CL off at night

treny · 01/26/2008, 12:44 AM

I have a 180 mostly SPS's and I was just wondering if It would be bad or good to trun off the CL pump for the night or maybe 4 or 5 hours at night. anyone ever do this???? I have a dart on my filter loop that I would keep..

ycnibrc · 01/26/2008, 12:48 AM

I don't think it will be a problem since i turn off my wave box and all of my tunze pump are on night mode. The only thing is some of the external pump doesn't last long if you turn on and off often.

treny · 01/26/2008, 01:12 AM

it's a hammerhead pump don't know if it hurts them,,do you know???

ManotheSea · 01/26/2008, 01:24 AM

I have heard of this being done. It doesnt make sense to me. Is the ocean calmer at night than during the day?

I think people are relating to their own feelings of the need for peace and quite at night and applying it to their tanks in some ways. This does not equate to life in the ocean. The waves dont calm down while everyone goes to bed at the coral reef.

If you want to simulate more towards real conditions you could lower your flow for an 8 hour period once per week. That would be like an occasional calm day without wind. I wouldnt turn down the flow drastically or as often as every night.

LobsterOfJustice · 01/26/2008, 01:42 AM

One problem you may encounter is fauna crawling into, or too close too, the inlets or outlets while it's off, only to have it turn on damage or kill them.

Chef Reef · 01/26/2008, 03:22 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ManotheSea
I have heard of this being done. It doesnt make sense to me. Is the ocean calmer at night than during the day?

I think people are relating to their own feelings of the need for peace and quite at night and applying it to their tanks in some ways. This does not equate to life in the ocean. The waves dont calm down while everyone goes to bed at the coral reef.

If you want to simulate more towards real conditions you could lower your flow for an 8 hour period once per week. That would be like an occasional calm day without wind. I wouldnt turn down the flow drastically or as often as every night.

ditto

IslandCrow · 01/26/2008, 03:26 AM

Yeah, my Smiths goby loves to swim into one of my CL outlets when I turn it off for maintenance. I thought I lost him one day because he was stuck in there and I couldn't find him. Fortunately, he made it out OK.

greenbean36191 · 01/26/2008, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Is the ocean calmer at night than during the day?

Sure, it can be if wind is the major factor controlling the water motion in the area. I can't say I was ever on a reef where this was the case though.

IMO turning circulation off or down at night is a really unwise move. In the dark, every living thing including the zoox inside the coral are sucking up massive amounts of oxygen. Even on the real reefs, the areas within branches of corals can become hypoxic because so much O2 is being used. The less flow there is, the thicker the layer of hypoxic water around the coral gets and the harder it is for the coral to breathe. Making O2 harder to get when the demand is already the highest doesn't make much sense to me.

usmc121581 · 01/26/2008, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ManotheSea
I have heard of this being done. It doesnt make sense to me. Is the ocean calmer at night than during the day?

Actually it is. Have you ever been in the middle of the ocean at night. Its like glass.

ManotheSea · 01/26/2008, 12:02 PM

I have been in the middle of the ocean during the day when its like glass. I dont think calm periods have anything to do with night or day.

Most reefs are near shore and are usually shallower areas compared to their surroundings. That means that waves will always be surging over and through them. As the sea bottom rises the water has less space to travel in. The water rises over the shallow area to cause waves and surges.

ManotheSea · 01/26/2008, 12:09 PM

I didnt mean to defeat your statement, usmc121581.

Being that you are a US Marine you have my highest respect. I would think that your career might have given you much more time at sea than I have had. Have you noticed that calm seas at night are more often than calm days? I am surprised at this but its an interesting observation.

usmc121581 · 01/26/2008, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ManotheSea
I didnt mean to defeat your statement, usmc121581.

Being that you are a US Marine you have my highest respect. I would think that your career might have given you much more time at sea than I have had. Have you noticed that calm seas at night are more often than calm days? I am surprised at this but its an interesting observation.

