Nero5 wave timing

Copingwithpods · Mar 5, 2020

Recently purchased a Nero 5 and I have been looking everywhere for a guide to the pulse modes,advantages and disadvantages of having longer or shorter waves. Will a 1s on 1s off really be that much different from a 1 250ms on 1s off?

Is any of this a benefit to the corals or more for visual appeal in the speed of which everything sways back and forth.

I run a 1s on 1s off and will be completely honest have no clue how I landed there. All I know is everything sways back and forth and that's about as much input as went into that decision.

So those of you with nero5s what's your pulse timing and how did you arrive at it?

Copingwithpods · Mar 9, 2020

Anyone?

SDK · Mar 9, 2020

It sounds like you are fine if your corals are moving and seem otherwise happy. The wave length adjustability is primarily to accommodate different scenarios like tank length, multiple pumps vs single pump, etc.

Copingwithpods · Mar 9, 2020

SDK said:
It sounds like you are fine if your corals are moving and seem otherwise happy. The wave length adjustability is primarily to accommodate different scenarios like tank length, multiple pumps vs single pump, etc.

To be honest I was hoping someone would jump in here and say "hey try x off and x on its great" or something along those lines that would give me that "aha" moment.

SDK · Mar 10, 2020

There are very few things in this hobby with that straightforward an answer lol. I have a Nero 5 and really like the random mode, which I think more naturally imitates the random fluctuations in the ocean.

Paston1 · Nov 20, 2021

I use 4 on 4 off. But .5 on and 1.5 off is solid also. I use 6 though.

Idech · Nov 20, 2021

BRS has videos about it. I use mine in random mode, with slower speed at night. I have a Nero 3 and Nero 5 and use them as parent/child.

I haven’t used pulsing yet because I don’t have enough corals for that but I plan to.

Homebrewer · Nov 21, 2021

Copingwithpods said:
To be honest I was hoping someone would jump in here and say "hey try x off and x on its great" or something along those lines that would give me that "aha" moment.

I agree with others and what works for me might not work for you. But here is goes…

I have 2 pumps and I mostly use the random mode, but for 3 hours a day I use the pulse, separately… meaning if one pump is on pulse the other on random. I have anemones and some softies and I like the motion.

Now as for rate, I use 50%, 2 s on, 1 s off, and I’ll tell you exactly why… these settings prevent the pump from completely stopping between pulses. I like this for 2 reasons: first it’s not going to catch a weaker-swimming fish off-guard and suck it in (there will always be water being pulled into the back), and second, my guess (and it’s a total guess) is that multiple cycles of stopping and starting are harder on the pump than a slow-down/ramp-up that keeps the impeller spinning.

Check out this thread I authored a while back, might help:

Nero 5 - % Settings and Actual Flow

First, I want to say that I love these pumps. If I were writing a review on a vendor website, it would be "5 stars" and "yes, I would recommend to a friend." These are my first controllable pumps and I find the app to be really easy to use, fun to program, and I think built-in flow meter is...

www.reef2reef.com

Good luck finding what works for you!