Pumps off for feeding?

KenO

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Messages
1,142
Reaction score
1,063
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I don’t like turning off my return pump unless I have to.. the sump fills, probes get fully submerged, and it jets bubbles when starting back up. It’s made it so I do t bother with a feed mode when feeding. Anyone else experience this?

I should probably just connect my Octo8 pump to the apex, so I can dial the flow way back rather than turn it off altogether..
I don’t turn off my return pumps either. System is too big and I don’t want to go through the restart and the bubbles. I have a roller mat so I turn that off along with my skimmer for 30 minutes. Plus any excess that might get into the overflow will get recirculated back to the tanks or end up in my RDSB and feed the critters in there.
 

vetteguy53081

Well known Member and monster tank lover
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
90,819
Reaction score
200,052
Location
Wisconsin -
Rating - 100%
13   0   0
I leave mine continuous as i have fish everywhere and the type of pump i use, its not the one you want to turn on and off
Very little to no food gets away
 

Crotalus

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 20, 2019
Messages
143
Reaction score
146
Location
Dallas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I will usually turn the power heads off but keep the return pump going. I put half the food in and let them eat it until the point it all is gone or settled to the bottom. I then add the second half of the food. Once that is gone or settled at the bottom, I put on one power head that lifts everything off the sand bed and back into the water column. After about five minutes I put on the second power head. Not sure if this is ideal, but its been working so far for me :)
I do the opposite. Keeping the return pumps going encourages the food to go down the overflows into the filtration. I turn off the return pump and keep the power heads on. This keeps the food suspended where the fish can easily see it. After a very few minutes the food is gone and I turn the returns back on.
 

Tastee

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 19, 2018
Messages
1,124
Reaction score
890
Location
Sydney, Australia
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I use an Apex feed cycle with Alexa integration ‘Alexa, tell Apex Fusion to feed the fish’. The standard fish cycle turns the wavemakers off for 5 minutes and the return off for 8 minutes. On my larger tank the COR-20 return then ramps up over a minute and avoids the bubbles. On the smaller one I can’t ramp the return so it just goes on and I get microbubbles for a couple of minutes, no issue. Probably does a bit to clean the water. I find having the wavemakers turn back on before the returns spark the fish into active feeding mode again to clean up the scraps.

When I feed Reef Roids etc I use a longer return and wavemaker off period to give the corals more time to have their meal.
 

Dragon52

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 29, 2017
Messages
3,156
Reaction score
7,368
Location
Evans, Ga
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Even though I have sinking pellets & feed Frozen if I turned my pump off then my bottom feeders wont get any food because the Tangs, dwarf Angels & my Blue Throat Trigger would eat it all.
 

hyprc

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 26, 2017
Messages
852
Reaction score
652
Location
Cali
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I don't turn any of my pumps off (my fish are used to feeding with full flow and have their favorite spots to intercept the pellets). If I do, they act dumb and let it fall to the sand for the CUC to clean up. Nothing goes down the overflow (again, feeding NLS pellets here and sometimes flake) as long as it breaks the surface tension (I could buy a feeding ring but I'm cheap/lazy and don't want the extra clutter).
 

Eric Miller

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 4, 2016
Messages
55
Reaction score
40
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have 4 wrasses that act like they never have eaten a day in their life. (frenzy) doesn't have a chance to go over or sink to the bottom.
 

YankeeTankee

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 15, 2019
Messages
481
Reaction score
1,046
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I don’t like turning off my return pump unless I have to.. the sump fills, probes get fully submerged, and it jets bubbles when starting back up. It’s made it so I do t bother with a feed mode when feeding. Anyone else experience this?

I should probably just connect my Octo8 pump to the apex, so I can dial the flow way back rather than turn it off altogether..
should the probes not be fully submerged? Is that a problem?
 

BobT

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 12, 2020
Messages
105
Reaction score
70
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
return off power heads on = fish eat moving food and very little waste in sump socks!
 

Calm Blue Ocean

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
May 17, 2020
Messages
1,371
Reaction score
2,127
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Depends what I'm feeding. For pellets I leave everything on and drop the food into a feeding ring. I find the ring keeps it safe from the filtration long enough that it starts to sink and then all the flow can circulate it around the tank for everyone to chase (they all seem to prefer moving food). If I'm feeding frozen I turn everything off and target feed to make sure everyone gets their share of the good stuff. Anything left in the cup I dump in and turn the pumps back on so again it can swirl around for anyone still hungry to chase and what they don't want can get cleaned up by the filter.
 

