How frequently can I start/stop 6045/6025 ?

[Reefvet]

If I want to run a 6045 and a 6025 for short periods, not wave making, just 2 minutes an hour for example. How often can I start and stop these pumps without damaging them ?

 

[rvitko]

It will damage them, the issue is how long will the propeller last. We don't recommend anything more than one cycle every 15 minutes and this only assures the propeller assembly will last 2-3 years. The repeated impacts of correcting the direction break the propeller from the magnet, if this was not resolved within a few days, the motor could overheat and be damaged but generally you just would need a new propeller. If cycled more rapidly the propeller life can be as short as a couple months. My conservative recommendation is run the pumps for an hour and overlap the times by a couple minutes to create a periodic surge, in this set up they have a very long life, you would likely change the propellers due to general wear before they broke. In general most of the literature I have read and my own experience is that the flow on reefs is not especially chaotic, it is strong but rhythmic and does not change direction or intensity too much except with tides and periodic storms. Shimek did a study some years back on the feeding responses and showed how important mimicking this was with long durations of flow from a dominant direction.

 

[Reefvet]

My conservative recommendation is run the pumps for an hour and overlap the times by a couple minutes ...

If I want to run a 6045 and a 6025 for short periods... just 2 minutes an hour for example.

Thank you. That's exactly what I want to do.