shutting off pumps/powerheads/skimmers - feeding & at night

[Flame*Angel]

I've got my stand just about finished and I'm getting an electrician in this week to run a new line for my tank. I'm setting up all my gear in the basement below the tank and I'm thinking about getting the electrician to wire a couple switches in the stand to allow me to be able to shut off power heads, pumps, skimmer for feeding and possibly the power heads and/or my SeaSwirls at night.

I'm wondering if many people are shutting these things off for feeding and/or overnight? How important is this? Is it worth getting the switches wired?

[dnjan]

I use a WavemasterPro, and the feeding cycle turns all the pumps off but one for thirty minutes (feeding cycle). I like this - doesn't skim floating food away, het still provides some circulation to get the smaller foods (DT's, etc) well dispersed.

I think you want to keep your skimmer on at night, at least until your tank is stable enough (> 1 year) that you begin to contemplate going skimmerless.

A separate switch for the skimmer is nice. Though I usually empty my skimmer while it is off during feeding, I occaisionally forget, and need to empty it after the evening feeding. With the switch, I just turn the skimmer off, empty and clean the cup, put the cup back on, and turn the skimmer back on.

[JSC]

I dont I just dump the food in the right spots so it scatters around, my fish know where it goes and they are quick to snatch it up. Might be nice to have a switch though to turn off poweheads while feeding. The only thing I could think negative is that half the time when I turn my powerheads off and plug back in they dont come on and i have to mess around with them which is a PIA. I would not turn off powerheads at night though. From what I have read the ocean has as much current at night as in the day so it would be unnatural to have alot less flow at night.

[Q-ball]

Yup, I turn off my pumps to feed my fish. Feeding time is interaction time with my fish, they come up to the surface, eating from my fingers (clean of course;)) and that's part of it all for me I guess. With my new stand, I took a standard rocker-type wall switch, mounted that on the outside of the stand. I wired a 6-plug strip through it after my GFCI. Feeding time is easy, I just hit that switch on the side of the stand & all pumps are off. Works for me, & it was pretty easy to wire up too. HTH

Q!!!

[Flame*Angel]

I'm trying to make a list of everything I need to plug in both upstairs and down. I want to use good quality GFCIs but I'm up to 12 items downstairs and 6 upstairs, and it wouldn't hurt to have a few spare plugs too - I'm sure I'll be wanting to add items after I'm up and running.

Do I really need that GFCIs or can I plug in a power bar to one and just plug everything into that?

[dnjan]

One GFCI covers the entire circuit. Plug the powerstrip into the GFCI-wired outlet. Many people prefer two separate GFCI circuits - that way if something trips one of them, everything doesn't go off. Normally, one or more (but not all) of the powerheadsare put on a separate GFCI circuit.

[johnny]

Flame,

Bout darn time you started setting your tank up ;)

You may want to put a powerhead on a regular outlet (non GFCI)... most GFCI if the power goes out... they trip and need to be reset. If you have a powerhead on a regular outlet, you'll keep some current going until you can get back to reset the GFCIs.

Nick

[Rovert]

FA -

I also turn my circulation and skimmer off while feeding. I use an X-10 setup, that allows me to individually control everything from my PC or from a remote. I also use the system to control my lighting.

Whether feeding the fish, or with DT's, I add it to the sump, and allow the Ocean Currents nozzle to distribute it through the water, the only difference being whether I also turn off my skimmer. When direct feeding some corals, I turn the sump pump off, and use a turkey baster to apply the food.

In either case, I usually never leave the tank without circulation for more than 1/2 hour to 45min. So far, no adverse effects that I can see.

HTH.