Gyre Nano

[Delphinus]

Dumb question maybe - what about something like this? Says it's adjustable from 20 seconds to 3 minutes and has alternating outputs..
http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/s...duct_ID=wm-nwt

[kwirky]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Dumb question maybe - what about something like this? Says it's adjustable from 20 seconds to 3 minutes and has alternating outputs..
http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/s...duct_ID=wm-nwt

dang it. I'm $10 short to order J&L's package that includes 3 MJ 1200's. stupid student credit card with stupid $500 limit... Looks like I gotta do another bill payment of like $20 lol.

[Delphinus]

Would you need the extra powerheads though? Surely there are some lying around town someone would sell ya for cheap if you needed some more.

I found the info about it being adjustable from 20sec to 3min on a different page, I just linked to the J&L page for simplicity. If you go to aquariumsystems.com and click Saltwater and then Accessories there's a blurb where it's mentioned in passing about the adjustability. (I'd just link the URL but the webpage is this primitive frame based thing and the URL doesn't show up properly).

[michika]

The whole set up is pretty damn cool! I'm tagging along!

[Kryten]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Dumb question maybe - what about something like this? Says it's adjustable from 20 seconds to 3 minutes and has alternating outputs..
http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/s...duct_ID=wm-nwt

I bought one of these used. Maybe it was a quasi-lemon, but it wouldn't run anything other than a brand new maxijet. Older ones or other brands of powerhead it just didn't seem to have enough juice to turn on (on the switched outlets).

[BCOrchidGuy]

I've used these timer/wavemakers twice and they were awesome. I used them with hagen powerheads, 801s plus Pro4s and Rio 2500's I never had a powerhead not work with them. I would have used one again but I've read Seios don't do well with on/off cycles IE a timer and I really don't want to spend $200 on a Seio controller. For now things seem to be working with two 620's on 24/7 and an 820 that comes on when the Halide comes on.

Doug

[Midknight]

Originally Posted by Kryten

I bought one of these used. Maybe it was a quasi-lemon, but it wouldn't run anything other than a brand new maxijet. Older ones or other brands of powerhead it just didn't seem to have enough juice to turn on (on the switched outlets).

Strange, I bought 2 used ones and neither ran the pumps I have. Never though of getting new pumps to test.
Maybe will try that tomorrow.

[kwirky]

well i went out and bought a 555 timer and a bunch of caps n resistors n such, and a breadboard to prototype it with. I'm going to try to DIY one first. Too late to start working on it tonight, but I'll post my progress as I go.

[kwirky]

woot! it's up and running. lots of DIY on this system

Right now it's a mj1200 on each end still on the 15 minute coralife light timer. They alternate 15 minutes each.

I'm just about done soldering up my DIY wave maker. It's done with a 555 timer, and it's adjustable from 4 seconds to 60 seconds. When the wavemaker's ready, I'll be getting 2 more MJ's (one on each end) and I'll probably alternate it 10 seconds per side.

These are the parts I used for the 555 timer wavemaker:
555 timer
2 x 10uF tantalum capacitors (for timing capacitor, ran in parallel to work as a 20uF capacitor)
0.01uF tantalum capacitor
5.6kohm resistor as R1
R2 consists of the following in series:

• 200kohm resistor (always on)
• 1mohm pot
• 2x1mohm resistors on switches

high speed 2A diode as snubber for relay
125VAC 3A DPDT relay

here's the program that gave me the calculations nessesary and the schematic to use the components:
http://555-timer.clarkson-uk.com/program.html

After I get the alternating wavemaker going, I'll make a second device that'll turn off the pumps for 8 minutes at the touch of a button, then turn them back on automatically.

It's tapped into my 120g's sump, and a 100gph pump feeds the gyre-nano from the sump. There's a 150W stealth heater hidden under the platform as backup heating because of the low flow to the sump.

But here are some pictures in the mean time. It's lit with a 150W HQI giesseman 13k megachrome marine. the PAR of the best 10k's, but with a true 10k colour. It's a DIY pendant from a 500W halogen outdoor fixture. I really like how it's hung. If there's interest, I'll let anyone know how I modified the light to work as a pendant.

[Delphinus]

That's really awesome. I'd love to try something like that for a gorg tank. .. One day ...

Question (slightly off topic), can the 555 timer idea have different on/off settings, or do the on/off settings have to match? I.e. can you do 10 seconds on, 5 minutes off, kind of thing?