Powerhead help: Discussion

[kingalee]

Being relatively new to the hobby, I have quite a few powerheads from Amazon (not too expensive) that I'm looking to make use of. This may be more of a DIY; they run at a constant speed at all times. I'm not wanting this to happen for many reasons, being I have corals, anemones, etc. Has anyone used a smart home surge or extender to create a random flow or more of timed flow? Example being powerhead 1-3 being on different intervals: P1 - 1 minute, P2 - 30 seconds, P3 - 45 seconds? I'm just trying to make use as I don't want to spend the money to get the MP60s or so, as it is, my two tanks are 6 ft 125-gallon tanks. (I know some companies in our hobby have timed ones to control, but they are near $60 for a two-plug extender and I'm needing 3 to a tank.)

 

[Formulator]

Its worth a shot, but most of the cheap ones are not designed to be used this way and you may find they rattle and eventually fail with start/stop operation like that. There are a few pumps that were designed with features to allow start/stop operation, I think koralia and sicce.

I’m not an expert, but I think it has to do with them being AC powered and they can sometimes spin backwards when started and stopped repeatedly. The koralia and sicce pumps I mentioned have some kind of stopping mechanism to prevent this backwards operation. The expensive ones with integrated controllers are typically DC powered.

 

[dedragon]

its not the best for the pumps in the long run as formulator said, but can be done for some time until you can get nicer dc pumps.
I would use 1 or 2 dc pumps for the main flow and use the constant current ones in the back of the tank to hit any stagnant areas

 

[Formulator]

If the ecotech price tag is too much to swallow (I don’t blame you), jebao makes some controllable DC wavemakers with wifi sync capability at a much more reasonable price point. I have had a pair of them for almost 6 years, still running great. Powerful little things too.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

If you go to cheap you run the risk of voltage in the tank over time. I did this and one day stuck my hand into the tank and got jolted. It was coming from a well known brand that reefers used many years ago and is still available today. The power head had a years use in fresh water, put away for 6 months and put into use for cycling a new reef.

 

[Formulator]

If you go to cheap you run the risk of voltage in the tank over time. I did this and one day stuck my hand into the tank and got jolted. It was coming from a well known brand that reefers used many years ago and is still available today. The power head had a years use in fresh water, put away for 6 months and put into use for cycling a new reef.

All I can say is… GFCI