Poll: Pumps on or off during feeding time?

dbl · Jan 17, 2018

I for one leave everything running when I feed the fish. Could just be me, but I enjoy watching them go a little crazy chasing food all over - it just seems more natural.

What about the rest of you. Do you turn off your pumps when you feed, slow them down or just let them run?

nautical_nathaniel · Jan 17, 2018

I usually turn at least the return pump off when feeding mainly because I do not want any food to be trapped in my media baskets with filter floss in them. This is mainly to ensure that no food is left to breakdown and contribute to poor water quality but to also make sure I am getting the most out of my fish food and not wasting any.

I will sometimes turn my powerhead off when feeding corals, mainly to give the corals a chance to grab on to as much food as possible before it gets blown off of them.

mckinleyw · Jan 17, 2018

I personally do a lil of both. sometimes ill leave on my powerheads but turn off my return to allow the food to stay in the display where it can be eaten but still gives the fish something to chase. other times I may turn everything off and sometimes I leave everything on. It depends on what I am feeding and how I feel.

andrewkw · Jan 17, 2018

For feeding the fish I leave everything on.
For feeding the corals I turn everything (including the return off). After 30 minutes or so if corals are still eating I will turn the return back on and wait a little longer for powerheads.

hubble · Jan 17, 2018

I turn my return pump off (it has a feed mode 15 minutes) and leave one powerhead running to circulate the food. Keeps a lot of food in the tank and out of the overflow.

Rufus’ goofs · Jan 17, 2018

I turn off my return pumps, and leave my circulation pumps on.
So filtration gets shut off during feeding, not necessarily water movement.

mta_morrow · Jan 17, 2018

I turn return pump off and leave power heads on........you should make that a poll option as many folks will choose that. It may very well be the #1 option. As it stands now, I cant vote. Just my opinion to help have a more helpful poll.

DSC reef · Jan 17, 2018

I turn off the main pump then turn the gyre down to 30% to keep the food moving. Then I hit feed mode on the gyre so our mandarins can grab some food in there little corner.

reefndude · Jan 17, 2018

I leave all pumps on. My fish don't give food a chance to go down the drain.

jd371 · Jan 17, 2018

I put the return pump in feed mode so it slows down to just a trickle. The Ph's are put in feed mode (off) while I feed my fish black worms, when they're done eating the black worms and I switch to a mixture of fish and coral food I turn them back on again so the food gets circulated around the tank.

PiscesPower · Jan 17, 2018

I turn my return off for 30 minutes, I turn powerheads off for a few minutes and then they go back on normal if I'm feeding any pellets since they seem to have an affinity for the overflow. When I feed frozen I tend to spot feed into the tank more so I leave everything on.

Daniel@R2R · Jan 17, 2018

dbl said:
I for one leave everything running when I feed the fish. Could just be me, but I enjoy watching them go a little crazy chasing food all over - it just seems more natural.

What about the rest of you. Do you turn off your pumps when you feed, slow them down or just let them run?

Same. I figure fish in the ocean have to catch their food. Why should mine be lazy?

dbl · Jan 17, 2018

hubble said:
I turn my return pump off (it has a feed mode 15 minutes) and leave one powerhead running to circulate the food. Keeps a lot of food in the tank and out of the overflow.

Ergodyne said:
I turn off my return pumps, and leave my circulation pumps on.
So filtration gets shut off during feeding, not necessarily water movement.

mtamorrow said:
I turn return pump off and leave power heads on........you should make that a poll option as many folks will choose that. It may very well be the #1 option. As it stands now, I cant vote. Just my opinion to help have a more helpful poll.

DSC reef said:
I turn off the main pump then turn the gyre down to 30% to keep the food moving. Then I hit feed mode on the gyre so our mandarins can grab some food in there little corner.

Based on the early responses, I've added a couple of additional options. Please feel free to change your votes accordingly and thanks for the feedback.

dbl · Jan 17, 2018

mdbannister said:
Same. I figure fish in the ocean have to catch their food. Why should mine be lazy?

My thoughts exactly Daniel. And to the naysayers, yes, I realize some of our fish may have never seen the ocean...it just seems more natural.

madweazl · Jan 17, 2018

I leave everything on; gotta get food to all them corals.

Flippers4pups · Jan 17, 2018

Return stays on, wave pumps off on feed mode in my system when I feed.

Crabs McJones · Jan 17, 2018

My MP10's have a feed mode that slows the pumps down to the slowest possible for 10 minutes, then resumes the previous setting. My return pump stays on normal as it is not able to be slowed down. I would one day like to get the Ecotech Vectra S1, and sync it to my mp10's and have all of them slow down for a feed mode. But that's probably a ways down the road

ca1ore · Jan 17, 2018

I really have never understood the logic (illogic LOL) of turning off pumps. First off, it will prematurely age your pump. Second, the feeding response of many fish improves markedly if they 'think' the food is alive and attempting to escape - particularly for anthias. Third, a bit of food over the weir will just feed the refugium. Fourth, widely broadcasting food around the tank means that less aggressive fish are more likely to get some. I actually pour frozen into my MP60. I suppose if somebody runs massive flow through their sump, that may be problematic; I run 2-3X display per hour so not an issue for me.

Flatlandreefer · Jan 17, 2018

Everything stays on when I feed my fish, everything gets turned off when I spot feed my coral.

BigJim · Jan 17, 2018

I only feed frozen food, alternating between LRS Fish Frenzy, LRS Reef Frenzy and Rod's Original. I have a Copperband in the tank and he eats a little slower than the other fish, so I turn off all pumps and powerheads to allow him to get his fill. I also feed in small increments using a turkey baster so the other fish don't gobble everything up in 20 seconds. Once I have finished, I turn the powerheads on for a few minutes and allow the fish to eat what gets stirred back up. Then I turn the return pump back on.