How Long Do You Turn Your Pumps Off When Feeding Corals?

[PeterC99]

Curious how long Reefers turn their pumps off when feeding their corals? Are there advantages to leaving them off longer to allow more feeding time for the corals? Is there a point where the corals won’t consume any more food? Or does it not make any difference. Appreciate the feedback! Thanks!

 

[T-J]

For feeding corals, I turn everything off for about 10-15 minutes. When I start it back up, I first do my return, which add minimal flow to the tank. Then I turn on my MP40's, then my skimmer.

 

[NewAgeDottyback]

15 minutes at most. But I’m thinking I should probably do longer since some corals like my favia eat really slow.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

5-10 here

 

[ZoWhat]

Since I have 95% zoas palys... I feed a little different:

I turn off all water movement for 1hr. I feed stuff that's juicy, meaty and diced very thin into particles.

Once water movement is still.... I sprinkle this meaty juicy mix all along the waterline so the meaty tiny particles slowly fall down onto the zoas/palys.

As fish eat, whatever is leftover falls like snowflakes down onto the zoas palys

All water movement OFF for 1hr and tank 100% still for sure

 

[PeterC99]

Since I have 95% zoas palys... I feed a little different:

I turn off all water movement for 1hr. I feed stuff that's juicy, meaty and diced very thin into particles.

Once water movement is still I sprinkle this meaty juicy mix all along the waterline so the meaty tiny particles slowly fall down onto the zoas/palys.

As fish eat, whatever is leftover falls like snowflakes down onto the zoas palys

All water movement OFF for 1hr for sure

Interesting - turning pumps off for a period of time before feeding to still the water!!! I usually turn off the pumps and begin feeding corals. Will give your method a try!

 

[ZoWhat]

Interesting - turning pumps off for a period of time before feeding to still the water!!! I usually turn off the pumps and begin feeding corals. Will give your method a try!

All water movement is OFF fir 1hr but I only wait for the first 5mins fir the water to get still. After sprinkling the waterline so "food falling" is the remaining 55mins

 

[Jubei2006]

I dont turn my pumps off, the corals dont get a break in the ocean, but I also make sure I feed pretty heavily, dose live phytoplankton, and have run two large batches of copepods from algae barn. Also am growing a large fuge with sea lettuce..

 

[jhuntstl]

I feed pretty heavy and go full flow with my SPS. I never got the impression they liked being target fed or if it was of any benefit. I have some scheduled modes on my mp10s and neros that kick up leftover food and waste throughout the day. I think they get a lot of chances each day to grab something.

 

[anthonygf]

I only turn off the return pump for 10 minutes, then add fish food with the wave makers running so the fish have to chase their food down, then add coral food, NYOS Coral Nectar 3 drops, 30m phyto, 20m zooplankton daily, O.N. oyster & roti feast a few times a week in a 75 gallon. What a swirling soup it is and everything is happy.

 

[Aere]

I only cut em off when I'm spot feeding the corals like once a week. Otherwise I just dump the coral food in and let the waves move it around.

 

[Nick Steele]

Sometimes I don’t turn the flow off and I just broadcast feed. But other times when I feed my euphyllia especially I try and keep flow off for 30+ mins. My frogspawn is a very lazy eater and will take 45 mins sometimes to eat most other corals can usually be done in 5-10 mins though.

 

[SchrutesReefs]

I shut mine off for 5 min pre-feeding, and leave them off for 10 afterwards. I notice polyp extension more so when turning the pumps off prior to feeding. I’m sure the corals get enough food throughout the day, but I enjoy watching the acans and duncans wrap up some meaty foods. I also have a timid firefish and wrasse that won’t eat too much if the flow is on.

 

[Darren in Tacoma]

I leave the everything off for 15 minutes, with just a little water movement to spread the food around, for 15 minutes. I leave my skimmer off for 2 hours.

 

[blaxsun]

My return pump throttles down to 4% for about 20 minutes and I also cut all my gyres at the same time. So there’s a tiny bit of flow, but not very much.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

About 10-15 minutes for me... unless I forget them...then it might be closer to an hour