Mag 7 on a Timer

petty43 · 06/05/2006, 11:05 AM

Has anyone put a Mag Drive pump on a timer so it shuts off at night for calmer waters? Will it wear out the pump? I'm thinking of putting it on 12 hour cycles. It will also save a little electricity.

rustybucket145 · 06/05/2006, 11:08 AM

Sounds like you are asking for trouble. Wouldn't the water in the pipe become stagnant during the 'off-time'?

petty43 · 06/05/2006, 11:22 AM

Never thought of that. I guess it would. Thanks for the quick reply.

kclewis · 06/05/2006, 11:43 AM

is your tank drilled or are you using hang on overflows. if its the second of the two i would be worred about loss siphon and overflowing the tank.

petty43 · 06/05/2006, 01:45 PM

It's drilled. I was going to do this on a closed loop, but now I don't think that'll work if the water goes stagnant. Then I thought about 2 pumps (maybe Mag5's) for the return, shutting one off at night, but I don't think I want that much water flow through the sump. It's a standard 90 AGA corner overflow with a 20-25 gallon long sump. I was planning on only running the skimmer (DAS BX-1) for 12 hours anyway, maybe I could run the skimmer at night when only one pump is running, making the skimmer more efficient and less chance of micro bubbles making it back to the display.

06/05/2006, 11:05 AM	#1
petty43 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Ont. Canada Posts: 63	Mag 7 on a Timer Has anyone put a Mag Drive pump on a timer so it shuts off at night for calmer waters? Will it wear out the pump? I'm thinking of putting it on 12 hour cycles. It will also save a little electricity.

06/05/2006, 11:08 AM	#2
rustybucket145 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: valdosta, ga Posts: 3,707	Sounds like you are asking for trouble. Wouldn't the water in the pipe become stagnant during the 'off-time'? __________________ 400gals of various tanks in the same system. Current Tank Info: 2 175w MH, 2 VH0 Actinics, Lots of Live Rock, tons of copepods, a Fat Mandarin Goby, Niger Trigger, Yellow Tang, Falco Hawkfish, Bi-Color Pseudo, numerous soft, SPS and LPS Corals

06/05/2006, 11:43 AM	#4
kclewis REEFER Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Beautiful Bargersville, IN Posts: 383	is your tank drilled or are you using hang on overflows. if its the second of the two i would be worred about loss siphon and overflowing the tank. __________________ #RageRestRepeat \mm/

06/05/2006, 11:22 AM	#3
petty43 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Ont. Canada Posts: 63	Never thought of that. I guess it would. Thanks for the quick reply.

06/05/2006, 01:45 PM	#5
petty43 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Ont. Canada Posts: 63	It's drilled. I was going to do this on a closed loop, but now I don't think that'll work if the water goes stagnant. Then I thought about 2 pumps (maybe Mag5's) for the return, shutting one off at night, but I don't think I want that much water flow through the sump. It's a standard 90 AGA corner overflow with a 20-25 gallon long sump. I was planning on only running the skimmer (DAS BX-1) for 12 hours anyway, maybe I could run the skimmer at night when only one pump is running, making the skimmer more efficient and less chance of micro bubbles making it back to the display.