The "Hitchhiker's Guide" to the Maxi-Stream mod - Page 2

Snarkys · #26 06/26/2006, 09:43 AM

i wouldnt use them on a wave maker but a few people have

v8maro · #27 06/26/2006, 09:48 AM

why not?

v8maro · #28 06/26/2006, 09:49 AM

crap, i just got 2 for this reason, i hope i didnt waste my money =\

impur · #29 06/26/2006, 09:55 AM

They tend to chatter on startup, making some noise. If you don't have a problem with that go ahead with your plan!

Snarkys · #30 06/26/2006, 09:57 AM

will also ruin the prop faster

Snarkys · #31 06/26/2006, 10:03 AM

I "personally" feel that conventional wave makers are a joke anyways . you just cant generate a real flow pattern in a tank in with the 30 second bursts that these things turn on in. at minimum i think they should turn the pumps on for 10-20 minutes. this goes doubly so for the low flow pumps like a normal maxi jet. they also generate a ton less flow because half your pumps are always off .... some of them rotate through the four pumps that are on and only have one on at a time . this would reduce the pumps output by 75% because it is only on 25% of the time.

If i were to put my mods on a waver maker it would just be a set of timers . right pump on for 8 hours , left for 8 hours and then both on for 8 hours.

Snarkys · #32 06/26/2006, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by v8maro
crap, i just got 2 for this reason, i hope i didnt waste my money =\

there seriously is so much flow in a extremely wide dispersal pattern most people don't feel the need for a "wave maker"

v8maro · #33 06/26/2006, 10:12 AM

Hrm, maybe I can sell one then ?

I have a wave timer that can run 2 pumps at once, then switches every 20s-2min, i can set the delay, and I have 4 pumps total.

Is there any way to reduce the clicking sound the pump will make? Do fish not like this sound?

ostrow · #34 06/26/2006, 10:48 AM

I noticed no clicking sound. And I'm sound sensitive. But I don't use the Chauvet timer I got because of wear on the prop and, well, I have them on swirls anyway, so no real need to turn them off.

If they are stationary and you can randomly turn on and off, and you don't mind replacing the props every few months, I think it's a good idea, especially if they are pointing at any corals. Gives the polyps a bit of relief. I'd do it maybe in 1 minute intervals or so.

vishboy · #35 06/26/2006, 11:10 AM

Only an 1/8" down? I did that, and I doesn't stop the prop. How far in is the acrylic rod supposed to go into the shroud?

(Pics would help a lot

)

hahnmeister · #36 06/26/2006, 11:28 AM

I dont like running them on a wavemaker. The startup is wear&tear on the prop (as well as the pump itself unless is is a DC like a Tunze). If you do use a wavemaker, I suggest using Octura props rather than the Dumas. The octura are made from a much harder composite and the Dumas seems to be a 'rubbermade' type of plastic that eventually deforms after time from impacts/scrapes.

As for wavemaking, I prefer oscillating outputs/powerhead mounts like the WavySea, SeaSwirl, and DIY 'swirlerstein' methods to a pulse timer any day. The back and forth motion provides more flow to every corner of the tank while not messing with the pump's internals from starting & stopping all the time. And think about it. A set of dual opposed powerheads is only giving you 50% of what they are worth at any given time in two fixed directions... where a single oscillating powerhead is giving you 100% in multiple directions to hit more of the tank with a blast of flow.

trmiv · #37 06/26/2006, 11:40 AM

That's what I want to do, mount two maxi streams on wavysea's on opposite ends of my tank. Super water movement. Too bad there is no way I could fit the wavyseas on there with my horizontal overflows taking up the entire back. I wish I would have thought about that when I put those in.

ostrow · #38 06/26/2006, 11:41 AM

Yep. At first I thought it'd be cool to having them both pulsing on and off every 30secs or so while mounted on the swirls. And, it was cool. And not much noise either. But, well, don't want the props mangled.

v8maro · #39 06/26/2006, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ostrow
I noticed no clicking sound. And I'm sound sensitive. But I don't use the Chauvet timer I got because of wear on the prop and, well, I have them on swirls anyway, so no real need to turn them off.

If they are stationary and you can randomly turn on and off, and you don't mind replacing the props every few months, I think it's a good idea, especially if they are pointing at any corals. Gives the polyps a bit of relief. I'd do it maybe in 1 minute intervals or so.

So you had them on the Chauvet timer with no clicking? Thats what I was planning on doing. I only have a 40gallon so a modded mj900 should be plenty even if its only on 50% of the time. What kind of wear am I looking at here?

ostrow · #40 06/26/2006, 11:50 AM

I noticed no sound. If it clicks it's very fast. It may click, but it wasn't enough to make me concerned at all. Certainly lower than the background noise of the tank.

Wear depends on use. I was going on/off at 1min intervals, calculated and realized I'd be over a few thousand hits of the stopper real fast like. So I stopped using it. If you went on/off at hourly intervals, you'd have 1000 in less than two months. Me, I'd worry about the prop after a couple thousand starts.

david8956 · #41 06/26/2006, 11:56 AM

I have two 1200's with the Dumas 3004 props. Both are on timers set at 1 hour intervals....while 1 is on the other is off. This works great in my tank.

