Pumps off for feeding??

[ElGuappo]

Sorry didnt realize this was a fowlr forum still you might find this useful

Im new at the marine thing as of 6 monthes ago. when is started my tank i was told to turn pumps off at feeding time for my dovetail snails, now howeveri have taken it one step further for feeding corals and such.

When i feed i use an old flake container to thaw out food, i am slowly triing to get my fish onto pellets and flakes.
When i dip the yellow container into the water to collect water to thaw food. my fish have come to recognize that means feeding time.

when food is thawed i pour over a high current portion in my tank. let it run for about 45 seconds then shut down. after all the food has settled i start the pumps again for about 15 seconds (just to lift some food).I will do this several times. once everthing settled on the bottom yet again i let it sit for about 10 min then run pumps as normal. this just creats better opertuities for my jawfish,Crabs, and coral to grab a bite. I also have finicky fish this gives them another chance at food missed the first time around.

Sorry this got long but i could have written alot more.

this is due to my havig watched every feeding for the last 6 monthe

[rocketlily]

If you are shutting off pumps during feeding, do you have check valves for eliminating the siphoning of the return lines or do you drill siphon holes in the return lines.

Just doing the plumbing now and I want to make sure I get it right, as some of the corals do need the pumps off for feeding.

[niloc16]

personally i dont shut the pumps off. my theory is that in the wild the fish dont hve still current during feeding time and i think it is more natural for the fish to chase down the food. just my theory though

[rocketlily]

I agree with you on the fish, but when you have a coral that must be feed, such as suncorals, you can really waste alot of food if the flow is too high.

[naesco]

For fish only I think it doesn't make any difference but for reef I shut off the pumps and skimmer for an hour after I feed micro foods.

[rocketlily]

Originally Posted by naesco

For fish only I think it doesn't make any difference but for reef I shut off the pumps and skimmer for an hour after I feed micro foods.

So how do you prevent your tank from siphoning back through the pump when you shut the pump off?

[Trigger Man]

I don't shut of the pumps when feeding, my fish have just gotten used to it. Even with my corals I keep everything running.

[naesco]

Originally Posted by rocketlily

So how do you prevent your tank from siphoning back through the pump when you shut the pump off?

The tank water siphons to the sump (fills it 3/4) until the water level goes below the outlet from the tank which stops the siphoning.

I want to add I also remove the sock filter and put it back on in the evening. This allows any microfood to cycle back into the tank rather than getting caught up in the filter or the skimmer which I also turn back on at that time.

[Johnny Reefer]

Originally Posted by niloc16

personally i dont shut the pumps off. my theory is that in the wild the fish dont hve still current during feeding time and i think it is more natural for the fish to chase down the food. just my theory though

I like that theory. That's my excuse for leaving the powerheads on. Even though I have the auto shut off feature (Tunzes) I don't like to be controlled myself, that way. I'll feed 'em when I'm ready to feed 'em, not when the controller is ready. Too lazy to unplug them manually, each time. However, I should augment this by saying that I do have high NO3 and I probably overfeed. Working on both.

Originally Posted by rocketlily

I agree with you on the fish, but when you have a coral that must be feed, such as suncorals, you can really waste alot of food if the flow is too high.

I never target feed my sun corals. Have 5 of them and they are all doing fine. I feed Cyclopeeze (freeze dried and frozen), Coral Frenzy, and Live Rotifers. (Not all each night). Because I leave my powerheads/pump on, the stuff gets blown all over the place. Sun corals open up everytime this food goes in. Actually, they begin opening up when I first feed the fish mysis, plankton, squid, Marine Cuisine, Emerald Entree (whatever the flavour of the day). They sense it and I suppose there are enough little bits for them to chow on. Then they get the other micro foods.

[mike31154]

I keep my flow going as well. Only have several corals that don't require target feeding. My fish don't mind chasing the food. I figure when I'm away for a few days, no one will be there to turn the pumps off and on at feeding time so they may as well get used to one mode. I let my auto fish feeder do its thing even when I'm at home, only difference is, I feed frozen goodies in the evening manually. The feeder is an Eheim double barrel model with flakes in one compartment and CycloPeeze granules in the other. The routine is flakes in the morning, granules around noon and the frozen goodies in the evening. Yep, 3 feedings a day but each one is a light feeding. So the only difference to the critters when I'm not around is the frozen stuff in the evening, they'll end up with more flakes from the auto feeder. Almost forgot, I also provide a small amount of nori on a clip for the tang & angelfish I have. Pumps have no effect on that of course.

In order to prevent all the flakes from ending up in the overflow for my skimmer, I fashioned an acrylic mount for the auto feeder with a kind of box affair extending into the water to act as a feeding ring. This allows the flakes to soak a little so that they sink instead of floating away on the surface. The Singapore angelfish and cleaner shrimp often come along and help flush the food out of the holding box. Once in the water column, the flow nicely distributes the stuff so everyone gets a crack at it. As far as I can tell, they enjoy the hunt.