IS this an acceptable wave / surge setup?

[Sprattoo]

When I got my tax $$ back I got my 75 Gallon setup. I ran out of money after the Ro/DI and MH lighting but I knew that I wanted some wave / surge / variable currents.

I bought a heavy duty timer for my MH lighting which is going on at about 10AM and off at about 9PM. into this grounded outlet I plugged a 6 outlet Surge protector which my 2 MH 175W ballasts plug into.

For my waves / current I found for $4.00 at walmart a timer that could be set at 30 minute intervals all day.

So now every 30 minutes throughout the day I think its a rio 180 and maxijet 900 turn on then off for 30 mins. Of course at 9 PM when the power strip shuts off so does this wave action... creating the Calm night time tank for my guys to sleep.

Should I be satisfied with this or do I really need to plan on buying a wavemaker that pulses like every 30 seconds and controls different powerheads etc....?

 

[taikonaut]

It is fine. The only issue is that the Rio may quit anytime due to the frequent on/off. If you get a timer that switches every 30 sec., these powerheads going to die 60X sooner...

 

[Ryan Bowen]

Yep-
And, it's adding stray currents to your system. Make sure to ground it.

 

[Sprattoo]

running on the good advice I have disconnected the Rio from the setup and now just running the maxijet on the wave/timer.

The rio does kick/jump and click when it starts up.. I bet your right about it going sooner with the starts and stops.

neither the maxijet nor the Rio have a ground... just a 2 prong plug. but the powerstrip with my lights and to the heavy duty timer is most certainly grounded.

I'll use this rio for my nano project.

 

[rabagley]

Please don't put the Rio in another tank. Use the Rio to weight down the bag in your garbage can. I don't even recommend giving them to an enemy on a bet.

I recently offered to buy a replacement for a Rio on a friend's reef. She took the implied advice and got herself another brand of pump right away. Rio pumps just have too much risk of melting down, killing your pets, costing you hundreds or thousands of dollars to buy new pets and possibly hurting you in the process.

Don't try to save $5 or $10 at the expense of your pets health and lives. In my opinion, It's simply too costly a price to pay.

Regards,
Ross

 

[Sprattoo]

are you saying you've had them short out in the water?!?!?!

I mean I can take a shut-down of a pump... but did it actually put a live current through your tank?

 

[J.Howard]

I have an older Rio 2100 that had a short in the cord and zapped me recently in a LR curing set-up. I fixed the short and also keep the fixed/sealed portion above the water. Thought I was in good shape but it just zapped me again yesterday. (110VAC in water feels like needles poking your skin 8O) Thats the first and only time I've been shocked by any Rio big or small, and have had them for many years in many setups. I suspect this is a result of previous damage and not a sign of a dangerous product. Call me a glutton for punishment, but I just bought a new one to replace it the other day same make/model.