Considering feeding at night and turning down filtration pumps at night

waverider · Jan 16, 2021

Assuming soft corals and LPS feed at night -Im considering turning feeding my soft corals and LPS at night with the direct turkey baster method and leaving my pumps off for an hour or two after -or programming my pumps to turn on in the morning while leaving a small powerhead on to circulate fresh nutrients during the night. In the morning, Filtration resumes. Skimmer resumes. Just an idea. What do you guys think?

hds4216 · Jan 16, 2021

I think the first idea would be fine, but I definitely would not leave my filtration and skimming off for most of the night.

waverider · Jan 16, 2021

Lights are going off now. And within an hour of lights out my Micromussa (Acans) will have tentacles extended into the water. -I spy on them after dark and its pretty obvious there is a biological function going on. Tonight Im going to start feeding after dark and turn filtration off for an hour or so and leave all but one small powerhead just to stir the water. So that there is a soup of plankton and micro shrimp circulating about.

Anthony Scholfield · Jan 16, 2021

Here are my thoughts on your idea.....

I like feeding my LPS when its dark because they are often more ready for food and i dont have to deal with the fish thieving it from my coral,haha, so yeah feed after lights out.

I turn off the pumps just long enough to direct feed them with mysis using a baster or tongs on diced pieces of shrimp for the bigger ones. Once im finished and i see the coral has a hold of the food i turn the pump back on as normal.

i guess i would not recommend turning the pumps off for the night because you will likely have food that gets trapped or settles in places you dont want and it will only decay. Plus corals like flow, so to shut off that regular flow for hours at a time isnt the best in my opinion.

Yes, you my have one small pump moving some water but will it be what the coral and tank needs? Thats up to you to decide i guess. Are you trying to feed the coral or the tank?