SCWD and unfiltered water
 

Hi all,
I am just redoing my tank and would like to pick up a SCWD to run on a closed loop with my blueline HD20 pump. I have noticed that the manufacturer recomends using filtered water but does anyone have any experience pumping unfiltered water through it? I plan on soaking it in a vinigar bath every few months to keep it clean.
Also, anyone know where the best place to get one is? I've heard that Wai's carries them.
Thanks,

- Chad

i run mine on a closed loop with zero mechanical filtration, no problems as of yet.

j&l sells them for $54.99 which is really cheap compared to other places.

Invigor,

Great, thanks for the tip. How long has yours been running? How do you like the flow it gives you?

- Chad

They are not so easy to clean.

I ran mine without filtration for about 6months without cleaning off of a MAG 7. It never clogged up, but it was quite loud (sounded like grinding gears when it switched sides). It got quite annoying once I moved my tank to my room.

I have been running mine on a closed loop for over a year and a half with no problems. Mine is completely silent. I run mine on a Mag 7 but wish I had put it on a Mag 9.

PS.. I have only cleaned it once. :redface:

Dave

I run mine on a mag12 :) it grinds a little but only when it switches to the right side. it's been running for about a month. i've got 2 returns on each side of the device...that was a mistake :P I thought 1200g/hr thru 2 would be ok...killed my surface turbulence.

Thanks for your advise guys. I am anticipating that the pump will put about 300 gph through the scwd (after losses). Is this too little flow, or is it ok?

- Chad

I'm running a mag950 unfiltered through my scwd for the past 4-5 months. I'd guess that I'm getting around 600-700gph through my outputs... maybe a bit more. The outputs switch once every 7 seconds or so. This is on top of the two MJ powerheads I have running in the tank. I got some pretty decent random flow in my tank... and it got better when I stuck on two ocean motion revolutions on there. Needless to say, I got a pretty high turnover rate on my 30 gallon :mrgreen:

-Richer

I have to say, that I have dealt with 3 scwd's. I thought they were great and cheap way to give some more random flow in the tank.

I made a newb mistake with one, put it in place where I couldnt take it out to clean it. It failed in 5 months.

The second one was on my friends tank. I think he had it running for 9 months. When we moved his tank, the scwd was only allowing water out 1 side. So it was no longer working. I dont think he ever cleaned it either.

I had a second scwd on my tank to replace the first. It also failed within 4 -5 months. I even TRIED to clean it every month or so. But like I said, its not easy to clean. I was only able to rinse it out with vinegar and water...

Anyways, just my experiences with the product. Perhaps my T4 pump was too powerful for it. I dunno.