Hi all, my L046 zebra pleco tank has decent flow (enough to blow food around and stop it from settling) to best suit the fish, they’re very shy fish right now and I need the food to settle for a while at night so they can come out and feed. How long can I safely leave the filter off without causing any problems to the biological filtration inside? I tried fitting an inline tap to reduce the flow but it leaked and i had to remove it and rush to fit new pipe again. I read some things online about a couple hours all the way to 24hrs, what are your opinions? Not that this makes a difference but it’s a Biomaster 350 packed full of alfagrog and a fin layer of filter floss on top
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How long can I leave my Canister Filter off?
- Thread starter NathanB
- Start date
Hi all,
Cheers Darrel
What are you feeding them? Repashy Foods are a popular choice and get around the blowing around problem. I kept other Hypancistrus spp. and they ate blackworms, shrimp, courgette etc. They were incredibly nocturnal, so I rarely saw them and even more rarely saw them feed.
I probably wouldn't want it turned off for more than an hour. I'd be bit worried about turning the filter off in the evening and failing to turn it back on.
I"d definitely take the filter floss out, that is just a recipe for disaster. Do you have a pre-filter on the intake?
Cheers Darrel
Bradders
Member
I am with Darrel on this one. That thing gets turned off, and it becomes a guessing game of when the oxygen runs out.
At the moment im feeding crushed Prima granules, fish science worm pellets, frozen brine (sometimes brine with garlic), and last night I tried a small bit of flake as I read that it’s good for smaller more picky individual zebras, but I really prefer to not be feeding flakes.
Same with mine, im a bit worried about them eating to be honest as I never see them feed and the food eventually drifts away when i turn the filter back on, I’ll pick up some repashy tomorrow to hopefully solve this problem, but I’ll try tonight with the brine shrimp with garlic as they seemed to move around a bit more when i added it compared to other foods.
Consider it done, and nope not on the intake although I realise I need one. I ordered some sponges that look perfect for it and will slide onto the pipe but they haven’t arrived yet.
My exact thoughts, i’m always so hesitant to turn it off. I’ll try to make some sort of area at the front that is lower than the rest of the substrate where food can settle. Detritus will too but I can syphon this out no problem.
Thank you both for the help 👍
FrozenShivers
Member
On more than one occasion, I have done exactly this and forgotten to restart filter, only realising the following day. Obviously it's not advised, but I didn't see any negative outcomes in a pretty heavily stocked tank, although I appreciate each tank will have its own unique variables that may affect this. I personally have no fear the filter being off for over an hour - as long as you do remember to switch it back on (doh!).
Thank you for the input and information everyone - I normally switch my filters off when changing 50% of my 186L tank.
Wonder if I would be best just keeping them on but just at a minute trickle?
Takes me a while to do the water change normally just over 1 hour.
Wonder if I would be best just keeping them on but just at a minute trickle?
Takes me a while to do the water change normally just over 1 hour.
Bradders
Member
Because my intake is quite low, I just leave mine on throughout the water change. If its a little splashy, I may just adjust the flow a little.
PARAGUAY
Member
Depends ,l usually switch off after the waters down a certain level, keep on for initial clean, might take air in at a low level
Hi all,
I kept <"Hypancistrus L333"> and H. debilittera in <"a planted tank"> because of this, but most people who keep <"rheophilic loricariids"> rely on increasing the gas exchange surface area.
cheers Darrel
Yes, I may have <"been there"> as well.
Was it planted? I think if you have plants it is much less important, due to their <"net oxygen production">.
I kept <"Hypancistrus L333"> and H. debilittera in <"a planted tank"> because of this, but most people who keep <"rheophilic loricariids"> rely on increasing the gas exchange surface area.
I think that is slightly different, you have water movement etc during that time period. I'd be worried about longer periods where there isn't any water movement.
cheers Darrel
ScareCrow
Member
I used to switch mine off manually and on more than one occasion forgot to turn it back on.
I'm in a similar situation as I have corys that like flow but also take their time getting to food.
I've switched to using smart plugs for all of my filters/power heads. I switch them off and start a timer for 40 mins. Then feed and that's it. The fish get 40 mins to feed and the pump switches back on automatically. Only time this has gone wrong is when I switch them off manually and forget to turn them back on again.
In most tanks I have an air pump that's not connected to a smart plug, just to keep some water movement but it's probably not necessary.
I've noticed that the fish become a lot more active as soon as the filter switches off, so they've possibly learnt that filter off = food.
I'm in a similar situation as I have corys that like flow but also take their time getting to food.
I've switched to using smart plugs for all of my filters/power heads. I switch them off and start a timer for 40 mins. Then feed and that's it. The fish get 40 mins to feed and the pump switches back on automatically. Only time this has gone wrong is when I switch them off manually and forget to turn them back on again.
In most tanks I have an air pump that's not connected to a smart plug, just to keep some water movement but it's probably not necessary.
I've noticed that the fish become a lot more active as soon as the filter switches off, so they've possibly learnt that filter off = food.
i still have a separate rather chunky sponge filter providing a decent amount of surface movement and another air diffuser (looks exactly like a co2 one) to keep the water well oxygenated and moving a little while the main canister is off, the smart plug is a great idea, I’ll look at getting one of those.
Just picked up some Repashy cheers Darrel 👍
FrozenShivers
Member
It was, although only with slow growing epiphytes, mind you I just assume everyone on this forum has planted tanks....😀
I just had an interesting thought, to seed the filter with bacteria I used a Nitrico goop pouch, it’s my favourite live bacteria product. Now we’re all talking about how long before the filter runs out of oxygen when turning it off, how does the bacteria in the pouch get oxygen when it’s completely sealed for so long? Is it the cold temperature in the fridge that makes it so that it doesn’t need as much oxygen due to low activity or something similar?
Bradders
Member
I started off by looking at beneficial bacteria in bottles/pouches or 'Instant-start' products as I was intrigued.
I initially came across Aquarium Science's testing and write-up about them and looked into it. I concluded that they (at a non-commercial market level) were unlikely, on the whole, to make a noticeable difference in comparison to other methods. The Aquarium Science link is certainly an interesting read - even if you don't consider it correct, it's a good challenge to thinking and obtaining a balanced view.
My personal take-outs on this subject are:
- Beneficial bacteria in a bottle at a consumer level is highly questionable in terms of its effectiveness.
- The fact that you can successfully add a small amount of fish on day 1 (or day 4) and keep them alive (i.e. fish in cycle) can lead to the assumption that such products work.
- There seem to be comments that if bacteria in a bottle is to be effective, there is a quality and freshness aspect to effectiveness.
- When cycling my 250L aquarium, I added mature media from my old Biomaster 250 to my new Biomaster 850. Despite this maturity, cycling still took a standard amount of time and was nowhere near 'instant'.
tam
Member
- Joined
- 5 May 2011
- Messages
- 1,596
Maybe try a feeding tube? They drop the food to a dish in the bottom without it being caught up in the current. If you aren't keen on a dish you could drop it into a sheltered area just by making a lose ring of rocks around the base to deflect the current.
