whot do you guys do at feeding time

turning off return pump and powerheads when feeding

  • yes turn off return pump and powerheads

    Votes: 18 32.1%
  • just powerheads

    Votes: 12 21.4%
  • just return pump

    Votes: 6 10.7%
  • dont bother turning off for feeding

    Votes: 21 37.5%

  • Total voters
    56

johnj

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iv just set my 1st marine tank up and one of the things that gets my goat already is getting under the cabinet to turn all things off or down when feeding" not to bad if feeding once! but 3-4 times a day is getting to me :mad:

whot do you guys do at feeding times!
 

lapin

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I do nothing. Well almost nothing, for fish I put the food in with a turkey baser on the far end of the tank down low so it stays away from the overflow. For corals on Sunday I turkey base them with a lot of PhytoFeast, OysterFeast, Reefroids, and some frozen Rotifers and Calanus. Tank is covered in a heavy blanket of food fog.
 

AdamB

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Usually feed reef frenzy without turning off pumps. I do turn off blue tooth controlled eflux return pump and wavemakers from my phone when i spot feed corals....i got tired of going under cabinet to turn off too!
 

Tompickles

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I bought wifi plugs off amazon and plug the return pump into it so at feeding time I go into the app from my phone and turn off just the return and set a timer for it to come back on automatically
 

Leadfooted

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iv just set my 1st marine tank up and one of the things that gets my goat already is getting under the cabinet to turn all things off or down when feeding" not to bad if feeding once! but 3-4 times a day is getting to me :mad:

whot do you guys do at feeding times!
What types of corals do you have? Different corals prefer different feeding methods.
 

Dom

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iv just set my 1st marine tank up and one of the things that gets my goat already is getting under the cabinet to turn all things off or down when feeding" not to bad if feeding once! but 3-4 times a day is getting to me :mad:

whot do you guys do at feeding times!

Personally, I leave everything running so that food mixes well win the water. You want filter feeders and such to get fed too.
 

Bryknicks

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They sell wifi power strips and plugs now. I have one set up on my nano tank and it works great. Can also set up a schedule for lights, pumps, etc.

On my main tank I have an apex controller set up. I have my return pump and wavemakers shut off but my wavemakers come back on early in order to kick up and food that fell to the sand before the return comes back on and pushes it down the overflow.
 
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johnj

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What types of corals do you have? Different corals prefer different feeding methods.
just 4 fish at minute because only few weeks after cycle" iv got a apex controller im thinking about using to control return pump but not sure it will control new maxspect xf350 and may need a wxm module to control the vortech mp40
 

Salty Lemon

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I leave everything on, but I do something similar as @lapin does. I feed primarily frozen food, use a baster and stick it about halfway down. The powerheads mix everything up for everyone. Not much goes through the overflow. On a day that I don't work on the weekend, I give the individual corals a squirt with a coral food.
 

tonydig11

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Be careful with the WiFi plugs. I bought one The Alexa branded one) and thought everything was all good until i noticed that in a power outage it goes to an off state when power returns. If this happened while I was at work it could have been a disaster. I did some searching and this is a safety feature. Like if it was connected to a toaster or coffee pot. Does us no good if we want it to return in the on position.
 

WVNed

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What you need to do depends on how you run your tank.

I don't run any filtration so any food I throw in the tanks just goes around and around until something eats it.
That wont work if you have a canister filter or socks. If the food goes there you are just feeding bacteria which are supposed to be the bottom of the food chain, not the top.
 

Wayne P.

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I keep everything on when feeding fish. When I am target feeding my corals I turn everything off for a few minutes and then turn it on again. I use ReefRoids. So I get the corals targeted and then when I turn everything back on the remainder flows around for the filter feeders.
 

Mical

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I turn off return pump only, let the power heads circulate food around the tank(s) for 10 minutes. I use the feed mode on Apex twice a day. I mostly feed pellets & reef roids mix in auto feeders daily then on weekends it's mysis, frozen shrimp & littleneck clams for nems, and nori for foxface and bi color rabbitfish.
 

jgvergo

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I turn everything off and spot feed the corals with a turkey baster. I also feed my 4 rock flower news, shrimps and fancy brittle star chunks of shrimp by hand. I'll let everything sit for 10 minutes so they can ingest food. Then I stir everything with a 30 second powerhead blast which kicks up everything that was settled so the fish can get more. I do this 2-3 times, then turn everything back on.
 

S2G

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Going under the cabinet? Automate or use a simple dj switch with a cover over it.

I personally leave everything on and feed in a lower flow zone
 

Jon Fishman

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iv just set my 1st marine tank up and one of the things that gets my goat already is getting under the cabinet to turn all things off or down when feeding" not to bad if feeding once! but 3-4 times a day is getting to me :mad:

whot do you guys do at feeding times!

Just powerheads, but I made them easy to access so I still turn them off by hand....

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Leadfooted

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just 4 fish at minute because only few weeks after cycle" iv got a apex controller im thinking about using to control return pump but not sure it will control new maxspect xf350 and may need a wxm module to control the vortech mp40
Feed minimal if it's anew system. Once your tank develops other creatures (spaghetti worms, feather dusters, bristle worms and etc) that a will eat nutrients, you can get away with feeding more including broadcasting.

To start, I would only suggest spot feeding any LSP corals by shutting everything off and lowering your light output (maybe only blue light) and using a baster feeder of some sorts. 6-10 mins of no flow gives most all LPS enough time to gobble down what you provide.

I'd skip on additives for SPS for now. They will be fine eating your fish poop in any flow condition but I like to slow mine down to allow their polyps to extend a little more, just be sure you're feeding your fish a good diet with a mix of nutrients.

If you do feed, check to make sure any foods left over are swept up in the currents/flow or make sure you have a good clean up crew of crabs,shrimp or snails. Clean up crews are very important for a new system so get a good one.
 

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