Closed loop always running or not?

[integlikewhoa]

To the guys with large closed loops and small returns do you leave you closed loop on all night or shut it down for sleeping time?

I have a 120 with a mag 12 return and a Dart w/ oceans motions for my closed loop. For the last 8-9 months i have left them both on 24-7 even during feeding time. I dont seem to have any problems with that and the fish seem to find thier hidding spots to sleep.
I guess this just stems into a money savings. Do i need to run that pump non stop. Is it better to give the pump and the oceansmotions a cooling off period? Will anything crawl up my 1.25 piping while there is no flow comming down them. Im sure ill get some snails or fish swimming up there. What do you guys do?

[Gisho]

FWIW, I run the closed loops on all my tanks 24/7.

[integlikewhoa]

Whats your reason? Have you had any problems with doing it this way? Any reason not to? I know i have heard the ocean calms down at night?

I think im mostly looking at elec. and pump life. Do you even give yours a break at all?

[integlikewhoa]

bump to the top for you closed loop people. Well what about the Tunze people to. do you guys change anything at night?

[ste6168]

i have been wondering the same thing also i have a 75g with a quiet one 4000 return and just set up a mag 12 return (not running at the moment but will start this weekend) but i was wondering because mine is in my bedroom and i have a feeling it will be kind of loud.

[Highlander]

a) The ocean doesn't calm down at night, and the currents don't subside either.

b) I run all of my circulation pumps, wavebox, etc, 24/7 simply because I have good results with this.

c)I would be concerned with the possibility of increased calcification with pumps switched off, also power on / off is the most stressfull part of the operational cycle of any pump, so I think the life is likely to be shorter with an off period.

d) I don't want any gobies making a home in my closed loop piping

[bhdmc]

I run my pumps 24/7. Circulation brings food to the animals and aids in removal of waste around the animals.

[SDguy]

I run 24/7. Also, I feel the pump turning on/off that much would cause more wear and tear than constant running.

[integlikewhoa]

Good glad to here guys. I have always had mine on 24-7 and i dont knwo why now 9 months later im worring about it. But i too dont have any problems so i guess ill keep on truckin.

[javajaws]

24/7 here

[abfleck]

Folks,

I need some recommendations on a pump for a closed loop on my 29 gallon reef. I have one drain and two returns. I was going to use a mag 12, but I worry that this will not be enough to move the water. All suggestions welcome!

AJ

[integlikewhoa]

whats your main pump? mag 12 for a 29 if you got a decient size main pump should be good.

[abfleck]

Originally posted by integlikewhoa
whats your main pump? mag 12 for a 29 if you got a decient size main pump should be good.

My main return pump for the overflow is a rio 1700. I will be replacing it with a mag 7 I think. I dont trust the rio pumps anymore.

I will be doing mostly SPS in this tank

[original-reefland]

Originally posted by integlikewhoa
Well what about the Tunze people to. do you guys change anything at night?

My Tunze streams are connected to the Tunze multicontroller which has a photo sensor to detect lights out to reduce flow rates to a percentage of power that is configurable.

[integlikewhoa]

Originally posted by original-reefland
My Tunze streams are connected to the Tunze multicontroller which has a photo sensor to detect lights out to reduce flow rates to a percentage of power that is configurable.

Thanks. Nice to know. Is it much of a change?

[original-reefland]

Originally posted by integlikewhoa
Thanks. Nice to know. Is it much of a change?

I haven't looked at this setting in ages, but I think you can set it from 30% to 100% of full power when the sensor detects lights out. So if you wanted you could have upto 70% reduction in flow rate.

[RichConley]

Originally posted by Highlander
[B]a) The ocean doesn't calm down at night, and the currents don't subside either.

Have you ever been out on the ocean in a small boat? Surf action most certainly does calm down at night. Without the sun, air temperatures cool to about the same temperature as the water, so the wind goes away, and you have less waves.

Less waves means less waves breaking over reefs.

That being said, even 100x turnover is nothing near what is on real reefs, so I'd say leave them on unless you've already got a TON of other circulation.

[integlikewhoa]

So it does calm in the ocean at night.

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Originally posted by Highlander
a) The ocean doesn't calm down at night, and the currents don't subside either.

Sorry but it does. I've spent enough time out on the ocean to know.

I have a hammerhead on my closed loop which also has a pool cartridge filter on it. I turn it off with the lights at night and it comes on with the first set of lights in the morning. My fish have actually been acclimated to it that when I shut the pump off during the day to clean the filter, they all go to their sleeping places and lay down. When the pump comes back on, they are back up and swimming.

I do this for two reasons, calm of the sea at night and to save a little on my 400dollar + electric bill. I leave my other pumps, ie sump return and skimmer pumps running 24/7. I'm flowing about 10X turnover thru the sump though.

I'm also going to be adding in a few more C/L and may turn them off at random. They will be run by either iwakia 30's or sequence baracuddas so not as much flow as the hammerhead C/L plus they will have more returns to the tank. The hammerhead C/L has 4 X 3/4" returns on it.

[Highlander]

Surely tidal and therefore, to some degree, under water currents are caused by lunar cycles, and sub sea temperature differentials, not weather / temp / diurnal cycle in the main [sic]. The weather can be random, but the tidal effect is always there to greater or lesser degree.

Hey each to their own

I disconnected the photocell on my wavebox and got better growth, extension, and coloration on my SPS, is all I know,

[Crusty Old Shellback]

I've seen it as smooth as glass both out in the middle of the ocean as well as up on the beach.

[JohnHenry]

I have low-flow return and main circ. comes from CL.

For the last two months I've had my CL turn off for five minutes once every two hours. I did this because the off time/restarting seems to help clear detritus from hard-to-reach areas.

So far so good. No problems to speak of, and I think it's helped overall (in that the off-time helps create moments of more random flow.)

[integlikewhoa]

Well now im still undecided. I have always left it on. Bot alot of money will be saved by shutting it off for 9 hours or so each day. And probley help out a lil with the heat too.