Neptune Systems - WAV Pump

The WAV moves water. Plain and simple. More than 4000 gallons per hour of it! Better yet, for the same amount of flow, the WAV is smaller, uses less power, and is quieter than the most popular powerhead pumps on the market.

• Extreme flow (~4000+ gph)
• Compact size (less total mass compared to nearly all similar flow pumps)
• Directional flow (pivots with 40 degree range of motion and can be rotated – great for rear wall use)
• Safe, 24V DC operation
• Low power consumption – <35W at the wall
• Multiple operational modes (random flow modes, mirror, inverse, etc.)
• Easy to clean (pump automatically shuts off when removed from water)
• Incredibly Quiet (possibly the quietest driver on the market)
• Magnetic mount works on up to 1? glass (in a class by itself)
• Easy installation with just a single skinny wire for all power and control (1LINK interface makes it a snap!)

Unfortunately, some of the leading water moving pumps on the market only send flow in a direction perpendicular to the glass. This really limits an aquarists options and, in some cases, obstructs the view. Having a powerhead that can be pointed in all directions is nothing new, but the hardware to make that happen usually takes up too much space and is unsightly. The WAV answers both of these problems with a new take on an articulating mount.Through research we found that most customers usually never need to point their pump at extreme angles – usually 20 degrees one direction or another is enough. This is the approach we took with the WAV. With its innovative, low-profile magnetic mount, you get up 40 degree range of motion on the pivot and then the entire pump rotates 360 degrees. This provides so many more options than flow that coming straight out from the side or back of the aquarium. Imagine mounting the WAV on the back side glass or even the back wall, set an angle, and kicking the flow off the side or front glass. You get the flow where you need it and you stop blocking the beautiful side views of your aquarium!

We know that everyone likes their flow a little bit different.  So Apex Fusion controls the WAV with a multitude of patterned flow and random settings. You can even set one or more pumps to mirror or be the inverse of another.  The easy to use Apex Fusion scheduling graph makes it a snap to set up huge waves in the morning, stir up detritus in the afternoon, and slow the flow at night. The flow in your aquarium can be as unique as your favorite coral!

This is a first for this product segment. From within Apex Fusion, the details of operation of every WAV on your tank can be observed. You will be able to see the mode, the RPM, the temperature range, and the current status of the pump. Apex Fusion takes this one step further. It monitors your pump parameters, and then based on its AI it takes corrective action such as stopping the pump and sending alerts to you by text or email when the pump is malfunctioning.

Snails and other obstructions are usually a powerhead’s worst enemy – tearing it to pieces. Sometimes just knocking a pump off of the glass will not only kick up sand all over the tank, but it can also destroy the pump, or worse your favorite corals. Most pumps cannot even tell when they are out of water – cavitating furiously when doing a simple water change – or spinning themselves to ruin. The WAV has advanced sensors that dramatically reduce these events from occurring. Even taking the pump out of water for a cleaning does not require it to be powered down – it senses the condition and turns off!

Wires and cables are the enemy. Even so-called “wireless” devices on our aquariums have far too many cables and power supplies that clutter up our tank stands. The 1LINK system overhauls that mess of cabling by providing a way to connect up to five devices onto one power supply and make them controllable with your Apex. There are three 1LINK source connections that can provide power and communication to WAV pumps, a D?S, or future 1LINK devices. Additionally there are two 24V DC switched connections for future add-ons or DIY Solutions.

The WAV is the first of a line of aquarium products from Neptune Systems that will use a completely new interface. While many in the aquarium world continue to embrace wireless technologies for interconnectivity, we have decided to go the other direction – a wire.

Wireless connectivity from your smartphone or tablet to your Apex (or other controller) is completely logical – and we embrace that. However, wireless used for the interconnecting of devices within the confines of common aquariums (that are mostly less than 6? long) is not only unnecessary, but it reduces reliability. Our philosophy is that when distances are measured in a few feet, wireless is a solution looking for a problem. And ironically, wireless really does not save wires. You still need to use a wire to get power to the devices anyway. And let’s not forget configuration – wireless devices require syncing, endless button presses and arcane steps to get them to connect up – hopefully with you and not your neighbor. Finally for all this “benefit”, you as the consumer get the added cost of this wireless technology that must be baked into the price of every device you buy.

So after much study of the problem, our answer is 1LINK. It is called 1LINK because there is one power supply, one module (for up to three 1LINK devices), and a one-click-connection of a wire that carries not only the power for the device, but two-way communication from it to your Apex.  Setup is simply click and go. Less wires, less configuration headaches, and best of all, less cost to you as a consumer!

When it comes to any powerhead pump, the smaller the wire, the better – the easier it is to hide. This is true both inside as well as outside the aquarium. Some pumps put the wire and motor on the outside of the aquarium and claim that this has a better aesthetic – but there still is a wire.  Many other manufacturers’ cables have a much larger diameter, some nearly 3x the mass.

Some of today’s most popular water moving pumps are anything but quiet. In fact, the ramping and pulsing sounds can even resonate into solid floors and be heard in other rooms.  We have tested many pumps in our lab and the WAV has one of the quietest driver systems on the market today.

The key to keeping a great aquarium is understanding what is going on inside, observing when things go well or badly, and then trying to understand the relationship between what you did, what you measured, and what happened.For years we have used things like Temperature, pH, ORP, Salinity, etc. to understand the best working parameters for our individual aquariums. We all know there is no magic formula but we need this data to make decisions. We even look at the data to compare to past months or to compare to a fellow aquarist.

Most recently a new measurement has been getting more and more traction in the reefkeeping world – PAR (measurement of lighting intensity). With PAR we are able to look back to see how the light affected our aquariums, how it is lit now, and how we compare to our friends lighting set up. We even have a product to measure and log this with your APEX – the PMK – PAR Monitoring Kit.

But what about Flow? Well known and successful aquarists worldwide often say that two of the key components to a great reef aquarium are lighting and flow.  Until now there has not been a real-time method to understand the relative output of all the flow making devices (powerheads/wavemakers) in your aquarium.

This understanding is here with the WAV and Apex Fusion. Since the WAV constantly communicates with Apex Fusion, it knows exactly how much flow it is producing and logs a new measurement standard we simply call FLO.  On top of this, all the WAVs in your aquarium are aggregated giving you an overall FLO for your aquarium. Now you use this number to compare to others that use the WAV in their aquarium or simply compare to your own history of FLO in your aquarium.

Please note a single WAV pump requires the purchase of the 1LINK Module