Nathan Hill takes a look at an easy, affordable and tidy unit to control water movement in aquaria.
The Koralia Smartwave pump controller from Hydor has one cable in and two three-pin sockets dangling beneath it. Simply plug the aquarium pumps into the sockets, twiddle some knobs and you’re all set.
You’re not confined to just two pumps with this device either and using extension cables you can have as many as you like, providing that their power consumption doesn’t peak above a combined 100w per output channel.
Setting the unit couldn’t be any more intuitive. You have a switch on top to simply turn on and off. The left-hand knob determines whether you want both pumps surging on and off in tandem, or if you want them to alternate.
The feeding option is a pleasant feature, giving you the ability to turn off both pumps while you feed the fish in undisturbed current.
This can also be programmed to occur at intervals and a little cunning co-operative timing from an automatic feeder could see the aquarist move one step closer to the fully-automated fish tank.
The right-hand knob controls the interval time anywhere from five-second switches right up to six-hour stretches.
Lighting on the controller indicates what’s on and off and, all in, the device is probably the simplest to understand around.
I have some reservations about how waterproof the controlling box actually is, but seeing as it’s not supposed to be submerged, this is perhaps just my paranoia rearing its head.
It’s certainly very tidy and would not look out of place in the cupboard of an orderly marine buff’s tank, alongside other shiny pieces of kit and pipework.
This unit has been made specifically to use with Koralia range of pumps in mind, although it will work with others.
The only downsides to using something like this with elderly powerheads will be their reluctance to fire up every time and their ghastly noises and protestations when they do so. The device will still work, however. It’ll just be loud and inconsistent!
Price: £69.99 RRP
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