Kluver · #42 06/26/2006, 11:58 AM

Trimiv, thanks. I've been doing a little reseach myself.
Does anyone have any recommendation on the size of the MJ and prop for a 40g mixed reef? I like to get 2 MJ mod.

Snarkys · #43 06/26/2006, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ostrow
Yep. At first I thought it'd be cool to having them both pulsing on and off every 30secs or so while mounted on the swirls. And, it was cool. And not much noise either. But, well, don't want the props mangled.

did you get to see jake adams presentation on water flow at the IMAC ? He pretty much said these 30 second bursts are worthless and after listening to him i have to agree. these are some really crude attempts at what i got out of it. basically he said you want to keep the pump on long enough for it to produce a continuous flow , allow that flow to continue for a while and then change pumps. you also have to keep in mind what your turn over goal is. if its 30X turn over on a 150g you really need 9000 GPH worth of pumps because half of your pumps are always off.

again these are crude and not really what he had but you will get the general idea

pump is on for 20 seconds

pump is on 90 seconds

pump is on 5 minutes

keep in mind , the further the away from the pump you get the less force it has and the longer it will take to continue forward.

Wish i had got his DVD for our club members . while he is not the most exciting speaker at the IMAC, i think his presentation was one of the most informative , doubly so on the part about light intensity and its direct correlation to the need for water flow. basically the more light you have the more flow you need to flush away the excess oxygen or the oxygen will build up and become toxic to the corals tissue. I don't think everyone understand that and just thinks they can add more light and hope for the best with little regard for the water flow.

v8maro · #44 06/26/2006, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ostrow
I noticed no sound. If it clicks it's very fast. It may click, but it wasn't enough to make me concerned at all. Certainly lower than the background noise of the tank.

Wear depends on use. I was going on/off at 1min intervals, calculated and realized I'd be over a few thousand hits of the stopper real fast like. So I stopped using it. If you went on/off at hourly intervals, you'd have 1000 in less than two months. Me, I'd worry about the prop after a couple thousand starts.

alright cool. Maybe I can put some type of padding or even rubber cement on the stopper so that when the prop hits it it is cushioned a little bit. Does anyone have any ideas what could stay in sw that is somewhat soft that I could stick on there?

Maybe a gluegun and glue some on the stopper?

Snarkys · #45 06/26/2006, 12:30 PM

Ive never tried it but if ya cushion it too much the prop might not bounce off as well to start right.

maybe try a rubber tab that would go in the bottom of a coaster or something ?

there is always a break through to be had but the general consensus is these don't run well on traditional wave makers

Snarkys · #46 06/26/2006, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dhnguyen
Not exactly the same Snarkys. The magnets are the exact same size and dimension for all MJ models but IME the MJ1200 magnets are slightly stronger than the MJ900 ones.

D.

I called their tech help today and the lady there told me she was 95% sure that the actual magnets on the 900 and 1200 are the same. she put me through to her boss to find out for sure .I left a message with him, hopefully he will call me back.

i should have asked about the smaller ones too ...

ostrow · #47 06/26/2006, 12:59 PM

I was working at IMAC so couldn't make many of the talks. Will have to check that DVD!

Obi-dad · #48 06/26/2006, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Snarkys
did you get to see jake adams presentation on water flow at the IMAC ? He pretty much said these 30 second bursts are worthless and after listening to him i have to agree. these are some really crude attempts at what i got out of it. basically he said you want to keep the pump on long enough for it to produce a continuous flow , allow that flow to continue for a while and then change pumps. you also have to keep in mind what your turn over goal is. if its 30X turn over on a 150g you really need 9000 GPH worth of pumps because half of your pumps are always off.

again these are crude and not really what he had but you will get the general idea

pump is on for 20 seconds

pump is on 90 seconds

pump is on 5 minutes

keep in mind , the further the away from the pump you get the less force it has and the longer it will take to continue forward.

Wish i had got his DVD for our club members . while he is not the most exciting speaker at the IMAC, i think his presentation was one of the most informative , doubly so on the part about light intensity and its direct correlation to the need for water flow. basically the more light you have the more flow you need to flush away the excess oxygen or the oxygen will build up and become toxic to the corals tissue. I don't think everyone understand that and just thinks they can add more light and hope for the best with little regard for the water flow.

Maybe it really takes that long in a 150 (with what pump?), but in my 75 it takes much less than a minute for a maxi-stream mod to keep a current loop going around my tank.

Snarkys · #49 06/26/2006, 01:38 PM

the times i posted on the diagram are meaningless , they are just there to give a general idea of the point.

I think what he was getting at was a continuous cycle where the flow is pretty much the same and at the same velocity and then you let it stay there for a while before ya change it. Keep in mind you aren't just talking about generating a flow in the open water you are also talking about water being reflected off many surfaces to low flow spots like behind corals and your rock work. getting that flow going continuously will take a significant amount of time.

I am no expert in fluid dynamics so i have no clue how long that would take in a 75 with rock and corals in it. i wish his presentation was online, he obiusly described it much better than i ever could.

IMHO the Oscillators on no timer is prolly the best solution for the modded maxi jet.

want2reef · #50 06/26/2006, 10:29 PM

JFYI

I just finished modding my old MJ 900 with a Dumas 3004 prop, works fine so far.

It puts out way more flow than the double nitro prop setup I had on it before.