Wave maker for 90cm/3ft tank

[April_ht]

So I have a 90cm riverscape/stream type tank currently in the works, with plans to house Hillstream loaches. Dimensions are only 90x22x21 cm, so a small tank that holds 40l but with a decent footprint. I have a Seachem tidal 55 running, but the flow just isn’t strong enough so I’m looking to buy a wave maker to create more of a current for the hillstreams. I want to keep it as budget-friendly as possible, so I’m looking at the following 3 options currently:

SunSun JVP 100
Sicce Voyager Nano 1000
Fluval Sea CP1

Can anyone recommend any of the above and advise if they’ll be adequate for a tank this size? Thank you!

 

[Magnum Man]

I’m not a huge fan of wave makers… if you decide to do one, make sure by design, and placement, it’ll be safe for the fish… my thriving hillstream tank ( a 55 gallon ) uses a tidal 75 on each end, and 24 inches of buried air bars in the center of the tank, along the back wall, and my hillstream’s are almost always in the “bubble waterfall” I have lucky bamboo growing emergent along the back of the tank, and in the bubbles the fish seem to love this type of habitat…

btw… hillstream’s are good climbers, they climb up the output of the hang on filters, when I clean them, there is almost always at least one fish, in the hob filters…

 

[MattW]

I use a very cost-effective internal filter powerhead for my loaches. I simply took away the media housing and glued a tube to the powerhead impeller cap. Drilled loads of small holes and used a small sponge to ensure nothing got trapped. Even 2-3mm holes can get snails trapped. Believe me, I once had 4 dead ramshorn bodies sucked into the impeller. Not a nice sight.

3rd pic is my old version. I simply cut the intake tube in half to make it small enough to direct flow on the stones for the loaches.
Had the powerhead running for over 2 years now and no issues. Just clean the sponge and the impeller often.