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View Full Version : Pumps off for feeding??


banditpowdercoat
02-22-2008, 04:04 AM
OK, Just wondering, thnking about making a Feeding Timer fro my pumps to calm the water at feeding time. I do this with my FW tank, but wondering if its a good idea with SW? Just filling with Salt right now, LR should be here tomorrow. A while before fishies are even thought of, but was just wondering abotu feeding time and pump flow??

hillbillyreefer
02-22-2008, 04:27 AM
I shut mine off and target feed the critters. As I stock the tanks this is becoming time consuming though. I'd like to hear what others do as well.

banditpowdercoat
02-22-2008, 04:29 AM
Basically, I have an idea of a controller set fro 10 Min and you push the button, it shuts off the pumps for the set time< then automatically restarts them. Great if your absent minded like me and froget to turn them back on.

UnderWorldAquatics
02-22-2008, 06:15 AM
depending on the feeding requirements and orp levels it can be a great idea and benefit to shut off some or all pumps durring feeding!

mark
02-22-2008, 12:21 PM
When I tried Reefroids I would shut off the return but leave the CL going. For normal feedings, I just leave the pumps on.

ElGuappo
02-22-2008, 11:37 PM
Sorry didnt realize this was a fowlr forum still you might find this useful

Im new at the marine thing as of 6 monthes ago. when is started my tank i was told to turn pumps off at feeding time for my dovetail snails, now howeveri have taken it one step further for feeding corals and such.

When i feed i use an old flake container to thaw out food, i am slowly triing to get my fish onto pellets and flakes.
When i dip the yellow container into the water to collect water to thaw food. my fish have come to recognize that means feeding time.

when food is thawed i pour over a high current portion in my tank. let it run for about 45 seconds then shut down. after all the food has settled i start the pumps again for about 15 seconds (just to lift some food).I will do this several times. once everthing settled on the bottom yet again i let it sit for about 10 min then run pumps as normal. this just creats better opertuities for my jawfish,Crabs, and coral to grab a bite. I also have finicky fish this gives them another chance at food missed the first time around.

Sorry this got long but i could have written alot more.

this is due to my havig watched every feeding for the last 6 monthe

rocketlily
11-18-2008, 02:51 AM
If you are shutting off pumps during feeding, do you have check valves for eliminating the siphoning of the return lines or do you drill siphon holes in the return lines.

Just doing the plumbing now and I want to make sure I get it right, as some of the corals do need the pumps off for feeding.

niloc16
11-18-2008, 02:54 AM
personally i dont shut the pumps off. my theory is that in the wild the fish dont hve still current during feeding time and i think it is more natural for the fish to chase down the food. just my theory though

rocketlily
11-18-2008, 02:58 AM
I agree with you on the fish, but when you have a coral that must be feed, such as suncorals, you can really waste alot of food if the flow is too high.

naesco
11-18-2008, 03:18 AM
For fish only I think it doesn't make any difference but for reef I shut off the pumps and skimmer for an hour after I feed micro foods.

rocketlily
11-18-2008, 03:41 AM
For fish only I think it doesn't make any difference but for reef I shut off the pumps and skimmer for an hour after I feed micro foods.

So how do you prevent your tank from siphoning back through the pump when you shut the pump off?

Trigger Man
11-18-2008, 03:54 AM
I don't shut of the pumps when feeding, my fish have just gotten used to it. Even with my corals I keep everything running.

mark
11-18-2008, 04:17 AM
If you are shutting off pumps during feeding, do you have check valves for eliminating the siphoning of the return lines or do you drill siphon holes in the return lines.

Just doing the plumbing now and I want to make sure I get it right, as some of the corals do need the pumps off for feeding.


Shutting the pumps off for feeding, power outages, whatever, should design your system to handle what might return to the sump.

