Do corals need rest from water flow?

[timdam]

Do corals benefit from putting your vortech's in "night mode" where the pumps go down to 20% of power. Do they need the rest at night?

 

[mike_cmu04]

I dont think they have to have rest but it def saves some money running at lower power.

 

[timdam]

any idea if i can reverse it without any negative effect? like do the night mode during the day when i'm home. and have a calm tank. then crank it up at night when i'm asleep?

 

[nvdiz]

i dont see negatives aside from less flow for the corals

 

[timdam]

i dont see negatives aside from less flow for the corals

i mean, it will be less flow for corals during the day. but alot of flow for them at night.

 

[b2d2t]

there isnt really a problem with corals and no flow but every tank needs a certain amount of flow so there are no dead spots in your tank so that it doesn't grow harmful algae

 

[travis32]

Some corals, I've read (not done in practice yet) need higher flows to get a constant fresh supply of food / nutrients from the water column. My understanding these are the more advanced / expert soft corals that require this and maybe some SPS.

In general for beginner and intermediate Soft, LPS, and SPS corals the flow isn't as important. I could be wrong though.

 

[timdam]

i'm not saying that i don't wanna give my corals flow. i'm just asking more about if it could benefit from using the "night mode" on my vortechs. for those who are unfamiliar with that function, the powerhead's flow goes down to 20% when set, and stays like that for 10 hours. usually set at night.

so again, i'm just wondering if it helps the tank, besides the energy efficient part.

 

[DreamMachine]

Reducing flow isn't a problem for the corals, but might be for the overall health of your tank as someone has already mentioned dead spots that might build up detritus and as a result you might have yourself an algae or cyano problem. Definitely worth a try, I'd love to know how it works out.

 

[greenbean36191]

It does more harm than good. Respiration, feeding, and excretion are limited by the speed of the water flow over the coral's surface. The slower the water moves, the harder it is for the corals to breathe and get rid of waste. They have no need for reduced flow at night and don't benefit from it.

 

[sra127]

i said this to sum1 b4 with the same question......
Does the ocean turn off at night?

I have a vortec and find no need for the night mode. i found my corals open up more at night, polyp extention if fuller, feeders tenticles are out. if i didnt have the full flow, they wouldnt be getting the proper nutrients from the water channel and the flow help with the excretions from the corals.

 

[timdam]

i said this to sum1 b4 with the same question......
Does the ocean turn off at night?

QUOTE]

well, i was just thinking that the ocean does get calm at night. but what do i know. if you believe i should keep it away from night mode, then i'm not one to argue. that's why i'm here, to learn.

 

[david pinder]

I would have some concern if you have pumps turning on and off on a daily basis. The strain of startup on a pump daily would surely shorten the lifespan of that pump.

 

[sra127]

and i hope you do learn. i hope i didnt come across as rude. i merely used it as an analogy.

 

[lisafoster]

I was wondering about this also . I was told by a more expeinced reefer than myself that the waters in the reef are calmer at night so I should keep some of my pumps off at night.

 

[RotaryGeek]

I think night mode would be best if you could shorten it to like 10 minutes and just use it for feeding. Alot of corals have there best extention at night, when they do alot of the feeding, so by lowering the flow, you are actually making it harder for them to feed. The natural flow of the oceon doesn't rest at night, so i wouldn't really see a benefit to it besides maybe feeding.