Best to feed with powerhead on or off?

[Mathew J. Newton]

Hi all,

Firstly, having been silently lurking in these groups over the past
few weeks learning about fishkeeping I bought a Juwel Rio 125 setup,
the cycling (fishless, incidentally) of which is progressing well. So,
a quick thank you to those past and present who have contributed to
this group (and my interest in aquatics!).

My Juwel filter has an adjustable pump outlet pipe which I have
arranged so as not too cause too much turbulence either within, or on
top of, the water but to at least provide sufficient (in my mind)
movement of the water body and surface to assist filtration and
oxygenation respectively.

I have been using fish flakes as the source of Ammonia for the cycling
and have observed that when sprinkled on to the water surface they
float around quite frantically and soon get scattered within the tank
when they swirl near the pump outlet. I don't want to give the
impression that I've got a tank resembling whitewater rapids however
suffice to say that the food flakes do not hang around on the surface
but rather swirl around quite quickly before eventually falling into
and around the tank.

Now, forgive my ignorance here but could this be a problem for the
fish? Should perhaps I turn the pump off during feeding to allow the
flakes to be more easily caught on the surface, or at least to slowly
fall within the water?

I'd be grateful for any advice here - I'm sure it may well not be as
big a deal as I suspect but I thought I may as well canvass opinion on
the subject.

With regards,

Mathew

P.S. I wasn't sure of the common readership ground of these two groups
so if they practically go hand-in-hand then feel free to point out
that I should not crosspost between the two!

[gummy]

Hi Matthew
I get the same problem as well,a lot of the flakes seem to be sucked into
the filter before the fish can eat them.I was considering switching off the
filter at feed times.

Graham

"Mathew J. Newton" > wrote in message
om...
> Hi all,
>
> Firstly, having been silently lurking in these groups over the past
> few weeks learning about fishkeeping I bought a Juwel Rio 125 setup,
> the cycling (fishless, incidentally) of which is progressing well. So,
> a quick thank you to those past and present who have contributed to
> this group (and my interest in aquatics!).
>
> My Juwel filter has an adjustable pump outlet pipe which I have
> arranged so as not too cause too much turbulence either within, or on
> top of, the water but to at least provide sufficient (in my mind)
> movement of the water body and surface to assist filtration and
> oxygenation respectively.
>
> I have been using fish flakes as the source of Ammonia for the cycling
> and have observed that when sprinkled on to the water surface they
> float around quite frantically and soon get scattered within the tank
> when they swirl near the pump outlet. I don't want to give the
> impression that I've got a tank resembling whitewater rapids however
> suffice to say that the food flakes do not hang around on the surface
> but rather swirl around quite quickly before eventually falling into
> and around the tank.
>
> Now, forgive my ignorance here but could this be a problem for the
> fish? Should perhaps I turn the pump off during feeding to allow the
> flakes to be more easily caught on the surface, or at least to slowly
> fall within the water?
>
> I'd be grateful for any advice here - I'm sure it may well not be as
> big a deal as I suspect but I thought I may as well canvass opinion on
> the subject.
>
> With regards,
>
> Mathew
>
> P.S. I wasn't sure of the common readership ground of these two groups
> so if they practically go hand-in-hand then feel free to point out
> that I should not crosspost between the two!

[Geezer From Freezer]

switch it off for feeding. But I would suggest soaking flakes
(and most certainly pellets) in tank water before feeding just to soften
then up and remove any air.

[Marcus Fox]

>
> Now, forgive my ignorance here but could this be a problem for the
> fish? Should perhaps I turn the pump off during feeding to allow the
> flakes to be more easily caught on the surface, or at least to slowly
> fall within the water?

My fish won't eat much with my eheim 2208 switched off, they like to chase
the flakes around the tank. Less than 1% go into the filter IME.

Marcus

[NetMax]

"Mathew J. Newton" > wrote in message
om...
> Hi all,
<snip>
>
> Now, forgive my ignorance here but could this be a problem for the
> fish? Should perhaps I turn the pump off during feeding to allow the
> flakes to be more easily caught on the surface, or at least to slowly
> fall within the water?
>
> I'd be grateful for any advice here - I'm sure it may well not be as
> big a deal as I suspect but I thought I may as well canvass opinion on
> the subject.

It depends on the fish species. A tank of danios would not be
particularly affected by the turbulence as they are fast eaters, and
flakes rarely sink more than a few inches. Discus are slow eaters, so
food drifting to the bottom might get caught by your filter, before the
fish can get it. Angelfish, catfish, plecos and loaches are a few more
who would prefer the food to reach the bottom. Use your discretion by
observing the fish. Keep in mind that the turbulence you now see will be
reduced later, by fish, plants, rocks or just the filter media getting a
bit dirtier.

> With regards,
>
> Mathew
>
> P.S. I wasn't sure of the common readership ground of these two groups
> so if they practically go hand-in-hand then feel free to point out
> that I should not crosspost between the two!

FWIW, your cross-post makes perfect sense to me.

NetMax

[Evergreen]

On my 46 gallon tank that has a wet/dry filtration, I always turn off the
pump before feeding. Otherwise there is just no way that those fish will
get to the food before it is sucked into the filter. With the power filter
on my 10 gallon tank it is not a problem--I feed the fish with the filter
powered on. So I would think that if the fish aren't getting to the food
before it is sucked/pushed away, then you should turn it off for feeding.



"Mathew J. Newton" > wrote in message
om...
> Hi all,
>
> Firstly, having been silently lurking in these groups over the past
> few weeks learning about fishkeeping I bought a Juwel Rio 125 setup,
> the cycling (fishless, incidentally) of which is progressing well. So,
> a quick thank you to those past and present who have contributed to
> this group (and my interest in aquatics!).
>
> My Juwel filter has an adjustable pump outlet pipe which I have
> arranged so as not too cause too much turbulence either within, or on
> top of, the water but to at least provide sufficient (in my mind)
> movement of the water body and surface to assist filtration and
> oxygenation respectively.
>
> I have been using fish flakes as the source of Ammonia for the cycling
> and have observed that when sprinkled on to the water surface they
> float around quite frantically and soon get scattered within the tank
> when they swirl near the pump outlet. I don't want to give the
> impression that I've got a tank resembling whitewater rapids however
> suffice to say that the food flakes do not hang around on the surface
> but rather swirl around quite quickly before eventually falling into
> and around the tank.
>
> Now, forgive my ignorance here but could this be a problem for the
> fish? Should perhaps I turn the pump off during feeding to allow the
> flakes to be more easily caught on the surface, or at least to slowly
> fall within the water?
>
> I'd be grateful for any advice here - I'm sure it may well not be as
> big a deal as I suspect but I thought I may as well canvass opinion on
> the subject.
>
> With regards,
>
> Mathew
>
> P.S. I wasn't sure of the common readership ground of these two groups
> so if they practically go hand-in-hand then feel free to point out
> that I should not crosspost between the two!