How long can I leave my Canister Filter off?

[NathanB]

Hi all, my L046 zebra pleco tank has decent flow (enough to blow food around and stop it from settling) to best suit the fish, they’re very shy fish right now and I need the food to settle for a while at night so they can come out and feed. How long can I safely leave the filter off without causing any problems to the biological filtration inside? I tried fitting an inline tap to reduce the flow but it leaked and i had to remove it and rush to fit new pipe again. I read some things online about a couple hours all the way to 24hrs, what are your opinions? Not that this makes a difference but it’s a Biomaster 350 packed full of alfagrog and a fin layer of filter floss on top

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Hi all, my L046 zebra pleco tank has decent flow (enough to blow food around and stop it from settling) to best suit the fish, they’re very shy fish right now and I need the food to settle for a while at night

What are you feeding them? Repashy Foods are a popular choice and get around the blowing around problem. I kept other Hypancistrus spp. and they ate blackworms, shrimp, courgette etc. They were incredibly nocturnal, so I rarely saw them and even more rarely saw them feed.

so they can come out and feed. How long can I safely leave the filter off ......

I probably wouldn't want it turned off for more than an hour. I'd be bit worried about turning the filter off in the evening and failing to turn it back on.

it’s a Biomaster 350 packed full of alfagrog and a fin layer of filter floss on top

I"d definitely take the filter floss out, that is just a recipe for disaster. Do you have a pre-filter on the intake?

Cheers Darrel

 

[Bradders]

I probably wouldn't want it turned off for more than an hour. I'd be bit worried about turning the filter off in the evening and failing to turn it back on.

How long can I safely leave the filter off without causing any problems to the biological filtration inside? I

I am with Darrel on this one. That thing gets turned off, and it becomes a guessing game of when the oxygen runs out.

 

[NathanB]

What are you feeding them

At the moment im feeding crushed Prima granules, fish science worm pellets, frozen brine (sometimes brine with garlic), and last night I tried a small bit of flake as I read that it’s good for smaller more picky individual zebras, but I really prefer to not be feeding flakes.

They were incredibly nocturnal, so I rarely saw them and even more rarely saw them feed.

Same with mine, im a bit worried about them eating to be honest as I never see them feed and the food eventually drifts away when i turn the filter back on, I’ll pick up some repashy tomorrow to hopefully solve this problem, but I’ll try tonight with the brine shrimp with garlic as they seemed to move around a bit more when i added it compared to other foods.

I"d definitely take the filter floss out, that is just a recipe for disaster. Do you have a pre-filter on the intake?

Consider it done, and nope not on the intake although I realise I need one. I ordered some sponges that look perfect for it and will slide onto the pipe but they haven’t arrived yet.

That thing gets turned off, and it becomes a guessing game of when the oxygen runs out.

My exact thoughts, i’m always so hesitant to turn it off. I’ll try to make some sort of area at the front that is lower than the rest of the substrate where food can settle. Detritus will too but I can syphon this out no problem.

Thank you both for the help 👍