Circulation Pumps - leave on 24/7 ?

[tubamanandy]

Could I ask what the general feeling is on circulation pumps ?

Are you supposed to leave them on 24/7 or would it be acceptable to have them on say 12hrs split throughout the day ?

I tend to have mine on split, relying on the filter to move the water/nutrients around for the rest of the time.

 

[Ady34]

Hi,
if your going to time them to shut off, have them shut off after the photoperiod. Have them on for the photoperiod to help distribute co2 and nutrients to the plants.
I used to time mine to go off at night, but now leave on 24/7 as it is also helping to agitate the surface slightly.
Cheerio
Ady

 

[ian_m]

I have mine on a timer, comes on an hour after CO2 on (an hour before lights) and goes off at 8pm, two hours before CO2 off. Off at 8pm as it is not the quietest thing whilst watching TV in same room as tank.

I got mine as it was obvious plants were having CO2 issues, melting and BBA, especially near the substrate. This fixed that issue and as a bonus provides exercise for the fish.....

 

[LondonDragon]

When I used mine they were on the same timer as the CO2.

 

[foxfish]

I dont think it matters that much, more a personal thing!
As long as you have max flow during the 'gas on' time it is then up to you to design the flow configuration to suit you.
I like to treat my pumps like my lighting & stagger the flow accordingly - so I have low flow overnight (because it is super quite) - medium flow when the gas comes on & full flow when the first light come on.

 

[tubamanandy]

Ok, great, thanks guys. Looks like I`m going to keep my circulation pump on during photo-period and before and also will stagger it throughout the rest of the day. Don`t really think it needs to be on 24/7 - when it is on I appear to have good circulation as I can viseably see most of the plants gently swaying in the flow.

 

[BIN578]

I'd agree with most. Since the primary use of them will be for CO2 distribution it makes sense for them to be on the same timer as CO2