Stream alarm - tried a little trick...

[gazpep]

I've had 2 x 6100 streams in my 180 for about 3 weeks. Because the tank is cycling I have no fish in there and hadn't had the need to try the foodtimer. In fact the pumps haven't been stopped at all.

Today I though I'd try out the foodtimer....it powered the pumps down and the fishcare feature worked out just as expected, but when the pumps came back to life one of them didn't start and the alarm sounded. Being a little difficult to remove from the tank I thought I'd try a little trick I'd used on Eheims in the past....I just switched off the stalled pump and switched it straight back on, a sort of a power jolt. The pump returned to life and no alarm sounded.

I reckon once I get into a reguar pattern of using the foodtimer on a daily basis the problem will be less likely but I figured that the pumps wouldn't need cleaning after such a short time and it was worth a try. Assume that this wouldn't cause any damage Roger ?.

 

[SeanT]

Just out of curiosuty, didn't you think the alarm sounded for a reason?
A reason you should check out?

 

[rvitko]

It is possible in 3 weeks that their is still air in the pump, that some parts have not worn in yet. Barring that if you have fine sand or macro algaes these could clog the pumps and it is not impossible to have lime precipitation starting in tanks with reallly excessive levels. It is a good idea to check everything out.