Turning off ATO during feeding

[sumtingwong]

Hey all,

I currently have an AIO tank w/ a tunze osmolator ATO. When I turn off the pumps to feed the fish, the water levels rise in the rear chambers to where the float alarm will go off.
To combat this I turn off the power to the ATO, feed, then turn the return pump back on and then lastly the ATO.

So far its been working fine this way, but are there down sides to power cycling the ATO like this?
I know I can turn the alarm off, but I rather not disable this feature if I can avoid it. Separating the optical sensor from the float isn't really an option as there isn't much room for this.

Thanks for any input / advice!

 

[project1004]

I turn my ATO and Skimmer off whenever I feed the tank. Also my powerhead turns off for 10mins. I don’t think I had any particular product going bad from power cycling. My ATO turns on 5 mins after and skimmer 10mins after.

 

[dball711]

I know this is a different view but why turn off anything when you feed? The oven does not not shut down to feed in fact the flow is how corals feed in the wild.

I farm all kinds of corals and I always broadcast feed. I’ve had a lot of success this way.

 

[sumtingwong]

I turn my ATO and Skimmer off whenever I feed the tank. Also my powerhead turns off for 10mins. I don’t think I had any particular product going bad from power cycling. My ATO turns on 5 mins after and skimmer 10mins after.

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View attachment 86196

Good to know, thanks for the info! This neptune stuff is probably way out of my league currently.

I know this is a different view but why turn off anything when you feed? The oven does not not shut down to feed in fact the flow is how corals feed in the wild.

I farm all kinds of corals and I always broadcast feed. I’ve had a lot of success this way.

Thanks for the differing perspective! Seemed like the fish had no issue with the return pumps on. Was always just under the impression that they had to be shut off during feeding times... even the return pump has a "feed mode" on it to turn off.
I actually just tried it and the clowns had no issue going to the feeding ring to eat.

 

[civics14]

I know this is a different view but why turn off anything when you feed? The oven does not not shut down to feed in fact the flow is how corals feed in the wild.

I farm all kinds of corals and I always broadcast feed. I’ve had a lot of success this way.

I can't speak on feeding corals, because I have no experience in that, but I definitely agree with not turning it off when feeding fish. If you have to turn off your system to feed your fish, you're probably feeding too much at a time and need to just do smaller increments throughout the day. I'm feeding 5-6x a day.

 

[project1004]

I turn my powerhead off for 10mins to allow the fishes and small creatures to get the food. It also prolong the need to service the powerheads from larger food being process thru the pump which is noticeable when cleaning the pump. I do assume my corals are getting the food as well because I only feed the fish and don’t feed corals. As for skimmer and return pump. I will lower the flow to the sump as much as possible is it is controllerable which is what I do in most of my case. I have non dc return so it’s running at the lowest anyways and goes to filter roller and never make it back to the main tank. So I do turn off the flow for sometime when feeding.