Turning pumps off at night

[!v@n]

Would it be ok to turn the return pump and the closed loop pump off at night?

[mazilla]

I would not.

[MustangBill]

Neither would I, You need flow to bring oxygentated (Spelling?) water to the tank. Usually your protein skimmer is water helps provide air into the water as well as water motion. If you shut off the pump and don't have any water circulating in the tank your fish could literally suffucate for lack of oxygen.
Leave it on.

[lth03]

I don't use closed loop pump,I use powerhead system.The only time I turn them off is when I need to feed the tank,usually less than 5 minutes.If you left your pump off too long,the whole tank will get damaged due to lack off filter and water movement.

[Techknowledgy]

Absolutely not. Flow is at least as important as light, if not more. Many things feed at night as well.

[!v@n]

thanks for the input, I'll have to find a way to quiet the pump down. Its plumbed from the garage into the living room and the vibration is being heard in the bedroom upstairs above the tank. Damn old houses....

[MustangBill]

Try getting a sheet of rubber (get it at hardware stores) and bolt your pump down ontop of it, make sure its tighten down good, and also make sure your pipes are secured has well especially where they go through walls, you can buy those pipe clamps that are lined with rubber. Just some suggestions.

[!v@n]

i will try that. It's the pipe that's sending the vibrations up the wall. I was thinking of maybe wrapping it in that foam insulation for pipes

[MustangBill]

Thats a good Idea, that stuff fills up all the holes really good and when it dries you can cut off the rest and make it look good. That should at least help a lot if not eliminate it

[!v@n]

I tried the spray in stuff but its still noisy, I was thinking of trying the stuff that wraps around the pipe. Looks like those floating tubes kids use at the pool

[Techknowledgy]

.... just don't get that stuff on your hands when it is still wet. It is a PITA to get off.

[Redeye]

Just get a better pump

[lth03]

Or maybe wear earplug when you in your bedroom,it is cheaper than replace the pump.:0
If the vibration come from the pipe you have to separate it from the wall by enlarge the pass through and move it off the wall couple inch,it will reduce quite bit vibration noise transfer into the wall and all the way up to your bedroom.

[DaveMorris]

You need to isolate the pipe from the wall anywhere that it touches. The insulation that you are thinking of using would work to do that. You could also splice in a small section of flexible pipe before and after the pump.

[!v@n]

We were gonna plumb the whole thing in spa flex like my drain and closed loop. But we didn't wanna restrict the flow of water. My return pump has 1/2" output and the 1/2" spa flex has a small ID. That's why we used hard line for it.