So I cut the tips of my maxijets off...

[bleedingthought]

...In hopes to increase the flow in my tank. I also drilled the holes on the bottom. While the flow is definitely dispersed, and does satisfy me enough to not regret it, I really dislike the fact that if the direction changes, it's a 90 degree angle change!

I did this yesterday and positioned the MJs like I wanted and this morning I have two spots where I can see the bottom of the tank because two of them changed directions overnight and moved all of the sand out of the corner! I'm not even sure how they changed directions without being turned off, but is there a way to make this not happen? :?

Anyone here (I know you have, Dan! ) have done this to their MJs?

TIA

 

[Anonymous]

...In hopes to increase the flow in my tank. I also drilled the holes on the bottom. While the flow is definitely dispersed, and does satisfy me enough to not regret it, I really dislike the fact that if the direction changes, it's a 90 degree angle change!

I did this yesterday and positioned the MJs like I wanted and this morning I have two spots where I can see the bottom of the tank because two of them changed directions overnight and moved all of the sand out of the corner! I'm not even sure how they changed directions without being turned off, but is there a way to make this not happen? :?

Anyone here (I know you have, Dan! ) have done this to their MJs?

TIA

Oh, I always thought that was a really cool side effect. Like a SCWD. If you put them on a standard wavemaker they'll do it back and forth all day long.

It happens anytime the power is cut and then turned back on. It doesn't necessarily switch directions every time; when the power comes back on the spin direction is randomly either CW or CCW. It could easily have continued the same direction and you'd never notice. I'm pretty sure this means your power was interrupted though, even if very briefly.

 

[RobertoVespucci]

Bleedingthought, could post a pic or two? I don't seem to be following what you've done nor what is happening.

 

[bleedingthought]

Oh, I always thought that was a really cool side effect. Like a SCWD. If you put them on a standard wavemaker they'll do it back and forth all day long.

It happens anytime the power is cut and then turned back on. It doesn't necessarily switch directions every time; when the power comes back on the spin direction is randomly either CW or CCW. It could easily have continued the same direction and you'd never notice. I'm pretty sure this means your power was interrupted though, even if very briefly.

Well, I wouldn't mind it but I have the flow pointed straight across the tank, so when it changes over 90 degrees, it points to the back glass and the force goes up and down, therefore moving my sand all over!

Maybe all I need is to reposition them? So that if the flow changes it won't hit the back directly from 4 inches away...

Bleedingthought, could post a pic or two? I don't seem to be following what you've done nor what is happening.

Pictures of the mod or what it's doing to the tank when it changes flow direction?

 

[Anonymous]

I'd like to see a pic of the mod.

 

[Anonymous]

Me too.

 

[RobertoVespucci]

I guess both.

 

[bleedingthought]

Pictures tomorrow night!

 

[Anonymous]

Where did you learn about this mod to cut the tips of MJ's?

Looking forward to the pics.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

I like the fact that the direction changes every time they start!

I don't really understand why you would do the mod if you didn't want the flow direction to change, that was the big reason I did it.

 

[bleedingthought]

Well, I first heard about the mod here on RDO from ANEMONEBUFF. Since then, I've frequently heard about reefers that had them and ran across it a lot when skimming through RC. I really needed more flow so when I went with it this weekend. But more than likely I am going to mod it again into the "stream" mod which makes it operate like a tunze. :wink:

And I don't dislike the flow direction change, it's just that I had my flow setup a certain way so that if it changed, it would hit straight into the glass and really low the the DSB. Can you say SANDSTORM?! But the main reason I did it was for the flow increase anyways, which did happen!

Pictures coming later tonight, stay tuned!

 

[bleedingthought]

First of, I'm not very good with taking pictures of my tanks, and I've barely posted any pictures of my "reef" tank, so be nice!

So, here's a simple picture of the modified maxijet in my tank. You can see the impeller which is more exposed now. All you do, basically, is cut the round tip off of the powerhead and you're good to go. I also drilled holes under the cap (around where the strainer attaches, you can kind of see it in the pic) because it was recommended to increase the intake of water, which is obvious that it does, especially if you let the strainer get dirty.

These babies are definitely blowing more water now in a much wider pattern. I'm happy about it! (But still going to try that "stream/tunze" mod on at least one of them to see how that goes!) Now, you can see how I have the powerhead mounted on the glass and it's blowing water away from the glass. If it were to change direction on which it's spinning, it would blow right onto the glass. This isn't necessarily a problem with this PH since it's high up, but the other two are closer to the DSB and it's hell in my tank if changes direction! But that's my fault because of the way I have them positioned and I do plan to play with them to find a better spot!

 

[bleedingthought]

And while I'm at it, here's some pictures of the tank. I've still got a long way to go with it, obviously. Any suggestions are highly welcome!

Enjoy and thanks for looking! 8)

 

[Anonymous]

I would just reposition them so both directions are hitting spots where you want flow to be. Then stick it on a digital timer (or wavemaker if you've got one) to go on and off all day. Take advantage of the flow change!

 

[Anonymous]

FWIW you can do this with any powerhead. MJs are just good to use because they tolerate the constant on/off without much noise.

http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t ... +powerhead

 

[WRASSER]

I took 1/2'' PVC and stuck it on the end of an 802, drilled five holes and capped the end to get the current I wanted.

 

[Anonymous]

Does the MJ mod really result in more flow?

 

[Anonymous]

Does the MJ mod really result in more flow?

Come on Rich, you don't have an extra MJ laying around? I've got like 10.

It's hard to describe. I don't think it actually produces any more flow but it does disperse it wider. Nice in smaller tanks where you don't want to blast stuff. Obviously the switching directions is a nice bonus too.

Worst case scenario you use it as a water change stirrer.

 

[Anonymous]

I had to look at this thread about 5 times before I realized bleedingthought has a frigging coralline covered beer bottle in his tank. :lol: That's awesome.

 

[Meloco14]

Hey, BT, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I thought you should know. Your fish have been drinking again. Those AA meetings didn't work...