turning off filters when feeding fish

[Samantha_p]

I've been told by a few guys at the pet shop where I do my
buying to turn of the filters when feeding my fish. one guy
says that it will prevent the filters from sucking the excess
food while giving the fish more time to eat all the food. another
guy told me that turning off the filters will prevent my amonia
from spiking up.I have 2 Rena canisters xp2,xp3 in my 125gal
community tank( I got goldies,angels,plecos and recently added
2 red parrots). what do you guys think of this,it seems to make
some sense.

 

[WhiteDevil]

I dont think anyone turns their filters off for feeding.

I dont and to be honest, food in the filter breaks down to feed the good bacteria in the filter..... I have heard of it before but I always ask them why.

 

[mgamer20o0]

any time you turn it off you have a higher chance of forgetting about it. i never turn the filter off only to work on it.

 

[gheitman]

While some people recommend reducing the flow or completely turning off a filter during feeding I've never done that in nine years. With canister filters it would be a real hassle and unless your fish aren't eating I suggest you leave the filters on.

 

[ricardo48]

Have to agree with all the above.... turning off the filter makes no sense unless maybe you get "alot" of surface agitation from the filter which causes the food to sink to the bottom or be blown around too much.

Not sure why having filter on would could ammonia spike when feeding.... senseless waffle from your pet shop worker I think, trying to make you think they know everything

 

[WhiteDevil]

Also MOST LFS employees are smart but a few of them are dumber then dirt.

If you turn off the filter you give the food a chance to settle in the substrate and decay causing even more of a risk for ammonia problems in the future. Turning off a filter makes no sense being the filters outflow helps the food around the tank.

If I shut off my filter the shrimp and corydoras would have to feed unnaturally and that doesnt sit right with me.

 

[mfdrookie516]

now turning off powerheads, i can see the reasoning behind that. i can see them blowing food across the tank, and i know alot of sw guys do that, but that would be the only thing i would turn off

 

[thuffman03]

I have read about that. I don't turn off mine.

 

[bs6749]

I turn my filters off when I feed. I have a 100g barebottom tank with a bunch of discus in it. It I don't turn them off they suck up a good deal of bloodworms/flakes that I feed. Discus are grazers and can easily spend an hour at a time feeding and picking at their food. Turning the filters off makes perfect sense to me. Why waste the food and clog up the filters more quickly by keeping them on? This just leads to wasted money and more time needed to be spent on tank maintenance. I feed 4-5 times per day when I can. I always have a sponge filter going in the tank that never gets turned off so if I do forget to turn the HOB filters back on then it's no big deal as O2 will still be replenished in the water column.

 

[i3k]

you can just put a piece of sponge around the intake tube. that should prevent the food being sucked up.

 

[bs6749]

If the filter can't suck up bloodworms then there is no way it is going to suck up the massive turds my fish poop out. They may stick to the filter when it is on but as soon as I would turn it off or remove the sponge the poop would fall to the bottom of the tank. I'd rather it be trapped in the HOB filter so I can just rinse it out every other week.