Do you turn your filters off?

[Karlsbad]

I saw a manual for a filter that said that you should turn all your filters off for a little while everyday. Do you guys do that?

[shewlett]

I use AC Mini's and a Tetra Whisper 5-15 on my aquariums and never turn them off. At feeding time I turn the AC Mini's down (adjustable flow control) so the food stays put better.

I have read that turning off filters can be bad for the biological bacteria that inhabit filter surfaces, particularly sponge and floss, since they are no longer getting the dissolved oxygen in the water flowing by.

What kind of filter was that filter manual referring to?

[JSchmidt]

Mine run 24/7. I see no reason to turn them off. Some people turn off their filters during feeding time, especially if feeding flake foods, but I don't see a need for that, either.

I have several filters (Whisper and AquaClear, mainly) that are very balking about restarting after being powered down. I don't shut them off unless absolutely necessary.

Jim

[Must4ng s4lly]

My run 24/7 exept when I buy Live brine shrimp too feed my fishies! All the shrimp try to get caught in the filter before the fishies can eat them!

[kveeti]

Only turn them off to clean sponges, weekly.

[snakeskinner]

mine stay running 24/7 but I think I'll try turning them off during feeding and see if I get less waste food. Kyle

[OrionGirl]

Same as kveeti.

While turning a filter off for a short time won't damage the bacteria, I don't see why it would be beneficial, and I would be very worried about forgetting to turn it back on. Heck, I have mine setup so I turn off the lights at the same time, just so I have a visual reminder!

[Aquarius0015]

At feeding time I turn the AC Mini's down (adjustable flow control)

A little off-topic, but does the AC Mini turn down by turning a knob or by raising/lowering the intake? I think I might buy one, just wanted to know.

[delmore]

Originally posted by Aquarius0015
A little off-topic, but does the AC Mini turn down by turning a knob or by raising/lowering the intake? I think I might buy one, just wanted to know.

Yes, there is a little lever to adjust flow.

I leave my AC's on during filter cleaning - which is just squeezing out the sponge media in a bucket of old tank water.

It is imortant to unplug the filter for 30 seconds or so once in awhile to make sure that it will restart. If there is gunk in the impellor, it may not restart if there is a power outage, which is not good. I turn mine off every few weeks, and do a cleaning of the impellor every 3-4 months.

The "o" ring wears out, so I don't take the motor off often. Usually when it won't restart.

[Karlsbad]

I have emperors and an Eheim pro and I turn the flow on all of them off for the few minutes I'm feeding my fish their tiny sinking pellets and krill. They all restart easily and I don't have any problem forgetting to turn them back on. The food will either sink or race away if I leave them on and my fish can't really hover at the surface with them on plus my oscar isn't very good at getting the food on the bottom. I have pretty fine gravel that the food gets lost in. I was thinking about getting a piece of slate or other flat rock that I could pour the food onto. For now I'm stuck basically hand feeding.

[Rhys]

i leave mine on 24/7 and during feeding time my filter helps distribute the food and allow half to get to the bottom for the bottom feeders.

[RTR]

I only turn my filters off while I am changing the water. All of my filters restart on their on without problems - as we have frequent short power interruptions, I really could not afford to use any that would not autostart consistently.

Did the filter manual explain why it was important to turn the filter off daily? In something over 50 years of fishkeeping that is one I have never heard before.

[F.sparverius]

I turn my Whisper 2 filter off at night only because it's rather noisey and is in my bedroom. I leave my little eclipse system with the biowheel running.

If you had a huge fish load you might not want to do this but I have no prob with it in my 20 gallon tank.

[TKOS]

I leave mine on all the time. And I bought little feeding rings so that when I feed the fish the food doesn't scatter all over the place. Works great.

[Aquarius0015]

A feeding ring? I imagine it's some sort of circular floating device and the food gets put in the middle? Neat idea.

If I cut a styrofoam cup in half or thirds horizontally, would it do the same thing?