2BeAlive

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 15, 2020
Messages
69
Reaction score
45
Location
Cape Town
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Is there a different approach in terms of circulation when feeding coral food to when feeding fish food?

Will the corals open and/or stay open and/or get food if the circulation is stopped completely?
 

KellyCorals

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 19, 2020
Messages
342
Reaction score
458
Location
Cocoa Florida
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I don’t like turning off my return pump unless I have to.. the sump fills, probes get fully submerged, and it jets bubbles when starting back up. It’s made it so I do t bother with a feed mode when feeding. Anyone else experience this?

I should probably just connect my Octo8 pump to the apex, so I can dial the flow way back rather than turn it off altogether..

I agree with you, I don’t turn off my return pump ever unless I’m doing a water change. Every time I do turn it off and then back on it seems to suck up “trash” from the sump and send it flying around the tank on start up. Doesn’t seem to affect anything (That I can tell but danger in a tank is almost always invisible) but I don’t think it’s a good thing. I need to invest in a Bluetooth return pump so I can dial it back when needed. I do turn off the reef wave 45 when feeding the fish and corals tho because it just sends the food flying everywhere, but my fish do seem to enjoy chasing the food from the return pump flow. Spot feeding the corals is a bit hard with the return pump going so that will be my next investment along with a bigger sump.
 

Daniel@R2R

Living the Reef Life
View Badges
Joined
Nov 18, 2012
Messages
37,363
Reaction score
63,251
Location
Fontana, California
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
I don't turn off anything. I figure if they have to chase food in nature, they can do it in my tank too. :D
 

LOWRY_PT

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
May 24, 2020
Messages
70
Reaction score
25
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
No I use Mobius.
Can you elaborate on that and ... how you have your pumps programmed? I have 2 mp10 now for my 22 long. One on end facing long ways and other is on other end back wall (drain is on other side wall. Over flow
 

AlgaeBarn

Marine Aquariums Made Easy!
View Badges
Joined
Oct 14, 2013
Messages
2,415
Reaction score
3,508
Location
Denver, Colorado
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
It honestly depends what I am feeding. For corals using pellets, i shut flow off, if feeding fish i do not. Dosing something like AB+ i shut off return but not my mp40. ~Shaun K
 

Sisterlimonpot

Effortless Perfection
View Badges
Joined
Jul 15, 2009
Messages
3,800
Reaction score
7,813
Location
Litchfield Park
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Can you elaborate on that and ... how you have your pumps programmed? I have 2 mp10 now for my 22 long. One on end facing long ways and other is on other end back wall (drain is on other side wall. Over flow
Certainly.

I have pumps on opposite sides of the tank, similar to you except I don't have to compete with an overflow. The opposing pumps are set to a parent/child configuration in anti sync. The parent programmed to gyre @ 40% 10m 0s. Meaning while one pump is flowing 40% for 10 minutes the other is idling, after 10 minutes they switch.

During the feeding scene the pumps are programmed to Feed mode at 50%.

Hopefully that's what you wanted to know.
 

Kris 2020

Super Active Excellent Well Known Member
View Badges
Joined
May 16, 2020
Messages
526
Reaction score
1,203
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I
I don’t like turning off my return pump unless I have to.. the sump fills, probes get fully submerged, and it jets bubbles when starting back up. It’s made it so I do t bother with a feed mode when feeding. Anyone else experience this?

I should probably just connect my Octo8 pump to the apex, so I can dial the flow way back rather than turn it off altogether..
only turn off my gyres when I feed. I let my return pump run, I don’t even shut it off for water changes. I use a fish feeder that lets the food loose several inches beplow the surface so it doesn’t go down the return.
 

Pistondog

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 28, 2020
Messages
5,263
Reaction score
9,402
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Using apex feed mode
Press feed mode a
Return pump, skimmer and powerheads off, fish know whats next!
Apply food
Wait 10 minutes
Powerheads on, stirring up any food on surfaces, fish get 2nd chance
Wait 10 minutes
Return pump on
Wait 1 minute
Skimmer on.
Feed mode b, same except apex auto feeder on for a rotation at apply food. For remote feeding.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 73 37.8%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 66 34.2%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 13.0%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 28 14.5%
  • Other.

    Votes: 1 0.5%
Back
Top