leave all powerheads on 24/7?

manaf · #1 12-16-2009, 06:38 AM

so i was thinking of turning off my koralia 4 and 3 at night and just leave 2 koralias running at night? just for the fish to relax a bit? would this harm anything? i dont got any serious corals that require alot of flow just some softies

and i dont have the money to get a wavemaker

thx for the help!

ScubaSteve · #2 12-16-2009, 07:00 AM

As long as you don't have anything that has any major flow requirements it shouldn't be too bad. In fact I remember seeing several wavemakers and other control units having a quiet nighttime mode.

I personally have a similar set-up (aka the ghetto wavemaker) in my 20G using electronic programmable plugs from Wal-mart ($20! Have two plug sockets and they are more bomb-proof than anything else I have used) to control my two bigger K2's through out the day to mimic the directions of the tides (actually set to tide times... nerdy, I know...). So at my "simulated" ebb and slack tides, the only thing I have running for a short time is a koralia nano. Nothing seems overly unhappy with this, in fact some of my corals really started to flourish with this. If you have a lot of fish, I would be a little concerned with keeping the water turned over for good O2 concentrations though.

I'd suggest trying a night without the K3, see how things do. Then try a night without the K4 and see how it goes. Then finally give it a go with both of them off and pray. Oh, and don't forget to turn them back on again!

manaf · #3 12-16-2009, 07:16 AM

thx alot for the advice im going to try that i think my fish kinda want a rest for a bit cause i got a cowfish and its not the best swimmer and having 81.25 turnover rate he can get cranky with that

corpusse · #4 12-16-2009, 09:38 AM

The ocean doesn't get calmer at night.

The only time I turn my powerheads off is during target feeding. Fish will find calm places to sleep.

Ryan · #5 12-16-2009, 01:36 PM

I agree with corpusse. Your fish usually sleep right in the rockwork anyway I wouldnt worry too much about.

shrimpchips · #6 12-16-2009, 01:50 PM

It's also important to keep the dissolved oxygen levels up, especially at night when everything in your DT is respiring so the O2 levels drop much more - turning down the current can reduce the O2 in your tank and cause problems - same thing with turning off your skimmer at night. I wouldn't do it.

manaf · #7 12-16-2009, 03:11 PM

alright ill leave it all on just thought it was a concern for my cowfish but he just sleeps in the corner so i think its fine

thx guys!

Skimmerking · #8 12-16-2009, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan

I agree with corpusse. Your fish usually sleep right in the rockwork anyway I wouldnt worry too much about.

Just for the Record Fish don't sleep.

fkshiu · #9 12-16-2009, 06:07 PM

My Tunzes go into a slower night mode. Not sure if it helps any, but it doesn't hurt anything either.

It may be helpful in that I just dump a slurry of Reefroids etc in after lights out and the polyps seem to have an easier time feeding with the lower flow.

kien · #10 12-16-2009, 06:58 PM

I put my two Tunze into sleep mode as well (50% of normal output). I have a couple of fish that hover to sleep and they seem to appreciate it (not as restless at night). I also have tiny shrimp (sexy and glass) that come out at night. No problems with anyone in this mode of operation so far.