Johnny Reefer
11-18-2008, 05:14 AM
personally i dont shut the pumps off. my theory is that in the wild the fish dont hve still current during feeding time and i think it is more natural for the fish to chase down the food. just my theory though
I like that theory. That's my excuse for leaving the powerheads on. Even though I have the auto shut off feature (Tunzes) I don't like to be controlled myself, that way. I'll feed 'em when I'm ready to feed 'em, not when the controller is ready. Too lazy to unplug them manually, each time. However, I should augment this by saying that I do have high NO3 and I probably overfeed. Working on both.

I agree with you on the fish, but when you have a coral that must be feed, such as suncorals, you can really waste alot of food if the flow is too high.
I never target feed my sun corals. Have 5 of them and they are all doing fine. I feed Cyclopeeze (freeze dried and frozen), Coral Frenzy, and Live Rotifers. (Not all each night). Because I leave my powerheads/pump on, the stuff gets blown all over the place. Sun corals open up everytime this food goes in. Actually, they begin opening up when I first feed the fish mysis, plankton, squid, Marine Cuisine, Emerald Entree (whatever the flavour of the day). They sense it and I suppose there are enough little bits for them to chow on. Then they get the other micro foods.

mike31154
11-18-2008, 05:44 AM
I keep my flow going as well. Only have several corals that don't require target feeding. My fish don't mind chasing the food. I figure when I'm away for a few days, no one will be there to turn the pumps off and on at feeding time so they may as well get used to one mode. I let my auto fish feeder do its thing even when I'm at home, only difference is, I feed frozen goodies in the evening manually. The feeder is an Eheim double barrel model with flakes in one compartment and CycloPeeze granules in the other. The routine is flakes in the morning, granules around noon and the frozen goodies in the evening. Yep, 3 feedings a day but each one is a light feeding. So the only difference to the critters when I'm not around is the frozen stuff in the evening, they'll end up with more flakes from the auto feeder. Almost forgot, I also provide a small amount of nori on a clip for the tang & angelfish I have. Pumps have no effect on that of course.

In order to prevent all the flakes from ending up in the overflow for my skimmer, I fashioned an acrylic mount for the auto feeder with a kind of box affair extending into the water to act as a feeding ring. This allows the flakes to soak a little so that they sink instead of floating away on the surface. The Singapore angelfish and cleaner shrimp often come along and help flush the food out of the holding box. Once in the water column, the flow nicely distributes the stuff so everyone gets a crack at it. As far as I can tell, they enjoy the hunt.

X-Treme
11-18-2008, 01:37 PM
I think it depends on WHAT you are feeding... For instance... When I feed mysis, I turn the pumps and powerheads off so food gets down to all the critters, but when I feed BBS, I leave powerheads on and just shut off the skimmer (sumpless) so that the BBS is always moving around, not just sitting up at the top where the light is.

Parker
11-18-2008, 02:52 PM
I run everything 24/7. I don't even bother to shut my skimmer down to clean the collection cup, dial it back pull the cup and off I go.

Lance
11-18-2008, 05:18 PM
I run everything 24/7. I don't even bother to shut my skimmer down to clean the colection cup, dial it back pull the cup and off I go.


Same here.

naesco
11-19-2008, 02:49 AM
So how do you prevent your tank from siphoning back through the pump when you shut the pump off?

The tank water siphons to the sump (fills it 3/4) until the water level goes below the outlet from the tank which stops the siphoning.

I want to add I also remove the sock filter and put it back on in the evening. This allows any microfood to cycle back into the tank rather than getting caught up in the filter or the skimmer which I also turn back on at that time.

dstasiuk
11-20-2008, 04:13 PM
Shutting the pumps off for feeding, power outages, whatever, should design your system to handle what might return to the sump.

Good advice. In my case, my sump is big enough to handle all the water that my tank will return through the pump when it is shut off. But I also have a check valve in the line that only allows the water to drop to the overflow boxes. That way, the water in the display tank only drops about 1" with pumps shut off. BUT, if the check valve fails, the sump can still take all the water...

I shut off my return pump for feedings, but leave the closed loop running. This tends to circulate the food to all the critters. Reefkeeper 2 is adjusted for a 10 minute delay. By then, every morsel is history...