Keeping filter off during the day?

M

Mr Fish

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Sep 14, 2005
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For my 10 gallon I have an eclipse 1 TL hood & filter. Filter is 150gph and pretty strong. I have a little CO2 system and the tank is moderately planted - some java ferns, anachris, 1 shoot of hornwort and I moved a plant (forget the name) from my 125 gallon which is dying. Hope it does better in this tank.

I'm hoping once many of the plants "thicken out" a bit I'll have a heavily planted tank. Since upgrading from 15wpg to 30wpg I've added flourite to my sand substrate and put in some new plants:
- wendii red, moneywort and some unknown grass (which is growing like weeds already...) I also added more java ferns which I wrapped around the filter intake to hide it and make the tank look more natural.

I was concerned that with the filter running the water agitation was messing with the C02 system I have. Also, I noticed the fish in my tank eat better when the filter is off. (Fish in tank: 3 male guppies, 4 ADF, misc shrimp, misc snails, 2 ottos)

I have a timer set to do the following: Filter runs all through the night. Filter runs 30 minutes after lights come on, 30 minutes before lights go out. Also, Filter runs for 2 hours in 1 hour intervals throughout the day. It's off on 3 2-hour spurts.

Anyone think this will doom my tank or is just a stupid idea? Will keeping the filter off during certain hours of the day help keep the precious C02 in the water?
 
If your filter is causing turbulance and disturbng the surface of the water, or if it is one that cascades into your aquarium and breaks the surgface of the water then it will affect the C02 levels in your tank. If the output of your filter doesn't disturb the top of the water too much, I wouldn't worry about it. Direct your filter output away from your C02 set-up if you feel it is messing it up (if you are using the Hagen Yeast C02 Generator - the little ladder thing, I'm guessing, isn't working right when the filter is directing a current toward it).

Otherwise, the only problem I would see with turning your filter off during the day, and running it intermittantly is that you might cause premature wear. If you do weekly water changes, I don' see why you can't have it set up the way you stated (if you are willing to risk the wear).
 
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