Vortech Night Mode

[onux20]

Okay, I started out looking for threads discussing the time creep I experience on my Vortech night mode. I set it for 10pm one night and the next night it doesnt kick in until 1020 or later. That is a common complaint, BTW.

 

Then I started down the wormhole of discussions that led me through most of the reefer sites discussing the use of the night mode on the Vortech. Hard to believe but there is no consensus out there.

 

Lots say the ocean never sleeps...full blast 24/7. Others feel their fish and coral deserve a rest after getting blown around all day.

 

I use it. I guess I am in the "fish need a break" camp.

 

So lets have it WAMAS, do you use it or not. Why or why not.

 

 

Ready, Set, Go!

 

****Um, let me edit this to add

What mode do you use and what percentage of power (100% power, 80%, etc)****

Edited October 5, 2011 by onux20

[Alieu07]

I tried to set mine up for night mode. Played with it for an 1 hour or so but never figure it out how(so confused). So i gave up .

[Max Ivers]

Nope, I feed my corals every night with liquid foods (Reef Nutrition, Phyto, etc.) so I like the current to move the food throughout the water column. Also why would I want detritus to settle during the night? The ocean doesn't sleep...

 

ps. its a PITA to set up night mode, and every time you power off you have to set it up again.

[onux20]

I tried to set mine up for night mode. Played with it for an 1 hour or so but never figure it out how(so confused). So i gave up .

FWIW,

Hold the mode and set buttons on the master. Light will blink red, white blue. Release. Then press them again to start the night mode. Slaved pumps will follow. HTH

Ron

[Der ABT]

I use it but dont think its at all necessary.....i havent paid attention to the time it goes on and off so havent experienced the time creep.

if the power goes out it stays on full blast till i remember to reset it/am awake to do it.

 

I keep my 2 mp40s on reefcrest (yellow) one at about 90 percent the other at about 75-80 i think (hard to tell on the old drivers)

 

i like lots of flow

[BowieReefer84]

I keep my MP10 at about 90% on "orange" in my 29gal. I do NOT use nightmode. Don't think it's really needed, as the fish can find places of lower flow in the rocks to hang out at night.

[surf&turf]

I don't have MP's but I use the night mode on my Korilla wavemaker.

 

I'm on the "they need a brake side" but they also feed alot at night so who knows.

[trockafella]

I use and like night mode. Remeber Ecotech puts in lots of R&D. It wouldnt be an option if it werent useful. I know people say the ocean is on full blast 24/7, but I dont think thats true. It has tides that come and go, and with that is changes in flow.

 

I have always run my vortech on reef crest (yellow) at around 80%, I have an older one too, so its hard to tell exactly how high.

[El Camaron]

i used to use it on my older version of the mp10, the new mp10es is a bit more difficult to set up and so after several minutes trying to figure it out i gave up, my corals and fish do not seem to mind, i have my pump set on reef crest at around 60-70%.

[marinebiologist]

I use and like night mode. Remeber Ecotech puts in lots of R&D. It wouldnt be an option if it werent useful. I know people say the ocean is on full blast 24/7, but I dont think thats true. It has tides that come and go, and with that is changes in flow.

 

 

yes there are currents out there but that would require not using a night mode. If you wanted to replicate the tides you would have to specify the tidal cycle of the independent reef you are trying to mimic and then you would have to determin if the tidal cycle is Diurnal or Semi-diurnal. And since there is no way to mimic the tidal flow in a closed system of a tank no matter how you play with the pump it will not mymic this. About the only thing you could possibly do is slow the flow down to mimic slack tide. Other wise there is no tidal effect able to be created with the pump.

 

 

 

As for the Night time I do not see a purpose the ocean never rests. it is in constant motion and is effected primarly by the Moon (~2.5 times greater effect on tides) than the sun. Because though the sun is of a much greater mass the proximity to earth of causes there to be a much larger effect of the moon than the sun on the tidal currents and movements in the ocean. So with that being said a night mode reflects that there is effects caused by the Sun. Which should not matter to the system. So if there was an attempt to create a near realistic effects you would need to mymic the short term lunar cycle (29.53 days) and the long term Metonic cycle (6940 days). Where you would have to select the ocean and Lattitude of the reef you are mymicing to get the tidal current intensity alterations through the day. So basically there is no one that is going to be willing to program a pump with this level of harmonic cycles.

 

So for that reason I just keep my pump running full force day and night. And as for changes in flow that is why there are different cycles in the pump and it mymics surging and pulsing of the ocean. And if you want to know any more about the fun of tides you can always check out NOAA's site http://www.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/ there is lots of good info on tides and tidal currents there.

[Reefoholic]

Great info Marinebiologist! Thanks!!!

