Powerheads off when feeding?

[TLKAg87]

So I have fed the coral a few times, and turned the powerheads off to do that. That got me to wondering if I should be turning off the powerheads when I feed the fish. Currently, there is only one clownfish in the tank.

 

[Clinton]

I like to turn everything off when I rock that there feeding... I don't like any of the food to get away and feed only what they can eat in the 5 minutes my pumps are off...a clean tank is a happy tank

 

[cracker]

I do sometimes.when feeding fish. If I'm feeding some really small coral food I'll turn of the return & let the power heads carry it all around.

 

[LovesDogs_CatsRokay]

I have found my fish are much less interested in eating if I turn the powerhead off. The powerhead blowing the food around simulates live food for them to chase.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I turn my controller into standby mode, which turns of power to my skimmer, return pump, and both of my MP10's for 5 minutes for my fish to eat, then the pumps all kick back on, and the skimmer kicks back on a minute after the other pumps so the water level in my sump has a chance to go back to normal before turning on

 

[Fishy McFish]

You can get a DJ switch board to easily turn everything off. I shocked myself a few times pulling cords out of outlets lol, highly recommended

 

[Fishy McFish]

Edited. Oops double post

 

[Gareth elliott]

Used to, i leave everything running now.
After they have their fill and see any building up i turn them up a touch to stir it around more.

 

[lejeune981]

My fish get all weird when i kill all the pumps... therefore.. I keep everything running when i feed..

 

[glb]

I turn my pumps off when I feed mysis. For pellet food, I keep it on because I have TLF feeding rings that keep them in one place.

 

[Retro Reefer]

I feed my fish very small amounts multiple times a day and just leave everything running, their feeding response is greatly increased with food blowing around... if I’m doing a heavy feeding or broadcast feeding my corals I shut everything down for around 20 minutes.

 

[dragon99]

Another vote for leaving them on. My wrasses especially like to chase their food a little. I feed a tiny spoonful at a time (the little spoon that comes with Reef Chili) so its very rare that a piece food makes it very far.

If you are feeding corals , turning off the return is probably a good idea, that way the small particles stay in the display and give the corals more chance to catch something.

 

[rockskimmerflow]

I always leave everything on and recommend it

 

[DylanE]

I leave the powerheads on, but I turn off my return pump for a few minutes to prevent food from getting into the overflow.