Mag 7 on Timer?

[cwarmouth]

Can a mag 7 be run intermittently on a timer or will it burn it up?

 

[rjrgroup]

CWarmouth;630941 wrote: Can a mag 7 be run intermittently on a timer or will it burn it up?

IMO, NO! I have had 3 mag pumps not start back up...umm, that's not good, ummm k. Just my opinion, IMO. ha..

 

[cwarmouth]

Any suggestions for a high volume pump that can be run on a timer?

 

[gmpolan]

Jc, but what it the purpose to have a pump on a timer? I only ask so that we may better help find a solution

 

[cwarmouth]

Without getting too lengthy or wordy, the basic idea is that I want to build a wavemaker. I wonder if there is a pump that can move a lot of water quickly for a minute (ish), then shut off.

A friend of mine has a reef tank that has two powerheads in it that have been running on a cheap timer, 15 seconds on, fifteen seconds off for 5 years. I don't know the brand but they are not powerful enough to do what I have in mind. I'll tell you the brand when I can get in touch with him.

CW

 

[rjrgroup]

How about a wave maker dump tray? Pump fills a counter balanced "tray" and once it reaches a certain weight, bam, dump. I was going to do this on mine but I now am doing a closed loop with solenoids to introduce wave movement. .

 

[texhorns98]

rjrgroup;631049 wrote: How about a wave maker dump tray? Pump fills a counter balanced "tray" and once it reaches a certain weight, bam, dump. I was going to do this on mine but I now am doing a closed loop with solenoids to introduce wave movement. .

They use the same system at the GA Aquarium's reef tank. Once every couple of minutes, I believe.

 

[rjrgroup]

And Monterrey Bay, a huge weight that plunges in the kelp forest...it's so cool. The water level raises and lowers several feet every few seconds. As the level goes up and down, so do the 30-35 foot long kelps. Absolutely mesmerizing.
And sorry for the high jack...

 

[lilrobb]

Amici;631016 wrote: With an impeller there is no backwards which means start direction doesnt matter... AC vs DC doesn't really matter in this context.

Not true,
AC pumps tend to start either direction because of the alternating current - DC pumps virtually cannot be run backwards without reversing the current...

 

[cwarmouth]

rjrgroup;631070 wrote: And Monterrey Bay, a huge weight that plunges in the kelp forest...it's so cool. The water level raises and lowers several feet every few seconds. As the level goes up and down, so do the 30-35 foot long kelps. Absolutely mesmerizing.
And sorry for the high jack...

The vertical up and down movement is sort of what I am going for. I don't know if this will work, but imagine this:

I put a stand pipe (1" pvc) off centered in the tank which goes through the drilled bottom to the sump. The top of the pipe is 2" below the surface. As the water drains into the sump, the pump is off. When it stops draining (because it reaches the top of the stand pipe) the pump kicks on and refills the tank by going through a return pipe in the middle of the tank. It goes through this piece of rock (the big one with the holes) which forces the water in four directions.

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Up and down water movement. Anyone ever try that? Would it work?

 

[darcurr]

That wouldn't work because the pipe in the rock would also drain into the sump. A closed loop would work as you described, otherwise, you are asking for trouble. The issue then would be a pump that can withstand the abuse. Interesting idea.... What about a MP40 mounted under the tank in the rock?

 

[cwarmouth]

darcurr;631183 wrote: That wouldn't work because the pipe in the rock would also drain into the sump. A closed loop would work as you described, otherwise, you are asking for trouble. The issue then would be a pump that can withstand the abuse. Interesting idea.... What about a MP40 mounted under the tank in the rock?

I have a 1 way check valve for that pipe.

Explain what you mean about the MP40, please.

 

[darcurr]

The bottom of a tank is just a pane of glass just like the sides. Mount the 40 to the bottom. Only trick is if the 40 can stay together upside down, and I don't own one so I can't try it and see. Maybe someone reading has one and would do the experiment and let us know. Just for the record, I wouldn't trust a check valve to prevent a flood.