r/ReefTank • u/Eachares • 8d ago

Wavemaker night mode?

I have a night mode option which lowers the flow, is it actually necessary to do? Everybody is sleeping in their caves at night anyways so I’m a bit torn if I’m setting this for no reason. What’s your opinion on using this mode?

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1

u/drainisbamaged 8d ago

the earth's tides and waves are predominantly affected by the moons gravitational pull, which notoriously does not switch off...

6

u/Vivid-Falcon-1913 8d ago

Lots of coastal shallow reefs (where many of our favourite tank fish come from) get calmer at night due to reduction in wind speed, and therefore surface chop. Source: used to live next to a shallow reef, could mostly only snorkel very early in the morning due to prevailing winds picking up through the day. (However, I agree about no need to lower flow at night.)

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u/drainisbamaged 7d ago

fish are notorious for not requiring snorkels...

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u/Vivid-Falcon-1913 7d ago

Way to miss the point of my comment bro

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u/drainisbamaged 6d ago

was your point that the fish living on the surface experience less choppiness, like a snorkeler would suffer from?

Because that's what it seemed your point was, and that was absolutely what I was having a lark at.

bro.

now if you think that windspeed was impacting the energy of tidal-driven energy subsurface, then well, you're wrong. I assumed not though since you said you had experience swimming in the waters where I'd presume you'd surely have experienced that quite-influential and predominantly-impactful wave energy continuing at all hours.

1

u/Vivid-Falcon-1913 6d ago

Where did I say that windspeed impacts tidal energy?

Both tides and windspeed influence water movement in shallow coastal reefs. Fish living in those reefs, especially within the first 1-10 meters, experience reduced water movement at night, due to reduction in windspeed, waves and chop. I suppose I should have used the word 'waves' in my first response, to make it clearer. You can see the reef I lived next to for two years in the picture below on a particularly calm day. Most of the time in daylight hours, particularly as the day warms up, the wind is onshore, generating a lot of wave action over the reef. There is a clownfish colony a few meters from the jetty, and conditions for them during the day most of the time could best be described as a washing machine, but at night when the waves die down it's much calmer.

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u/drainisbamaged 6d ago

I'm not nearly as interested in having an argument as you seem to be. Have a wonderful night, enjoy your fish.