Turning off everything for 2 - 3 hours

[echinatl]

Question - I have my tank in my living room. If I wanted to watch a movie, could I pull the plug while it's playing? I've had the power go out for more than 3 hours before and everything seems fine. How bad is it to have everything disconnected for 3 hours max?

 

[george]

It's not the best plan. It's analogous to sealing someone in a bank vault overnight. Yeah, they'll survive, but it's going to get stuffy in there and it'll probably be at least somewhat stressful. Perhaps a better idea would be to isolate those items that make a lot of noise. Turning off the return pump for a few hours won't cause a problem if you still have sufficient in-tank water circulation. It also depends on how often you watch movies.

You might look into ways of quieting the system. Are your pumps that loud?

 

[skriz]

What George said.

What is noisy? The return? the skimmer?

 

[triga22]

If the lights are a problem then you would be fine turning them off. But if its pumps, I wouldn't. Sure fish could last hours on end without filtration but I wouldn't.

 

[echinatl]

<span style="color: black;">Thanks for the quick replies guys!</span>
<span style="color: black;"> </span>
<span style="color: black;">The overflow is pretty loud as well as the air pump on the skimmer. I don't watch movies too often, perhaps once or twice a month. I could keep the power heads running since I think they're pretty quiet, and maybe throw something over it to help with the lights? </span>
<span style="color: black;"></span>
<span style="color: black;"> </span>
<span style="color: black;">So do you think it would be overly traumatic to sea life if the skimmer and filter was turned off for max 3 hours? </span>

 

[theplatypus]

<span style="color: black;">

So do you think it would be overly traumatic to sea life if the skimmer and filter was turned off for max 3 hours?

It won't be a problem at all.
</span>

 

[george]

echinatl;211108 wrote: So do you think it would be overly traumatic to sea life if the skimmer and filter was turned off for max 3 hours?

As long as you still have circulation pumps running in the tank for oxygen exchange, that would not be a problem. It's turning *everything* off for 3 hours that isn't good.

 

[skriz]

you'll be fine with just the circulation pumps on. You can shut off the lights too.

 

[echinatl]

Thank you all for the comments! I had never heard of a durso standpipe, I'll take a look at that, thank you.

 

[mojo]

Oh wow- there's your problem! If you're not using a durso standpipe or something similar, you've been living with a huge amount of noise. With a durso, you can run several thousands of gallons of water per hour through an overflow and it still be silent. In fact, in my 240g, you hear the tunze powerheads turning on and off over the 2000gph overflow...