Tropical Fish Forums

[unissuh]

I've been hearing that the majority of powerheads or pumps don't take kindly towards being turned on and off frequently, excluding Maxi-Jets for some reason. Are they the only type of powerhead (excluding peristaltic pumps) that will be up for the position of auto top-off pump? Can anyone recommend me a brand or type of pump?

I was going to use an old DecoOne LV-300 powerhead (2.5w, 0.38m head, 150l/h) I had lying around (used to run a small CO2 reactor), but if it'll break sooner rather than later I'd rather get another powerhead or pump up to the task.
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Fishing in the Rivers of Light

[Marcos Avila]

Without having any personal experience on the matter, at first glance I wouldn't worry much about the on-and-off issue. Assuming it's true, it means instead of lasting 20 years the powerhead's going to last only 10...or 5...who cares?

Unless people's actual experiences show that the issue is really serious and they burn out within months...
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Success with a fish/tank is measured in YEARS, not months or weeks...

[sirreal63]

From my own experience MaxiJets are the best for on and off duty.
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Out on the road today...I saw a DeadHead sticker on a Cadillac...
Jack
110 Gallon DSA Pentagon

[unissuh]

I was kinda hoping you wouldn't say that, Maxi-Jets seem to be impossible to source on this end of the world.

I guess I'll just use that spare powerhead I have lying around...until I find a better solution or a peristaltic pump.
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Fishing in the Rivers of Light

[sirreal63]

The peristaltic is the best solution. A pump can stick on and put too much fresh water in your tank, a peristaltic takes a much longer time to top off a system and gives yuo some flexibility. Most set the peristaltic to only send what a tank evaps in a day...much safer.
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Out on the road today...I saw a DeadHead sticker on a Cadillac...
Jack
110 Gallon DSA Pentagon

[unissuh]

Yeah, I've heard about pumps sticking on or the float switch sticking on. I'm not going to stick more than about 3L of water in the auto top-off reservoir, even if the pump (or float switch) sticks on, the tank will not overflow and the SG shouldn't drop past 1.026 (from 1.028) which hopefully should be survivable. It should last me 4 days without a manual top-off, even if I'm on holiday I should be able to get someone to drop by twice a week.
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Fishing in the Rivers of Light