things go wrong?
to some maybe to others who knows,the the neat thing about reefs is there all diffrent in some way or another
 
Lavoisier said:
Interesting that the best ideas are still those found in the 2004 article. Not sure what to make of that but we have not "progressed" much on solving the problem over the last eight years.
Click to expand...

could totally be done using a gyre style setup....i have seen setups where they cut off the back side of the tank and have the pumps behind that wall,completly hidden from the front.they pump water from behind that wall creating a gyre-round a bout type water movement.

my tank pretty much does this no matter where i put the pumps so its a non issue for me.having pumps be in a static ''never move'' situation is that youll end up with detritous buildups pretty much no matter what some place in the tank,water flow cant be everywhere all the time.not to mention detritous has many different sizes n weights just like sand or anything else in the universe...:idea:
 
Other than using a closed loop with the bottom drilled in a rimless i only have one good idea to hide your water movers. It relies on using a canopy though, and in general rock formations that are islands and tall.

Take a ~2" PVC pipe that is longer than your tank is tall and fit some wings on it to mount powerheads. By each wing cut a large hole for access to the inside, and near the bottom to help leave the pipe open to circulation. Put a flange fitting on the bottom of the pipe for stability (could attach it with some silicone to the tank if you are worried of it moving). Mount powerheads on flanges, run cables through pipe to surface. Add rocks untill you have hidden the powerheads and pipe.
 
Off Topic, but for all you people worried about the avatar, do a quick youtube search on Schfifty Five, and prepare to become even more concerned - hillarious but exceptionally strange video.
 
I'm a fan of relying primarily on having two (or more) very powerful circulation pumps like the (mp40 etc.). Am I naive to think this is enough flow?

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
 
I feel the same way about powerheads. Best solution I could come up with was black loc-line on a black background, not perfect but pretty cost effective, and good random adjustable water movement (sea swirl).

9Plumbing.jpg


tank.jpg


161112-LHS.jpg
 
This is something I tried to tackle on my current project. I made the sides and back wall/overflow out of oystershell/perlite/cement with the intention of hiding the equiptment. I made this to hide a MP10 and a Seio prop pump 1000, but, I'd never owned either of these pumps (or any of the prop-type pumps) prior to my rock build, so, I really had no idea how to design this to work with these pumps.


I knew the mp10 had to be able to draw water from all sides so I made the mp10 hide with multiple flow tubes behind the rock that drew in water from top, bottom, and each side through holes in the rock. I'm pleased with how this one came out, but, one error was in making the rock wall too thick so that the front of the mp10 sits almost an inch inside the rock. This cuts down the side ways flow of the output...should have made it so the nose of the mp10 just sticks out of the rock so the flow is unimpeded by the rock. Cleaning this one is easy, just pull the wet side out the front hole...and no cords with the Vortechs - which is very nice!

If I could re-do this side of the tank, I would make the rock shallower around the mp10 and upgrade to a mp40. The mp10 is no way enough for a 37g alone. Two would work, or, maybe one mp40, or better, one mp40 and the mp10 opposite it. (there is a space in that wall too :lol2:)

The other side of the tank (right back corner) is made to hide both the 12x4x2 overflow and house the Seio prop 1000...which is a huge monster pump...not at all the petite little thing I thought I was buying, lol! It moves some water though! Anyway, it tucks in under the overflow and attaches with magnets to the side glass. The rock wall section on the right side wall has a vertical wall that hides the corner of the tank so the seio is well hidden. You should just see the nose of the pump showing in the cave. This side I'm not so happy with...just didn't know then what I know now! :debi: Anyway, I need to improve the flow to the back of the tank as my two pumps when in thier hides do not reach that back left side and detritus is building up there. If I were to re-do this, I would make the rightside hide higher up and in the middle of the right side wall. I just wanted to show there are ways to hide your equiptment if you are willing to get crafty and build around them...just plan better than I did... :mixed:
 

Attachments

Looks good, but you lose the visibility on the sides.
Bare bottom with a mp10 shooting up with a rock ring around it would be best methinks.
 
plus you can just remove the pumps for a tank picture, i believe that is what a lot of tank of the month people do
 
not what I meant, been around long enought to know Tunze products:beer:
I meant the actual powerhead could be molded into looking like a corraline covered piece of rock. Just saying :]
 
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