running Koralias on a wavemaker?

[reefworm]

I seem to remember that this was a Bad Idea? Will doing so wear out the motors? I have 2 units that I'd like to tie to a Tsunami wavemaker that I already have, but am not doing so until I can be sure I'm not damaging anything. I can randomize by pulling plugs, but that seems a bother. Not sure I want to spend the $$ for a controller, but perhaps there's no alternative?

thanks!
-rw

[Hormigaquatica]

The 'normal' Korallias dont seem to take well to wavemakers long term. After being turned off/on so many times, they start to make a Click when started up again, and also tend to spin backwards. They just werent designed for that.

The 'new' ones are made specifically to work with a controller. Unfortunately, they have wiring on them that Only allows them to work with Hydor's wavemaker. They work just fine, its just kind of annoying if you happen to be looking for something you can plug into a timer, rather than spending the cash on a full wavemaker unit. Still, its a heck of a lot cheaper than (and almost as efficient as) a comparable Tunze system.

[918ReefCpl]

We've been running 2 x K4's on a Seio controller for awhile now with no issues. Even when put in 'feed' mode they restart just fine from dead stop...Otherwise the controller only ramps the percentage of power for each pump it controls from 30% to 100% and you can set the time differential from as little as 15 sec up to 1 hr. Currently we have our's set for 15 min alternating and no issues (running 24/7).
Here's a link to a Koralia resource thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1359857&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

[reefworm]

thanks guys. I'd read in an earlier thread about the noise issue, and the tubing seems a reasonable price to pay. Hopefully they'll keep spinning the right way!

[EddieJ]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12939560#post12939560 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefworm
thanks guys. I'd read in an earlier thread about the noise issue, and the tubing seems a reasonable price to pay. Hopefully they'll keep spinning the right way!

Problem with the tubing fix is that the pump will just run backwards if it starts that way. The clanking you hear is when it spins backwards and hit the stops forcing it to turn the correct way. If the tubing prevents it from hitting the stops, it will just continue to run in the wrong direction.