[fishdude]

here is a feeding ring
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=6280&D=feeding%20ring&R=11884&Ntt=feeding%20ring&Ntk=All&Dx=mode+matchallany&Ntx=mode+matchallany&Np=1&N=0&Nty=1

[Karlsbad]

Originally posted by RTR
I only turn my filters off while I am changing the water. All of my filters restart on their on without problems - as we have frequent short power interruptions, I really could not afford to use any that would not autostart consistently.

Did the filter manual explain why it was important to turn the filter off daily? In something over 50 years of fishkeeping that is one I have never heard before.

It was a vortex manual which is available online it says that it will make the fish tired.

vortex (http://www.diatomfilter.com/faq/continuously.htm)

[TKOS]

Yup, that my feeding ring in the photo, Hagen. I smaller tanks so I put the ring in the opposite corner from the filter so that the food can safely drift to the bottom. I also leave that area unplanted for extra easy cleanup.

[RTR]

Take a piece of airline tubing and form a ring using an airline tubing connector. It floats, you make it whatever size you need or want, it is cleanable, and lasts just about as long as the tank.

[RTR]

A diatom filter is not intended for chronic use, it is short term clarifying filter. This has nothing whatsoever to do with routine tank filtration. Good grief. Diatoms are massively powered huge volume filters.

Much ado about nothing.

[Karlsbad]

Originally posted by RTR
A diatom filter is not intended for chronic use, it is short term clarifying filter. This has nothing whatsoever to do with routine tank filtration. Good grief. Diatoms are massively powered huge volume filters.

Much ado about nothing.



Vortex XL is 200 gph

I posted the link to this FAQ stating the same thing as manual in question (http://www.diatomfilter.com/faq/continuously.htm) , I wasn't talking about Diatom filters and like I said the manual I saw it in said turn off ALL your filters

The main reason we don't recommend it is because most fish will not be able to stand the strain of constantly having to swim against the strong current generated by the Diatom Filter or any other high flow filter for that matter.
Fish needs rest and may very well die if they don't get it. Naturally it is up to the individual to determine how much current his fish can tolerate and how much filtration is necessary, depending on the size of the aquarium and fish. I strongly suggest that all power filtration be turned off for a few hours each day unless it is particularly needed at the time

[ewok]

Vortex XL is 200 gph

votex XL is more like 400 gph

do i ever turn any of my filters off? NEVER (or very rarely)

i'm even pretty well over-filtered on everything..........

what's the vortex you are referring to? i let my xl run on tanks until it restricts pretty commonly...... sometimes that can take 3 or 4 days. just too cheap to toss the powder until it's truly "used" i guess. :D

[JSchmidt]

Fish are normally well adapted to their native environments. Some of those environments are mostly still waters, but many fish natively live in water with constant current. Rivers don't turn off at night, nor do lakes or oceans.

Fish that need relatively calm water can usually find a place to hang out in the tank where they don't get blow around. Angelfish float in plants, mbuna huddle in rock crevices... I think the main concern should be setting up filter water returns so that there are areas of less current in the tank for fish that need it.

Obviously, if you have sufficient current that your fish are getting blown around the tank, that could eventually tire out the fish.

HTH,
Jim

[125gJoe]

" Can I run my Diatom Filter continuously?

The Diatom Filter is designed to operate continuously in salt or fresh water. The main reason we don't recommend it is because most fish will not be able to stand the strain of constantly having to swim against the strong current generated by the Diatom Filter or any other high flow filter for that matter."

This is bad advice .... Very bad.. I use the Vortex XL and there is no way I would leave it on for long periods -- no way. The pump itself heats up some, to the point of not leaving it unattended. This is normal heating of the pump. Another point is the diatom powder will clog after some hours of use. It depends on how dirty the water is too..
The Vortex is an excellent product, but the manual "writers" are somewhat illiterate! There have been many complaints about first time users of the filter due to poorly written instructions.

