# Ever turn off your pumps?



## Paul B (Aug 4, 2009)

Do you guys ever turn off your pumps? That is my favorite time to watch my fish. I turn off the pumps to feed and sometimes I leave them off for an hour or two just to watch the "creatures" come out. You see tiny brittle star arms and spaghetti worms waving in the still water. Then you see speedy pods flying to the surface trying to outrun the fish that can see them now that the current stopped. The corals grow much larger with no flow, I guess it annoys them, or maybe it relaxes them. I will have to ask them. :worried:

I also enjoy watching the polyps on the SPS stretch out loking for food that does not get to them in a still tank. The snails come alive, I would imagine they can get a clearer idea as to where their food is without the water churning all over the place. The crabs also have an easier time honing in on a meal with no current. In the sea they can follow the scent to a meal but in a tank the water is mixed and the scents come from all directions, confusing them. Snails and crabs have an excellent sense of smell. Just turn off the pumps and put some pellets in the tank. They will head straight for it.
OK back to pod watching

PS I dosed some iron today, there is no algae at all in there except in my algae trough (which is full)and I really don't find the tank really healthy with no algae.


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## Ghstwolf (Sep 23, 2009)

Nice looking setup.. I have to say first time I've seen bottles in someone's tank.. Nice touch.


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## Paul B (Aug 4, 2009)

Thanks, they have been in there since the 70s


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## MediaHound (Jul 19, 2006)

I turn the pumps off when I feed, I use a controler (RKE) to make sure I don't forget and it turns them back on after a little while. To turn them off, I just press a button and everything comes to a halt. It's better than reaching for plugs with wet hands.


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## trouble93 (Nov 8, 2008)

It is like seeing your tank in a different light...I do it often to watch more active corals like torches frogspawn and hammers pull food in.This is stuff you don't see with power heads blowing stuff all around.


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## Paul B (Aug 4, 2009)

I tried a new experiment today which did not come out exactly as planned. I am looking for a sticky food that I can feed torch corals with. I can feed the horizontal heads but the verticle ones are impossable to feed. They eat blackworms and look much better afterwards but I can only feed a few heads like that. Fish eggs are sticky but not sticky enough. I have a tube of anchovy paste that has the consistancy of toothpaste and looked promising but the torch corals do not like it. I can't blame them, it smells disquesting. It is also packed with olive oil which may be the reason they are cursing me out. I need to find some packed in fish oil if there is such a thing. The fish eat it but they make a "fish face" when they bite it.
Back to the drawing board.


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