Cali Kid Corals

Vortech Short Pulse

In the Vortech manual Ecotech warns against using short pulse mode with tanks , as the waves may cause "additional stress on the aquariums glass and joints ... blah blah, failure can result..."
I have a standard AGA 20H. I am not making huge waves at all. Maybe 1/4" (not even)? I am not making those huge sloshing waves in their youtube videos.
I would love to use short pulse mode ... but not if it means my tank busting.
Thoughts?

edit -also, how come more people don't use short pulse mode? It's cool to see things sway back and forth :)

/edit
 
doubtful. Maybe if the tank was already weak it would break or the tank was half full and you had a 6" wave. I use short pulse in my rimless 17gal ADA tank, no explosions... yet.
 
r0ck0 said:
doubtful. Maybe if the tank was already weak it would break or the tank was half full and you had a 6" wave.

Hm, thanks. I will have to assume that my tank isn't already weak. It is second hand, but appeared to be in pretty good shape when I filled it up and set up the tank.
 
AFAIK that's Vortech's standard disclaimer so you can't turn around and sue them for your tank breaking considering that whole wave action is sort of what they were selling their product on.

It should be ok, especially if you get very little actual wave action going, Smaller tanks more than likely are going to be stronger on the joints per volume of water simply because silicone sticking to glass is going to have a particular tensile strength regardless of how much water is pushing against it.

Also if it makes you feel better I have never been able to get a wave going with my vortechs, but I do get the pulsing action :D
 
I cycle through pulse and the all other Vortec modes every day but my glass is 1/2 " thick. Pulse is my default mode and I do alternate between sync and anti-sync mode as well.
 
there was a huge discussion about this on ReefCentral at some point. In the end, people just said it was just to cover vortech's own butts.

I used to run short pulse, but the ramp up noise was a little annoying and the motors ran a little hot.

Now I only run short pulse to show off to people, then back to reef crest. ;)
 
Thales said:
The breakage is a possibility, but a small one. I run an mp 10 on a 20 gallon with a 1 inch wave. No worries. :D

Standard glass 20g though, right? Not rimless?
 
yeah... i got me one of those with W but I think 2 MP10 would be overkill on BC29... lol
I have to run it at 50%.... Anything over that will blast and spread my sand all over the place.
On short bursts it can handle about 80 to 90% without disturbing much the sand.
 
I was thinking a lone MP10. Or just modify the back (cut hole) to allow a smaller Hydor to fit in. The tank is viewable from all three sides so I think the mod would be the best in terms of sightlyness (sp? even a word??)
 
GreshamH said:
I was thinking a lone MP10. Or just modify the back (cut hole) to allow a smaller Hydor to fit in. The tank is viewable from all three sides so I think the mod would be the best in terms of sightlyness (sp? even a word??)


How about a dry box for the MP10?
 
Very doable. This guy can machine or mold what ever he wants so it could be a very clean set-up. Not usre of how much space is in the filtration cavity on them, nor do I know how much room is needed for the dryside of a MP10. I know who to email on both those questions though :D
 
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