Sea swirls....love them or hate them?

[rovster]

Doing some planning for down the road. Was thinking anywhere from 2-6 sea swirls, 2-4 along the back and 2 in the front corners. I've talked to buddies that hate them and some that swear by them. This would be on a 7ft 300 gal display. Opinions appreciated. God bad and indifferent. Would've run on 1-2 returns, either Reeflo's or Vectras. Thanks!

 

[Devildogreef]

I'm interested also as I am in the begging stages of a 450 gallon build also so hope someone chimes in with some info.

 

[Scffvariable]

Sea swirls....love them or hate them?

I am a huge fan. Currently I have two on my 80g frag system. I still run a couple ecotech mp pumps, but the combination is just incredible for random flow.

My new 180g display will have 2 1" models on the back and 2 3/4" ones in the two front corners.

Mine have always been completely silent, no maintenance and only draws like 4-5 watts!

My only gripe would be cost. I think they are a bit overpriced, but if you watch the used market you can generally get s pretty good deal.

 

[karsco]

Love them, use to use a 3/4" on my 58G and 150G cube. They seem to be a forgotten technology, in the 90's & early 2000's you use to see them a lot more. I plan on buying the new 1.5" for 300G build fed from my return pump. You see them more on the Old School reefers tanks these days, me included. :twitch:

 

[saf1]

Love them, use to use a 3/4" on my 58G and 150G cube. They seem to be a forgotten technology, in the 90's & early 2000's you use to see them a lot more. I plan on buying the new 1.5" for 300G build fed from my return pump. You see them more on the Old School reefers tanks these days, me included. :twitch:

Forgotten mainly because of the adjustable power heads. Hate, only because some of the early motors would break in time. They are good products. I had one on my 100 gallon. Will be using them again on my 240 that is in planning. If you have a overflow/sump it means you are going to have a return so they are a good choice.

Proper planning with them and the returns one could almost negate any additional power heads in the tank. Which isn't a bad thing.

 

[albano]

I have 3 on my 8' 450g DT as returns...bought them used ~10yrs ago...they have been running continuously without problems since then

 

[tom obrecht]

I have used them in the past and I liked them. You might look into the sea sweeps. They use power heads instead and might be an option. I used the sea swirls for years on past tanks and worked as advertised but like mentioned above do need maintenance occasionally on motors and linkage. Perhaps they improved the design I don't know. In a future build I giving the sea sweeps a try.

 

[rovster]

I thought about sea sweeps as well for the front corners but didn't mention them to keep the discussion streamlined. Either way I've seen them in action and they seem great to me but I know a couple of people that don't like them. I figured I'd ask.

The way I see it the cost and bulkiness are the only cons assuming they work well. I guess on a rimless tank they'd look goofy but my next tank will have a canopy so not an issue.

I was thinking 2-6 of them with an MP60 on each end and that should be good. Maybe some Tunzes along the back. Thanks. I was most interested in those that didnt like them.

 

[Mike Hart]

I have a 520 gallon tank.....9 ft tank....just plumbed 4 returns externally to the 4 corners of my tank...added 2 MP 40 and 2 MP 60 on back wall....and added 2 maxspect gyres at each end..tank has great controlled flow....
..did not like the big bulky swirls look...

 

[newtank]

+1 on the sea swirl. Looking to buy a couple of 1.5" if anyone has any for sale, PM's welcomed.

 

[NEPTHEA]

Ivow by seaswirls had them on my 360 they work great

 

[LefkoNJ]

Having seen how some people have them setup, I think its a mix. Gyre and Vortechs really reduce the need, but if you have the opportunity to design around your Sea swirl then you would probably love it.

 

[skip0211]

I have 3 1" SS on my 265.. Had them for years .. Great product.

 

[karimwassef]

you can also design your own in a big enough tank.

Here's what I'm planning

<iframe src="https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/embed.html?mid=u8749b957-86f5-4ad8-85cf-db34153c53d6&width=580&height=326" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" width="580" height="326" allowfullscreen></iframe>

If you have sketchup, you can download the model and see the detail

It rotates around the horizontal axis instead of the vertical, but it also slides for more coverage.

 

[slief]

I've been using Seaswirls for nearly 20 years now. I swear by them. They are damn near bullet proof and provide greal alternating or and even chaotic flow at the waters surface. I have 2 of them at one end of my 480 gallon display. I've had this set of 1" SeaSwirls on my tank for about 16 years now and only had them serviced once in that time period. This wasn't even because one of them died as they were both still working fine. I keep a spare on hand and decided to rotate them out one at a time and send them to Seaswirl for an update as a preventative measure. This was only a couple years back too. Probably one of the most reliable devices ever made for our tanks and well worth their cost IMO.

 

[sfsuphysics]

2 big complaints with SeaSwirls/Sweeps is that if you have a large Eurobrace they stick fairly far out into the tank (less of an issue with the swirls since it's a very small profile, however with a sweep it can be a bit distracting to have a fat Tunze style of pump hanging out into the tank.

And of course price, considering what they are and what they do, they seem really expensive.

 

[Electrobes]

I just installed 1" SS on my 100G Half Cylinder, and I love it!

 

[albano]

complaints with SeaSwirls...
And of course price, considering what they are and what they do, they seem really expensive.

I thought the same when I bought them 10 yrs ago...now I consider them a much better 'investment' than the Vortechs that don't last as long!

 

[rovster]

2 big complaints with SeaSwirls/Sweeps is that if you have a large Eurobrace they stick fairly far out into the tank (less of an issue with the swirls since it's a very small profile, however with a sweep it can be a bit distracting to have a fat Tunze style of pump hanging out into the tank.

And of course price, considering what they are and what they do, they seem really expensive.

I was planning on having the eurobrace drilled to accommodate for that, I just have to figure out how the secure them. Anyone do this?

 

[albano]

I was planning on having the eurobrace drilled to accommodate for that, I just have to figure out how the secure them. Anyone do this?

Pretty sure that they come with clamps to secure them to the top

I have acrylic tanks, so drilling was no problem, but the sea swirls are not 'fastened' to the top, they are 'hard plumbed' with PVC pipe (with removable ball valves) and have never moved