Cycling Reefmat on and off

[Scottm032]

I have been uncomfortable with my nutrient levels being so low so this morning I decided to turn off my Reefmat at night. I am gonna start with a 12 on 12 off cycle and see what effect that has on my nutrients as well as detritus build up in my sump. It is already plugged into my Apex so I labeled it a light and set the schedule. Easy enough.

My main question has anyone else had success with doing this?

 

[TX_REEF]

I have been uncomfortable with my nutrient levels being so low so this morning I decided to turn off my Reefmat at night. I am gonna start with a 12 on 12 off cycle and see what effect that has on my nutrients as well as detritus build up in my sump. It is already plugged into my Apex so I labeled it a light and set the schedule. Easy enough.

My main question has anyone else had success with doing this?

I haven't seen it done by I'm sure it will work as intended. Do you have a skimmer or other nutrient export? Reason I ask is I also had zero/low nutrients and just turned off my skimmer to fix the issue. I also run a reefmat.

Another option to consider is to have some of your water bypass the reefmat with a fitting so not all of your water is being polished.

 

[exnisstech]

I did it for a while when my NO3 and PO4 bottomed out. I'm back to running it 24/7 now that I have levels detectable and stable. I had to dose N and P off and on. I started dosing bacto balance daily and bacteria bi weekly for the last few months. N and P are staying low but detectable. I am no longer running a skimmer on that tank.

 

[Scottm032]

I haven't seen it done by I'm sure it will work as intended. Do you have a skimmer or other nutrient export? Reason I ask is I also had zero/low nutrients and just turned off my skimmer to fix the issue. I also run a reefmat.

Another option to consider is to have some of your water bypass the reefmat with a fitting so not all of your water is being polished.

I’m not up for the plumbing included in the bypass. I’ll see how this goes and I can cycle the skimmer of/on if needed. I never had such a clean sump before the reefmat. If it gets dirty I can always switch tactics.