Will a wave maker put additional stress on my tank

H

HM3105

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Here is a question for everyone, I've recently turned a couple of my flow pumps to pulse mode. The result was that I not have water moving from side to side that causing each side to increase or decrease in water height by 1/2". Any cause for concern? I've never used a wave pump in this fashion.....yeah I know........
 
As long as you've watched the standing wave stabilize and it is not going to climb beyond the rim of the tank, I don't think there's anything to worry about. I've had tanks do this and as long as it doesn't change the flow in the water column around my coral, I think it doesn't really add much. I prefer a pulsing wavemaker, pointed upward, causing surface agitation... Would only be concerned if it's getting close to the rim of the tank and if polyps aren't extending as normal.It does give the appearance that there is a lot of flow in the tank seeing the water shift back and forth! Some like this more than others. I see no harm.
 
Lots of places I go diving in the ocean have a surge, so it is a pretty natural thing. I would just keep watching everything and make sure nothing looks unhappy.
 
People seems to be taking your questions in regards to your coral, but I read it as talking about the tank itself.  Which did you mean?I would guess that it is nothing on your seams as there isn't really a whole lot of force behind those waves that you see and it is not a constant blast.  As for the life in the tank, I agree with Chris... the currents and forces in the wild are crazy and coral thrives in it!
 
Thanks! Yeah I am mostly concerned with my tank seams. I just keep thinking all of that force sloshing around in the tank and seeing my seams come apart..
 
I'm curious about the surging on the seams, but have concluded a few things:1) While there are the standard lawyer clauses wrapped around this the companies selling wavemakers have pretty extreme examples of waves at their show displays.2) There are LOTS of people out there doing this, and I don't know of any associated failures.3) Whatever the peak, it isn't enough energy to make the wave top the tank, so this strikes me as less force than pressure if the tank were filled an inch higher (yes I'm aware fatigue doesn't work that way, but see #2).As for the "natural" part, a slow rocking motion is calming, whereas high frequency can be jarring to some.  The frequency/wavelength that this causes in our tanks is much different than what is experienced with a surge in the ocean.  I'm not convinced it is the same thing, but it seems to work just fine even if the analogy isn't great.
 
Well all of my flow was just gyre-ish. I have 4 PP8's in my little box (48x30x18). I had them all pointing in one direction which was interesting and had the entire water column moving, it was just all in the same direction and some of my SPS started growing with the flow. I took 2 of the PP8's and doubled the flow so the water column is still moving, then I took the other 2 and put them on pulse mode and pointed the towards the front so it breaks up the main flow from the other two pumps for just a moment. The result is the corals sway more instead of just all being blown in the same direction.Anyway, back to the seam question. Well I feel better. Even at the highest setting I'm only getting a 1/2" wave. So it sounds like most people agree don't worry about it. 
 
I have a blue plastic sheet on the back of my Oceanic.  You can see a few places where it is no longer firmly against the glass.  I placed a gyre pump on it and after a couple of weeks I definitely noticed that more of the sheet is de-laminated.
 
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