Hydor Koralia Wavemaker Basic Controller, Dual Pump, 12V, DC

I love this controller. It's an easy, affordable way to add variation in your pump circulation. I highly recommend it.The controller is easy to use: just plug your underwater fans into it. It has two attached outlets that you plug your fans into. You can control up to 100 watts on each channel. I use it to control two fans on opposite sides of my tank to create laminar flow. One advantage of using alternating fans is that your corals aren't always being blown in one direction, which could affect appearance negatively for some coral species, and your fish also get a bit of variety in their routine.You can either use the fans together, one at a time alternating, or you can pause them for feedings, maintenance, etc. If you select the alternating mode, you can control how often they switch from every 5 seconds up to every 6 hours (there are 9 settings in that range total). I don't recommend the frequent change settings if you are around your tank yet because Hydor fans make a bit of noise when they start up, and I hear it even through a pane of glass and .25" acrylic. It is a bit annoying to hear that every 5 or 10 seconds, but every hour or so, I don't even notice.You can even set the pump to automatically pause once or twice a day so that an automatic feeder can feed them and still have calm waters. If you choose one feeding pause, it will be at the same time each day as whenever you program the unit. If you choose two, the first one will be at the time you program the unit and the second will be at a set time that you do not program.Overall, this is an affordable, versatile controller. I highly recommend it to others.

Flawless! Perfect so far.I use this controller to operate two Hydor Nano 240 wave pumps. The tank is 40 gallons of freshwater. Other equipment on the tank are as follows: Sunsun UV sterilizer, Fluval U2 internal filter, and Eheim Surface Skimmer. The controller alternates the operation of the two pumps. It has been operating steadily and reliably for almost two months. The Nano 240 wave pumps operate silently. I have not experienced any issues.This controller is very reliable and very easy to set up. You can operate the wave pumps without a controller. I suspect most people who just want to add circulation to their tank can simply purchase a wave pump and leave it running all the time. I bought this controller because I was considering the purchase of Buffalo Head Cichlids. This species come from a fast moving river environment. I bought the controller in order to have better control of the two pumps. You can set it up so that all of the pumps are running together. You can also set it up so that the pumps take turns. I have mine set to alternate in order to change the direction of the current every fifteen minutes.The controller itself is perfect and it will work with any wave pump. There is a switch on top of the unit to turn the system off. There is also a feature that allows you to temporarily turn off the pumps during feeding time.Highly recommended. This is an excellent product from Hydor.

I like the smart wave, but I just wish it had a wee bit more functionality/controllability.There are three distinct modes, a fish feeding mode, a "I" mode and a "II" mode.The fish feeding mode basically cuts off both pumps.The "I" mode puts the pumps into opposition, so when one is on, the other is off. There are two lights at the bottom that show this. I think this mode works well and allows opposition for up to 6 hours at a time based on how you dial it in.The "II" mode has both pumps going at once, but here's what I don't like. They both shut down as well. So you can get them both going together for up to 6 hours (same dial as used in mode "I"), but when they both turn off, you lose all flow.What would be nice would be an additional mode, a mode "III" that fired up both, and then went into an opposition mode. This would allow for you to stir up detritus with both pumps, but then shift over to a more normal 'tidal' flow for the remainder of the day.Yes, I do have a tank controller, a DA Reef Keeper Lite and in theory I could program that to control these pumps. However, the DA RKL only has a 4 outlet power strip and those are already spoken for, so I would have to pickup another power bar at $100 and then do some rewiring.I picked up the smart wave for $40, and I'll be using it in mode "I" for the most part.For the pluses, it is really easy to setup and use. No learning curve associated, no difficulties with programming whatsoever. Once upon a time I had a Neptune Apex...a great controller IF you programmed it correctly, just too painful to play with overall and I wasn't a fan.So for simplicity, this pump controller gets high marks. With a minor tweak it could be amazing.

I have never owned a smart wave controller of any king before, besides this one so i cant compare it to anything else. The hydor smart wave is amazing i have no dead spots in my tank what so ever, water movement is unreal. It is simple to use and the fish feeding feature is a great add to this pump controller. The movement in my 55gallon fish/reef is unreal and my corals are much happier then they were. I have had the pump controller in my tank for a little over 2weeks now and have nothing bad to say about it. as a new member to the reef hobby i haven't had much time to experiment with anything else. Over all the pump controller is by far the best investment i have made for my tank everything is loving the water movement and i would highly recommend the hydor smart wave pump controller to any reef head like me.

If you have 2 sets of pumps, this will make a huge difference in rotating their use.