Turning off flow

[KStatefan]

The negativity here is almost drowning. Does anybody believe polyp extension is good?

There must have been a number of threads deleted I do not see the negativity.

 

[Reef-_-Noob]

There must have been a number of threads deleted I do not see the negativity.

^^^^ its there

 

[Reef-_-Noob]

When you watch a YouTube video they have the flow off to show off the tank. It is a great way to inspect the tank. Nobody even asked which kind of corals.. this place can be rude

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

When you watch a YouTube video they have the flow off to show off the tank. It is a great way to inspect the tank. Nobody even asked which kind of corals.. this place can be rude

What negativity, who's being rude? its just a few points of views like you asked for? those youtube video are also a point of view like you said during that video so you can see the corals. this thread is very confusing.

 

[Spare time]

How do you know it is not a feeding response??

That behavior couldn't have evolved as a feeding response triggered by low flow because that never happens in nature. They basically shouldn't "know" to attempt to feed when the ocean stops flowing as it never does. It would make more sense for them to expand surface area in an attempt to increase diffusion across the tissue to get toxic metabolic waste out of their system (or oxygen in if the lights are off).

 

[Spare time]

If I feed when flow is off regularly the corals know when flow is off food is coming?? It can go both ways but I do not believe they are searching for oxygen with their lungs outside their body. That is a bit extreme for my case

They don't have lungs like other animals and thus when flow stops, it become dangerous for the corals since they have no mechanism to push metabolic waste out. I personally think flow should never shut off completely, even when feeding.

 

[Justdrew]

I don’t believe polyp extension is a sign of good health.

 

[Reef-_-Noob]

Rude because nobody asked any questions. Full stop no cap.

 

[Reef-_-Noob]

They don't have lungs like other animals and thus when flow stops, it become dangerous for the corals since they have no mechanism to push metabolic waste out. I personally think flow should never shut off completely, even when feeding.

That is your style, there are many who do the opposite. Matter of fact when diagnosing issues nobody ever offers the suggestion do you stop your flow to feed as a culprit. So I don't see anything wrong with it.

Don't believe polyp extension means good health is a blanket statement. I am of the belief that consistent polyp extension is beneficial and sign of good health. With that said in this hobby things can go sideways quick and there are many other factors than polyp extension.

 

[GatorGreg]

people here try so hard to use their fancy words to sound smart and try to be all scientific when most aren’t qualified scientist. There’s no need to get scientific and argue over something so simple

Bring this to simple terms.

You’ve noticed in your tank that when you shut flow down their polyp extension is better. Cool

So shut your pumps down when you feed for 30 mins let your corals eat get fat and turn them back on. Simple as that.

If you’re noticing that your corals look better when you turn your flow down or off. Could it possibly mean that your flow isn’t dialed in correctly and you have too much?

 

[GatorGreg]

They don't have lungs like other animals and thus when flow stops, it become dangerous for the corals since they have no mechanism to push metabolic waste out. I personally think flow should never shut off completely, even when feeding.

I 100 percent shut everything down once a week when I target feed my LPS corals and I let them eat for 30mins. I do not shut them down when I broadcast feed daily however.

Chalices, Acans and Duncan’s are slow eaters. I like to give mine a chance to gobble it down

 

[Reef-_-Noob]

Yea I just blast my tank with flow 24/7 . Wanted to cut back on feedings bc I'm seeing a lot gha but got some cleanup crew turbo snails and wow they are good. So I believe when I stop flow now it will be for feedings. In the future I plan to improve flow so it's not blasted 24/7 so the corals can get some nice extension.
Thanks for the help

 

[GatorGreg]

Yea I just blast my tank with flow 24/7 . Wanted to cut back on feedings bc I'm seeing a lot gha but got some cleanup crew turbo snails and wow they are good. So I believe when I stop flow now it will be for feedings. In the future I plan to improve flow so it's not blasted 24/7 so the corals can get some nice extension.
Thanks for the help

I use a MP-10 reef crest set at 100% so it’s random. My return pump is a Sicce DC and I have it set to a reef crest random mode as well

I also had a dead spot so I bought a cheap little low GPH powerhead and stuck it down low in a corner to get some flow around the sand bed. It’s working out nicely. Flow for me is one of the trickier parts of a reef tank.

 

[Spare time]

That is your style, there are many who do the opposite. Matter of fact when diagnosing issues nobody ever offers the suggestion do you stop your flow to feed as a culprit. So I don't see anything wrong with it.

Don't believe polyp extension means good health is a blanket statement. I am of the belief that consistent polyp extension is beneficial and sign of good health. With that said in this hobby things can go sideways quick and there are many other factors than polyp extension.

I don't disagree with your second paragraph at all (nor was I trying to do if that is what you thought, if so my bad). Nor do I disagree with the first other than I think an if someone does nighttime feeding, that it may be stressful on the corals since they both can't remove waste and can't get oxygen. I can see how during the day it might not be as bad since they still get oxygen from zooxanthellae which also remove carbon dioxide

 

[Spare time]

I 100 percent shut everything down once a week when I target feed my LPS corals and I let them eat for 30mins. I do not shut them down when I broadcast feed daily however.

Chalices, Acans and Duncan’s are slow eaters. I like to give mine a chance to gobble it down

I'd be willing to be bet that zooxanthellae helps in the day by consuming the metabolic waste to some degree and preventing build up. Now I have something to look up when I'm bored because this is intriguing to me haha

 

[Spare time]

people here try so hard to use their fancy words to sound smart and try to be all scientific when most aren’t qualified scientist. There’s no need to get scientific and argue over something so simple

Bring this to simple terms.

You’ve noticed in your tank that when you shut flow down their polyp extension is better. Cool

So shut your pumps down when you feed for 30 mins let your corals eat get fat and turn them back on. Simple as that.

If you’re noticing that your corals look better when you turn your flow down or off. Could it possibly mean that your flow isn’t dialed in correctly and you have too much?

What sciencey fancy words are you talking about that you don't like? It's a reef forum that uses the understanding of biology and chemistry to best keep an ecosystem. No one's trying to sound smart. It's like complaining that a Spanish language learning forum would use Spanish. It's a conversation about polyp extension and flow.

 

[Spare time]

I'm not sure why people think this is an aggressive debate. I am not reading it like so, but rather reading it as a conversation. Am I missing something?

 

[Evil1]

When you turn flow off, the oxygen does not deplete instantly. Perhaps they know food is coming if that's what you've been doing that could very well be so.
But no flow for a whole day is not good for any coral, but I don't believe this is what you were saying originally. What I think you're saying is that you turn the flow off in your tank, feed the coral and the polyps come out, and you turn the flow back on when done.

My other post I am saying, doesn't matter if flow is on or off, when there's food in the water the polyps will come out generally and try to grab some. End of story.

It would help if there was some flow in the tank because if the food is not moving toward any polyp, how would it grab it?

Coral need flowing water catch food and to shed its waste. This promotes healthy coral. Flowing water does also help oxygenate the water which does a whole bunch more of things like ph, ect.

I leave flow running just turn off skimmer. In my case I get less polyp extension when flow is off during feedings.