I know what you mean I have seen it calm during the day to. I have also seen it calm over seas near reefs but I think this is personally preference as to shut down or not. I used to shut all PH's down at night but noticed with the wavemaker making calmer current at night corals like that.

new_world_disor · 01/26/2008, 02:48 PM

at the moment i turn my OR off at night. purely because it vibrates half the house. haha. my LFS advised that i should only do this for lights out hours.

JNye · 01/26/2008, 03:23 PM

i shut down 1 PH on a wavemaker at night, thises leaves 2 on and 2 on a wavemaker device, so mine slows but just also allows for a different "random" pattern.

01/26/2008, 12:44 AM	#1
treny Moved On Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 148	CL off at night I have a 180 mostly SPS's and I was just wondering if It would be bad or good to trun off the CL pump for the night or maybe 4 or 5 hours at night. anyone ever do this???? I have a dart on my filter loop that I would keep..

01/26/2008, 12:48 AM	#2
ycnibrc STAG HORN DOMINATE REEF Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Irvine, California Posts: 3,348	I don't think it will be a problem since i turn off my wave box and all of my tunze pump are on night mode. The only thing is some of the external pump doesn't last long if you turn on and off often. __________________ SDR STAGHORN DOMINATE REEF Feature Reef of November 2019 GHL TOTM FEB 2020 ABC corals Current Tank Info: 360g Peninsula sps

01/26/2008, 01:42 AM	#5
LobsterOfJustice Recovering Detritophobe Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Cary, NC Posts: 7,443	One problem you may encounter is fauna crawling into, or too close too, the inlets or outlets while it's off, only to have it turn on damage or kill them. __________________ If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. I remember when zoanthids were called things like "green" and "orange" and not "reverse gorilla nipple." Current Tank Info: 180g reef with all the bells and whistles

01/26/2008, 03:26 AM	#7
IslandCrow Reef Monkey Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Rockledge, Fl Posts: 5,759	Yeah, my Smiths goby loves to swim into one of my CL outlets when I turn it off for maintenance. I thought I lost him one day because he was stuck in there and I couldn't find him. Fortunately, he made it out OK. __________________ All opinions in the above message should be taken with 35 ppt salt. -Mike C. Current Tank Info: I have a reef screen saver on my phone, does that count?

01/26/2008, 03:23 PM	#14
JNye Moved On Up Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Lansing, IL Posts: 2,230	i shut down 1 PH on a wavemaker at night, thises leaves 2 on and 2 on a wavemaker device, so mine slows but just also allows for a different "random" pattern. __________________ Joe Current Tank Info: it don't matter just don't bite it

01/26/2008, 01:12 AM	#3
treny Moved On Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 148	it's a hammerhead pump don't know if it hurts them,,do you know???

01/26/2008, 01:24 AM	#4
ManotheSea Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: FL Posts: 414	I have heard of this being done. It doesnt make sense to me. Is the ocean calmer at night than during the day? I think people are relating to their own feelings of the need for peace and quite at night and applying it to their tanks in some ways. This does not equate to life in the ocean. The waves dont calm down while everyone goes to bed at the coral reef. If you want to simulate more towards real conditions you could lower your flow for an 8 hour period once per week. That would be like an occasional calm day without wind. I wouldnt turn down the flow drastically or as often as every night.

01/26/2008, 12:02 PM	#10
ManotheSea Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: FL Posts: 414	I have been in the middle of the ocean during the day when its like glass. I dont think calm periods have anything to do with night or day. Most reefs are near shore and are usually shallower areas compared to their surroundings. That means that waves will always be surging over and through them. As the sea bottom rises the water has less space to travel in. The water rises over the shallow area to cause waves and surges.

01/26/2008, 12:09 PM	#11
ManotheSea Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: FL Posts: 414	I didnt mean to defeat your statement, usmc121581. Being that you are a US Marine you have my highest respect. I would think that your career might have given you much more time at sea than I have had. Have you noticed that calm seas at night are more often than calm days? I am surprised at this but its an interesting observation.

01/26/2008, 02:48 PM	#13
new_world_disor Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: cardiff, wales Posts: 1,393	at the moment i turn my OR off at night. purely because it vibrates half the house. haha. my LFS advised that i should only do this for lights out hours.