program Tunze

[EdMan71]

I need help with programing 2 Tunze 6200.
I would like pumps to change intensities from 30-100%. (ramp/sync?)
turn down to 30% with lights off. (Night mode)
turn one pump to 30% and other off with Feed A. (or maybe one at a time)
turn both pumps to 50% with Feed B.
I am new with Apex, or any programming, and still unclear with variable and PT1 set-up. Any advice would be helpful.
Thanks in advance.

 

[aquamanic]

There's a bunch of information on profiles and programming Tunze in the User Guide. Look in Chapter 6. There's some simple step by step examples as well.

Ken has some sample Tunze programs and profiles on his website, kenargo dot com.

To change intensities, define a profile using the PUMP control type

To change by time of day, use the 'if time' statement and reference the profile you want.

Same with Feed modes.

It all starts with defining your profiles for daytime, nighttime and feed modes.

Then use the program statements for time and feed to reference those profiles.

 

[ToLearn]

Why do people like to turn their power heads off or low at night time? It's like they believe there is a huge shield in the wild that stops waves as sun down. Or think the flow is only there for appearance reasons for us to see things move and isn't needed at night. I really don't understand the logic.

 

[EdMan71]

ToLearn, I was thinking it might be easier for fish to settle down at night, but you are right, the ocean doesn't calm at night. I get alot of flow from my baracuda return pump which was my reasoning.
Wondering what most people do? Like I mentioned, am kinda new at this and looking for advice on everything.
Aquamanic, I have looked at manual and will study it more. It's all beginning to make more sence the more I read and play with the programs.
Thanks for advises!

 

[aquamanic]

FWIW, I set my VorTech pumps to Lagoon at night, 40% power. During the day they're on Reef Crest at 70%.

I like my fish to have a quiet sleep...:lmao:

 

[ToLearn]

I just don't understand the logic behind it. To some extent you may be able to say that some fish will travel out of the areas where the waves crash and move to deeper less turbulent areas in the ocean where they can settle in coral heads. That argument only works for FOWLR systems. The coral certainly doesn't get up and move into deeper areas every night. Flow helps with gas exchange and the fish still need oxygen at night time. They don't technically sleep the same way humans do, but they still need oxygen.

Flow benefits fish and lack of flow can hurt fish, but it is even more important for healthy corals.(depending on the species you keep, but in general terms) Cutting down the flow when many of the corals are at their peak of activity(feeding and pooping) can't be beneficial.

 

[rodsaw]

There actually is some reduction in wave activity at night in many areas because there is a decrease in wind activity from the cooling of the adjacent land mass. Of course the wave activity does not stop because there is still the tidal influences occurring and the variance in onshore/offshore winds depends on other weather factors. The reason that I reduce my powerheads during feeding and shutdown the main pump is so that the food doesn't get immediately pushed into the sump to become a nitrate/phosphate source. The fish and corals have a better chance of eating the food that way. My feed cycle is 15 minutes, so the reduced flow for that short period is not going to cause the oxygen level to bottom out.

The 2 Tunze 6200 that EdMan71 have are rated at 1319 to 5283 gph each, so at 30% he is still pushing around 3000 gph...that's not exactly a trickle unless he is in a huge tank.

 

[ToLearn]

Ah thanks for that rodsaw! Love to learn things like this. There are many islands far away from significant land mass though. I wonder if anyone has quantified the change in activity and even bigger pictured backed up and shown a map where it states 5% decrease in the green areas on the map and 8% decrease in the yellow areas.(or whatever) I doubt the change is significant.

I agree with changing flow and pumps during feed cycle. I like to switch things from wave motion to slow and consistent as well to make it easier for animals to catch food and make it easier to spot feed. If the waves are going every which way and things are very turbulent it makes it rough to release food upstream with a turkey baster and know which way the flow is going to take it. I love my LPS, so lots of spot feeding.

Thanks again for adding the comment rodsaw. I never knew that and now I want to dive into it more and find some data.

 

[EdMan71]

Not to blow things out of proportion, but I guess its like giving my dog a pillow to sleep on, or even me sleepng in a nice warm bed. Caveman didn't have soft beds, or most wild animals sleep on dirt ground, but I give my dog a pillow not because that is what is out in the wild, but only because its comfortable and I can change his environment to make it more comfortable. So I was wanting to play God I suppose and have my fish a nice environmentally controlled place to rest.
I really don't know what my fish prefer, but my dog really likes his pillow.

 

[ToLearn]

Back to what I originally said the flow isn't just there for the fish to move their muscles, but for the health of the aquarium and gas exchange. In my opinion cutting the flow down 70% at night will have serious negative side effect on the health of your system. Fish need to breath, corals need waste taken away, all the crap the animals give off needs to get to the skimmer, so on and so forth. Just my two cents, but I think you'd be helping your fish more by leaving the flow alone or only bringing it down ~10%.

 

[watsonj]

Having lived 100 yards from coral reef for 13 years I can confirm the sea really quietens down at night currents/tides do rip on the full moon though.