Timers and power heads?

[Tabasco1]

This might be a question for the Newb category, but it is equipment. Can I set up powerheads on timers or will the on/off blow out their motor or other potential issues? I have powerheads right now, would like to wait until the sting of the initial set up wears off before I upgrade to a vortech or tunze.

 

[swannyson7]

What type of powerheads are you using? Some powerheads are known to have issues by doing this, such as the old Koralias.

 

[BlazinNano]

I have an older koralia and just turning power off to feed sometime messes it up and you have to tap it to get it to turn back on. Alot of the newer powerheads might work but it all depends which brand.

 

[phi delt reefer]

only the LATEST generation Koralia Evolution powerheads can be used on a generic or reef computer timer. AC motors in power heads can spin backwards on occasion so the Koralia units have a built in bumper that prevents reverse operation. ( i dont know about the SEIO or other not so popular PH)

both tunze and hydor also have "controllable" powerheads that are DC instead of AC and require an expensive propietary controller to use. I have yet to see an scientific data supporting the true benefit of "random" flow. IMO - I think what you really need is just lots of flow to keep food and microscopic goodies afloat in water column constantly for corals to grab with their polyps. Good flow also keeps your tank clean cause it will force stuff into your overflow box to be cleaned by all the goodies in your sump (skimmer, filtersock, chaeto, etc)

Vortechs nice because of their wide flow pattern - the blade/cage design is what helps them do what they do. The controller is a nice touch and the price point is inline with equivalent controllabe units from TUNZE and HYDOR.

 

[Tabasco1]

I am talking about OLD powerheads, from when I had tanks in the 90s. I have 3 of them that I was going to try to get to converge in a couple of places, but I would like them to be off at night. Ideally I would like them to "dim" at night, but that will require an upgrade and I will be looking for that feature when I do.

So I am hearing a big no?

 

[Wy Renegade]

Name? I used to run the old Maxijets on timers, and they didn't have any problems, other than the impellers were junk and always came apart.

 

[firefightered]

I do that with my max jets and have no problem as far as that part goes.But I did have a problem with power leaking into the tank from the maxi jets.

 

[Tabasco1]

This might be silly question, I know that it is not good for power to leak, but what happens when it does?

 

[AZDesertRat]

The only powerheads designed to be started and stopped on a timer or controller that I am aware of are the Koralia Evolutions and the Sicce Voyagers, others will rattle, come apart and fail quickly.