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

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.

Great, simple, cheap wave controller. Wife got it for me as a Christmas gift and I love it. As for the knocking and reverse flow on the pumps, with a couple tweaks it works like a charm. For me, I removed the little rubber button washer that connects to the little rod on pump cap, now its quiet and work perfectly. Hope this info helps others.

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 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.

Excllent pump controller, easy to setup and easy to use also nice looking product. The thing I love is it has switch for feeding mode to turn off both pump temporarily. Mode I is for switching between pump 1 and 2, mode II turn both pump on&off same time. If they make random mode for this product it will be superb. *I'd just like to complain Amazon about packaging. My original box of product was torn and product itself covered with dust like used item. I ordered new that made me not appreciated with it.*

After trying different timers and other switches to create a wave effect for my corals, this controller was a dream. So simple, great price, and zero problems. You may want to look into reviews on which powerheads to get though because you can run into issues with cheaper powerheads going in reverse or making noise when they start since this is like turning the power on and off to your pumps. Not the controllers fault though.

So I was a little disappointed purchasing two New Hydor Koralia 850 pumps with the Hydor Smartwave Controller. In speaking to Hydor tech support, he said all AC circulation pumps that Hydor sells make a clicking or popping sound as the impeller strikes the front of the housing at start-up because the pump starts in reverse and needs to spin forward. If you are using the Smartwave Controller, this means a popping sound from each connected pump as often as every few seconds, so, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.... You get the idea. This popping sound is very annoying so I asked the tech what could I do to resolve this concern. So in a long discussion with the Hydor tech, he recommended either extending the cycling of the Smartwave Controller so there will be more quiet time between each annoying pop sound, not acceptable to me, or upgrade to the Wavemaker 2 / Wavemaker 4 with a Koralia 12VDC pump. The tech responded that all their DC circulation pumps do not have the popping issue because DC always runs in the correct direction. Now let me add if you have a very loud tank or a tank in a loud area, you might not care about the popping sound, so you will enjoy the benefit of these pumps with the Smartwave Controller. All in all, I'll replace the Koralia 850 pumps and Smartwave Controller with the Wavemaker - I don't mind paying for quality especially if using a little better technology will keep us from being irritated by popping noises. I will add that Hydor support was very quick to pickup the phone and Hydor was very helpful and pleasant.

We use this with 2 Hydor Koralia Evolution 1150 water jets. This controller has 3 settings - 1) Feed Mode 2) Async Mode (alternate jets) 3) Sync Mode (both jets on) Along with a knob that sets the timers. We have this in a 90 gallon coral tank and so far it's working great. This item allows the currents to flow back and forth at a specified interval. Overall I would highly recommend this item.

Works great! Keeps the flow changing in my reef tank all the time. The feed mode is my favorite feature tho. No more unplugging and plugging back in pumps. 👍

Good product.

Excelente producto, funciona correctamente!

Excelente producto para control de bombas.

This product was for african cichlid tank ,got it with 2 hydor circulating pumps and the play in the wave every time is goes on,the love it,looking fowered to getting one for my coming tank