The Vortex is not a "canister" filter, but rather a "specialty" filter that can really "polish" tank water to the point of it resembling clean air!

Another point is to clean it thoroughly after each use. You cannot re-use the diatom powder. Use fresh powder on the next use of the Vortex.

[Roland]

I think the main point here is that the nitrifying bacteria in your filter are aerobic and require air. Should your filter be turn ed off for more than a couple of hours, the bacteria will become aneobic. This is very bad news. Apart from cleaning, I would never turn your filter off, the longer its been running aerobicly, the more mature your beneficial bacteria colony will be

[ewok]

125gJoe

This is bad advice .... Very bad.. I use the Vortex XL and there is no way I would leave it on for long periods -- no way. The pump itself heats up some, to the point of not leaving it unattended. This is normal heating of the pump.


just as a guess... you don't often use the filter?

have you oiled the bearing either? just above where the shaft enters the housing where it connects to the canister there is a bushing/bearing. the factory setup doesn't have enuf oil. i know, i found out the hard way sort of. when i first got my XL it got VERY hot, hot enuf to cook on actually i think. i ran it for awhile and it actually started squeeling and was fairly close to seizing up (because it was too dry). i called big als and they told me the same thing i'm saying here, "oil it".

i think vortex actually sells a special oil for it actually, but you don't need it. i use a simple 3 in1 oil and it has worked fine. i might have even over oiled it at first to compensate.......

patience grasshopper....... oil it well, let it run when you are there and i think eventually you will find the heat level going down as it "breaks in". that's what happened with mine......... now i have no qualms about leaving it running, even when i sleep or leave the house, it is nowhere near as hot. :)

good luck

[125gJoe]

Originally posted by ewok
just as a guess... you don't often use the filter?have you oiled the bearing either? i think vortex actually sells a special oil for it actually, but you don't need it......... now i have no qualms about leaving it running, even when i sleep or leave the house, it is nowhere near as hot. :)
good luck Yes, I have oiled it, and with their oil too..

"Hot" is up to the user I suppose... I consider the Vortex XL an accessory filter and will not let it run for long periods. Besides, the filtration IS the diatom powder, and it can clog rather quickly (couple hours or so...sometimes more ...)
I use the Vortex on almost every water change. :)

[RTR]

A well-oiled XL can run extended periods, but the limiting factor on diatoms is the clogging of the powder.

Neither the thread title nor the original post specified Diatom fillter. I very strongly suspect most resposes would have been quite different had the word "Diatom" been properly inserted. To apply polishing filter logic and tecniques to biological filters is IMHO absurd. Also misleading. Very annoying, again IMHO,:mad:

End of thread for me.

[125gJoe]

Originally posted by Karlsbad

It was a vortex manual which is available online it says that it will make the fish tired.
vortex (http://www.diatomfilter.com/faq/continuously.htm)



RTR, it was this post that got me giving (hopefully) good advice.. Now that I see your post it kinda makes sense that "diatom filters" should have been the topic..

[ewok]

Originally posted by 125gJoe

I consider the Vortex XL an accessory filter and will not let it run for long periods.

the last time we went down this road (or topic) i was poking around the vortex homepage and they sell a foam insert for either the d1 or the XL to basically make it a "normal" filter. they must consider it adequate to run steadily....... ugly as **** tho. ;)

i only use mine for occasional cleaning and polishing too tho, i think the longest it's run continuously has been around 4 days (on my 90g)......

[soko]

My guess is it's some worthless safety precaution that you turn it off and turn it on to make sure that if what your are hearing is the filter working and not just making noise as it overheats and explodes.

[davidaguiar]

Yeah,
those feeding rings are great. I think it cuts down alot on clogging of the filter, plus the fish don't have to run around the tank trying to catch the flakes. Maybe that's why their getting so fat LOL! A slice of a styrofoam cup would probably work great, so long as you anchored it to the side of the tank.