powerhead on or off during night time?

vt4lifecuf

vt4lifecuf

Member
Do i need to let the power head run at night? I have the modded maxi jet and Kyrolia 3, i usually turn off the maxi jet and leave the kyrolia 3 on. Please give me some advices should i turn it all off at night to get the calm currents for the fish or just let one power head on at night? Is the sea have more calmer wave current at night?
Thanks
Vinh
 
jtrzerocool

jtrzerocool

Active Member
Originally Posted by SAMBASAM
i leave them on all day

Originally Posted by MichaelTX
24/7/365 here
mike
ditto
 
zeroc

zeroc

Member
leave them on 24/7. The ocean doesn't stop moving at night so neither should your tank.
 
digitydash

digitydash

Active Member
Same here only time they go off is with a power outage

Originally Posted by MichaelTX
24/7/365 here
mike
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Never turn your powerhead off. That is the only oxygen that your fish get. SW is very dense. It has very little oxygen in it by itself. You have to keep powerheads going at all times.
 
topfins-mj

topfins-mj

Member
What I have done in my tank is I keep two Koralia #1's pointing towards the front and never turn them off, then I have two maxi's behind the rocks at each end. So at night I turn one side and during the day I turn the other side. The daytime pump is a #900 while the night time one is #600. I find that the change in current, help my corals be gently swayed. Plus, I feed corals early in the morning, so this current allows the particles to float instead of being swished too much.
The return line points more towards the surface to ensure more airation.
 
dinogeorge

dinogeorge

Member
I disagree with the group on this one. I have a 125 with two powerheads the are designed to create a lot of water movement while the fish are awake, but they are on a timer. At night the both go off. Indeed the ocean does not stop moving, but there is a very dramatic change in currents at night due to the moon.
To recreate the normal ocean flows, mine go off so that my fish can suspend in the water column and sleep as they do in nature. In my opinion, this is what occures at night on most reefs.
As for oxygen, that is occuring at the surface due to the wet dry interaction. It's true that the powerheads move more water, but if they are your source for creating the water/02 exchange, then I guess you would need to leave them on.
Just my opinion...
 
D

dragonzim

Active Member
Originally Posted by Dinogeorge
Indeed the ocean does not stop moving, but there is a very dramatic change in currents at night due to the moon.
Not sure I'd agree on that one. The moon has a dramatic effect on tides, but not so much on currents from what I've seen. I've been SCUBA diving at night and I can tell you that the currents can be just as strong at night as they are during the day.
 
usefulidiot213

usefulidiot213

Member
Originally Posted by DragonZim
Not sure I'd agree on that one. The moon has a dramatic effect on tides, but not so much on currents from what I've seen. I've been SCUBA diving at night and I can tell you that the currents can be just as strong at night as they are during the day.
Yeah I am going to agree here. The moon effects the high and low tides, but not the currents. You can have either strong of soft current during day or night...
 
dinogeorge

dinogeorge

Member
So why, then, do the majority of aquarium wavemaker manufactueres include a "night time" setting to reduce flow to create calmer movement? They are designed to recreate the normal ocean eb and flows, right?
Or are there other reasons for so many to add the same feature?
 
groupergenius

groupergenius

Active Member
Originally Posted by Dinogeorge
So why, then, do the majority of aquarium wavemaker manufactueres include a "night time" setting to reduce flow to create calmer movement? They are designed to recreate the normal ocean eb and flows, right?
Or are there other reasons for so many to add the same feature?
My guess...marketing. As a diver for 25+ years, the water moves at night as well. Most reefs that we get our fish and corals from are under 50' deep. Water moves day/night/currents/waves/etc. Any momemts of non-movement between tides is very short.
 
dinogeorge

dinogeorge

Member
Originally Posted by GrouperGenius
My guess...marketing. As a diver for 25+ years, the water moves at night as well. Most reefs that we get our fish and corals from are under 50' deep. Water moves day/night/currents/waves/etc. Any momemts of non-movement between tides is very short.

That could very well be.
 
D

dragonzim

Active Member
Originally Posted by GrouperGenius
My guess...marketing. As a diver for 25+ years, the water moves at night as well. Most reefs that we get our fish and corals from are under 50' deep. Water moves day/night/currents/waves/etc. Any momemts of non-movement between tides is very short.
I agree!
(and I've been diving for about 12 years)
 
jpardi

jpardi

Member
The Moon only effects the tides, the only time your going to get calmer currents are when the tides are changing from high tide to low tide which only last for a few minutes at most. I know here in California, where I live the tide is one of the most dramatic in the US. We get 6'-8' of movement every 6 hours.
Jason
 
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