Using A Cycle Timer With A Hydor Koralia

Sea Turtle

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I have a 1200gph Hydor Koralia and would liek to get a couple more and put them on a cycle timer. Has anyone used this type of powerhead with a cycle time. Can this unit handle the abuse of being turned on and off all day long...........
 
if you wanna use a powerhead on a cycle timer, it is prob recommended to use a Tunze brand powerhead as they are seen as the most well built, but the koralia are a step up from the lowerend maxi's and such, so maybe it would be ok. Idk though, hopefully someone else will advise :good:
 
no, and no to the tunzes as well, unless the tunzes wavemaker is made by tunze for that product specifically. If you wanted a timed one, un-modded maxi-jets are much more reliable and will last longer, the on off cycle will kill the koralia and tunze prematurely.

Un-modded maxijets are much better built then koralias, mainly because their technology is not as new and has been around much longer.
 
The problem with the koralias (or Seios and MODDED maxijets for that matter) is that they are an AC propeller magnetic induction motor style pump... AC magnetic induction motors have the nasty habit of starting either clockwise or counter clockwise. This is a problem because a propeller style pump MUST spin in one direction only. To combat this, koralias and maximods use a mechanical stop on the propeller... So, when the pump comes on, IF it's spinning in the wrong direction, the propeller will literally collide with the mechanical stop and force it to go the other way. When you turn on one of these pumps, sometimes you will hear an audible click or thud as the propeller hits the stop and turns the propper direction. Longterm, using an on-off timer will destroy the propeller and the pump will stop working properly.

The solution with hydor koralias is to use the Seio pump controller. The seio controller modulates the AC frequency being supplied to pumps on the controller effectively throttling them up and down and pulsing the power to each pump. To the best of my knowledge, no other aquarium product does this for AC pumps. The Tunze pumps have a similar controller which ramps their pumps up and down, but they are DC powered pumps, thus you cannot mix and match controllers :)

Hope you follwed that rambling
 
I have noticed that loud thump when turning on the unit. That was why I thought that it would get destroyed turning on and off all day and night. I will take a look at the seio products. Other weise, what is the best options to use if I was to consider purchasing a new pump?
 
The problem with the koralias (or Seios and MODDED maxijets for that matter) is that they are an AC propeller magnetic induction motor style pump... AC magnetic induction motors have the nasty habit of starting either clockwise or counter clockwise. This is a problem because a propeller style pump MUST spin in one direction only. To combat this, koralias and maximods use a mechanical stop on the propeller... So, when the pump comes on, IF it's spinning in the wrong direction, the propeller will literally collide with the mechanical stop and force it to go the other way. When you turn on one of these pumps, sometimes you will hear an audible click or thud as the propeller hits the stop and turns the propper direction. Longterm, using an on-off timer will destroy the propeller and the pump will stop working properly.

The solution with hydor koralias is to use the Seio pump controller. The seio controller modulates the AC frequency being supplied to pumps on the controller effectively throttling them up and down and pulsing the power to each pump. To the best of my knowledge, no other aquarium product does this for AC pumps. The Tunze pumps have a similar controller which ramps their pumps up and down, but they are DC powered pumps, thus you cannot mix and match controllers :)

Hope you follwed that rambling

Koralias have come out with their own AC frequency wavemaker. Only problem is they offer very little options compared to a tunze and cost a lot.

http://www.fishsupply.com/spw-hyw1101.html
 
A word of note, those controllers ONLY work with the Koralia model that is "controllable". Looks like Hydor came out with a DC motored version of their stuff to make the controller easier, as from an electrical design standpoint, modulating DC current is much easier than modulating AC frequency. The plain jane cheaper Koralias are still AC motored pumps which will not work with the Hydor controller.

FWIW, at that rediculous price for a controller, i'd rather have a Tunze.
 

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