circulation

[theo]

I'm trying to cut down on my power consumption (gulp gulp gulp). What alternative methods have people come up with to power heads? Y'know like spray bars etc...

[Dman]

Theo,
Have a closer look at the pic I sent you. see those three black things in the tank hanging off the end of half inch CPVC? they are pop-up sprinkler heads with all the metal removed. Work like a charm. Just run them in with the plumbing, mind you they steal some flow from your return pump.

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

Its good to hear that some reefers are worried about power consumption. One thing I have notice is that some pumps are efficient than others. For example, Maxijet has several different powerheads. MP1200 consumes twice as much power as MP900, but MP1200 has 30% more flow than MP900. So...where does the power go...in to the head pressure. For an in-tank circulation ph, head pressure is probably not that important.

Another power burner is a wavemaker setup. A wavemaker switches on and off phs to simulate waves. Unfortunately, most motors draw a lot of power during the power up/spin up. Have you ever turn on a big motor and notice the lights go dim for a second or so. That spin-up moment may draw twice as much power as normal (even more in some cases).

Dman,

that is way cool...do you need a big pump to run three sprinklers ?

- Victor.

[bobipema]

When I look at the power consumed by aquarium things, I find that power heads use very little power. Most use from 4 to 6 watts. By far the biggest power hogs are lights and heaters. A 40 watt fluorescent tube for instance uses 40 watts. Two of those running 12 hours per day use up 960 watts. That is almost a KWH per day. Now look at one 150 watt heater, as long as it is on it consumes 150 watts. That is where your power consumption is located.:help:

[Dman]

reefburnaby,
I had two of them on my 50. I was running them and my RSB Classic off of one LG MD4QXSC pump and it was blowing the sand around. Mind you there was only 4 feet of head after I add up all the bends, 90's and pipe circumference changes worked out to about 10 foot head. So my offical answer is no not much power at all. and they oscillate way cool. I'll see if I still have a pic around and i'll post it
:)

[Dman]

They were on my website, cool. This was over my 50 gallon. Note: I had to plumb one side over my MH.
Shoot the pic didn't take try this link, ok it's my website (shameless plug) and click on DIY wavemaker:

http://communities.msn.ca/dereksaquarium