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Please educate me about a time unit for my pumps/wavemaker?

wienerdog

wienerdog

I have 2 Koralia 425's and a 1200gpm "no name"...sunsun from Ebay. I would like to change the direction of waterflow using a wave maker or something like that. My soft corals are getting the same flow 24/7. They are being shaped by the flow. I would like to use some kind of timer to change up the flows. However, I have a mess of pumps. Is there a way to do this?
 
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MadReefer

MadReefer

Staff member
NJRC Member
Moderator
It depends on the pumps. The old Koralia pumps could not be controlled but the newer ones can. You will need to research the pumps and figure it out. Unless, another person here has already done this and can guide you.
 
redfishbluefish

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
The Koralia Evolution powerheads may be controlled by a timer / wavemaker function. I have a Reefkeeper and controlled my Koralias using the wavemaker function.

The no-name brand that you have, I’d be surprised if that can be turned on and off repeatedly. You need to check instructions/manual for that one.
 
wienerdog

wienerdog

So, my best bet would be to buy new power heads capable of being hooked up to a wave maker? And then the controller unit too, right?
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

A controller is a nice to have. No where does it say to have a TOTM that you need a controller. if you have spare cash -then sure go ahead. Otherwise in my opinion corals just want distributed wide flow - whether it comes from one direction or not is not relevant.

Anyways if you go down the route of buying new pumps - your choices are:

pumps that can be controlled by controllers such as acjr or reefkeeper. Or purchase a pump that has it built in (ecotechs) or purchase a pump like tunze that have their own multicontroller (7096).

I really don't think you need to do this - soft corals could care less. :)
 
redfishbluefish

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
+1 what Hawkeye said….although I don’t know what TOTM means….the only thing that comes to mind is Time of the Month. :eek:

That being said, I believe the Koralia 425s you have are “Evolution” powerheads. So they can be hooked up to a timer or controller to have them turn on and off whenever. If you wish to see your softies going in different directions, then set the PH’s on one side of the tank to be on while the opposite side is off; and then vice versa.
 
Fish Brain

Fish Brain

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
The newer "Evo" pumps are able the handle the on/off cycle of a wave maker. An aquarium controller can be used as a wave maker, but a JBJ Ocean Pulse Wavemaker with two or four outlets would be a cheaper option. I do believe Koralia just came out with their own wave maker, similar to the JBJ, that let's you adjust the length of time between when it switches.
 
qwik

qwik

If you place the pumps you have now in a cross flow pattern you will get a slightly different flow,not an actually wave but a little variation never hurts.
 
wienerdog

wienerdog

Thanks guys. Lookin toward a digital time and using my existing ph's. Cosmetcics arent that important to me. Howver, it does seem as if a few of the corals only get light on one side. Not sure if it even matters. Thanks for all the imput guys. I just got learned. Besides, not doin anything for the tank right now. Just spending most of my 'hobby money' on those less fortunate than I during the holidays. Something my family does every year. I am very grateful to be able to do it.
 
wienerdog

wienerdog

Thermosts said:
http://www.marinedepot.com/Current_...Lighting-Current_USA-CU01390-FILTACTM-vi.html

I use a timer like this on my k-nano in my Biocube. I can set different time periods in 15 min increments. By turning the nano on and off at different set times it creates a different flow pattern in the tank. Petsmart or petco sells a single outlet version in their lighting department.
Click to expand...
I use them on my lights. Lookin for somethin digital. Do you know where I can get one other than online?
 
TanksNStuff

TanksNStuff

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
There's one thing that hasn't been mentioned yet so far about setting up wavemaker/alternating pumps...

You need to be careful that your fish can't get inside the powerhead during the "off" cycle of each pump. Otherwise, you could have a fish smoothie feeding the rest of your tank if they're hanging out in there when the pump kicks on. :cry: Or, a snail could get in there and the shell could stop the pump impeller from spinning... which might burn out the pump, but even worse will leave you with NO flow until the other pump cycles on. Staggering 3 or more pumps (where at least 2 are always set to be "on" at the same time) is probably a good idea for redundancy here.

The best way to prevent critters from getting in there is probably getting a foam cover for the powerheads to keep everything out.
 
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