How long can you leave the return pump off?
- Thread starter joeyprice
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I think it more depends on what your temperature does. I left mine off for hours sometimes. Came home a few times before when the return pump was barely pumping in the tank was 3 inches low. Our tanks tend to be more resilient than we think they are. And if you have water movement in the display without the return them for running then it's even longer it can go without the return pump assuming your temperature stays relatively consistent.
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as long as your temperature is stable in the display tank, it should be ok.
i have had my return pump off for a day or so without any issue. the only thing i did for extended servicing of the sump is add the heater to the display tank and make sure the wavemaker is on.
i have had my return pump off for a day or so without any issue. the only thing i did for extended servicing of the sump is add the heater to the display tank and make sure the wavemaker is on.
Usually when working on the display from above you want everything turned off so you can see what your doing. So that will depend on how many fish you have. An hour to as many as two or three with a low fish load. You can also turn powerheads back on when taking a break.
Sump work, like your talking about, you can go quite a while, a day or more, by just sticking a heater in the display and keeping the powerheads running. You can even turn them up a little to increase the surface agitation. Just don't let the display temp drop too far. What's too far? I'd say no more than 10 degrees but 5 would be no problem and that could take quite a bit of time with a larger system.
Sump work, like your talking about, you can go quite a while, a day or more, by just sticking a heater in the display and keeping the powerheads running. You can even turn them up a little to increase the surface agitation. Just don't let the display temp drop too far. What's too far? I'd say no more than 10 degrees but 5 would be no problem and that could take quite a bit of time with a larger system.
this is so variable it's literally impossible to say.
My toad fish - in a 120 gallon tank - starts running low on O2 in a couple hours max - started showing stress signs after about an hour. That's without surface agitation when our power was out.
Agitate the surface of the water and keep a reasonable temp and you can go for days easily.
My toad fish - in a 120 gallon tank - starts running low on O2 in a couple hours max - started showing stress signs after about an hour. That's without surface agitation when our power was out.
Agitate the surface of the water and keep a reasonable temp and you can go for days easily.
It depends mostly on 2 things-
1- what your surface to volume ratio is?
So, shallow tanks with a lot of surface area will naturally have better gas exchange due to diffusion. Having power heads which cause the surface to ripple will do an even better job of gas exchange.
2- what is the population/density like and do the fish have high metabolisms? (Think tangs and angels here)
Lightly populated tanks will do better than heavily populated ones, and especially those with many large and/or fast swimmers.
Obviously, having the pump off at night, when fish are asleep and metabolic rates are low, is ideal.
I tend to keep the population and size down, so don’t worry about an hour or two. Anything longer than that you need a power head running pointed near the surface. With that I wouldn’t worry about going several hours, but keep hydrogen peroxide on hand just in case.
I would not use more than about 1 ml of hydrogen peroxide (about 20 drops equal 1 ml) per 5 gallons of tank volume, dosed evenly over 8 hours. Granular activated carbon is very effective as a catalyst at neutralizing hydrogen peroxide. In case of an overdose. Some may use more, but it’s toxic to the nitrification bacteria.
if your pump is off an extended period of time, watch for fish breathing heavily/lots of gill movement. That usually indicates ammonium toxicity. Using a pitcher or bowl to dip and pour water from several inches will help dissipate the ammonium. Or, use products like Amquel to neutralize it.
1- what your surface to volume ratio is?
So, shallow tanks with a lot of surface area will naturally have better gas exchange due to diffusion. Having power heads which cause the surface to ripple will do an even better job of gas exchange.
2- what is the population/density like and do the fish have high metabolisms? (Think tangs and angels here)
Lightly populated tanks will do better than heavily populated ones, and especially those with many large and/or fast swimmers.
Obviously, having the pump off at night, when fish are asleep and metabolic rates are low, is ideal.
I tend to keep the population and size down, so don’t worry about an hour or two. Anything longer than that you need a power head running pointed near the surface. With that I wouldn’t worry about going several hours, but keep hydrogen peroxide on hand just in case.
I would not use more than about 1 ml of hydrogen peroxide (about 20 drops equal 1 ml) per 5 gallons of tank volume, dosed evenly over 8 hours. Granular activated carbon is very effective as a catalyst at neutralizing hydrogen peroxide. In case of an overdose. Some may use more, but it’s toxic to the nitrification bacteria.
if your pump is off an extended period of time, watch for fish breathing heavily/lots of gill movement. That usually indicates ammonium toxicity. Using a pitcher or bowl to dip and pour water from several inches will help dissipate the ammonium. Or, use products like Amquel to neutralize it.