 

BTW I tried the night mode as well. But I feed my corals at night too so I switched back to full force 24/7. Everything seems to be loving it.

[marinebiologist]

Thanks Reefoholic, I figured i would share a little tidal information since that is actually my job to directly study and analyze the tides and their effects on the ocean. I tried not to bore everyone to death and put it short and sweet.

[surf&turf]

Great info!! No more night mode.

[onux20]

Wow lots of ideas/thoughts/perspectives topped off by info from a professional! Keep the posts coming.

 

I am going to think about making the change.

 

Ron

[onux20]

Remeber Ecotech puts in lots of R&D. It wouldnt be an option if it werent useful.

 

I wonder if anyone has ever asked them about it. Do they have data to support the lower flowrate in regards to coral or fish health? Going to their site to check...

[onux20]

Great info!! No more night mode.

Would you be willing to post back here periodically? I'd be interested if you notice any difference, good or bad, in your corals or fish.

 

Thanks.

[surf&turf]

Sure no problem.

 

At the moment I have really good polyp extension in the morning when the leds come on. The Acro's and the Milli's are really hairy.

[surf&turf]

Ok just to update.

 

I didn't use the night mode on my system for five days. When the leds came on the Acros and the Milli's didn't have the polyp extension that they did when I ran night mode.

Not sure if that means anything, but I always thought polyp extension meant they were happy.

[onux20]

.....

Edited October 12, 2011 by onux20

[onux20]

Ok just to update.

 

I didn't use the night mode on my system for five days. When the leds came on the Acros and the Milli's didn't have the polyp extension that they did when I ran night mode.

Not sure if that means anything, but I always thought polyp extension meant they were happy.

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. What are you going to do, do back to night mode or let it ride? I also stopped using it and have noticed no change. No PE before, none now.

 

Could it be, not using night mode kept more food suspended in the water column or kept the water/coral more oxygenated and therefore the coral are happier and don

[zygote2k]

according to one of the speakers a year ago- the same guy that offered the efflotaunaria, said that there isn't very much PE in the real world because of all the fish that like to eat polyps.

[steveoutlaw]

People seem to forget that we keep our fish in little glass boxes. In their real world there is a lot more space for them to swim and a ton of different light and flow for them to experience. There are also shallow reefs and coves and all kinds of places where the currents change regularly or aren't that strong. That's one of the things that I really like about the Tunze controllers now because they have both a night mode and a storm mode. I think that the more that you can add (night mode, storm mode, random mode, calm day mode, etc.) the more realistic it would be. I do know that the real ocean doesn't have a full blast current in every area of the reef all the time.

Edited October 12, 2011 by steveoutlaw

[surf&turf]

I think I'm going to do what Steveoutlaw said, switch back and forth between night mode and regular just to mix things up.

[Integral9]

Interesting read. I was always been leaning towards the no night mode for the reasons listed above. So when I set up my tank, I set the "wave" function on my RKL to alternate between the powerheads every 15m, 24/7. So one side has a 15m surge, then the other side. I used to have it set shorter, about 5min per cycle, but I noticed that it took about 1-2 minutes for the flow to completely switch around once one powerhead shut off and the other one started. I also have a storm mode every monday w/ a 5 minute alternating cycle for 3 hours. With about 1000gph of flow from the return pump, the power heads each add additional 1400gpm when they are active. This is quite a surge and my fish seem to like it alot. Many of them (clowns, firefish, & assessor) will typically follow the surge around the tank. My goby and jawfish seem to come out of their holes more during the surge as well. I'm not sure if they are having fun or just looking for food or unlucky pods that get kicked up in the surge, but they seem to be happy.

 

I have several corals that I moved from my smaller tanks, one with less flow and one with more flow as well as a couple that I bought recently that I can compare. The corals from the tank with more flow are montipora, zoas, acans, leptastria, duncans, favia and trumpets. I have not noticed any change in their polyp extension, however the polyps are visible and the corals are either growing rapidly or recovering nicely from the problems in the old tank. The corals from the tank with less flow include, hammer and zoas. The polyps on the hammers are not as extended as they used to be. I also have a couple of corals that I bought recently. I do not know what kind of tanks they came out of, only that they came from Vivid Aquarium. The tort I believe is adjusting to the lights so it's a little pale, but the polyps, which started out as non-existent seem to be coming out more. Aside from the color, it looks about like it does in the image on the website. The frogspawn I got is also a little pale, but the polyp extension is on par with my hammer and similar to other frogspawn images I've seen on the web.

[marinebiologist]

For those interested in reality of currents on the reef here is an interesting scientifice paper that analyzes Tidal and subtidal flow patterns on a tropical continental shelf semi‐insulated by coral reefs.

 

http://www.agu.org/journals/jc/jc1009/2010JC006168/2010JC006168.pdf