Detritus Removal

[goneawayfarm]

So I read the entire thread over in the advanced forum "the secret to colorful, healthy corals...", which by the way all who are new to this hobby should read. One of the the things that was talked about frequently but never explained is how to remove excess inorganics/nutrients in the form of detritus from our sand beds and live rock. I have never come up with a good system and am looking for ways to do this. I have a 125 gal display with 1-2" of course sand and a lot of rock some of which is big. I stir up the sand bed that can be reached, ie. not under or behind rocks. And I have a skimmer that is oversized by a little for the tank. When I stir the sand bed I run filter socks for 24hrs.

So what techniques are people using to get the detritus out of the nooks and cranies of the rock as well as from around and under them?

 

[JustinM]

I used to use a turkey baster on the rocks and vacuum the sand bed. Then I installed a vortech MP40 and have since stopped. This was years ago. It won't hurt to baste your rocks off or vacuum here and there to remove the detritus that eventually can't be blown out with a Vortech. IMO, flow is the easiest and most efficient way to remove detritus into your overflow and into your filter sock.

 

[Valentini89]

I used to use a turkey baster on the rocks and vacuum the sand bed. Then I installed a vortech MP40 and have since stopped. This was years ago. It won't hurt to baste your rocks off or vacuum here and there to remove the detritus that eventually can't be blown out with a Vortech. IMO, flow is the easiest and most efficient way to remove detritus into your overflow and into your filter sock.

^^ the turkey baster is your friend...

 

[JonCubb]

+1 on the turkey baster. You'd be surprised how often you use it. Also occasionally, I'll take a weaker pump or power head and blast in between the rocks before I do a water change.

 

[AlSimmons]

I usually use a small powerhead to blast the rocks every two weeks and to stir up the SSB once every month as well. It's amazing what can accumulate UNDER your rocks sometimes. Yuck!

 

[goneawayfarm]

Thanks for all the input. I have and use a turkey baster, it just works well for the areas you can reach. My problem has been the corners behind rocks and under the edge of rocks that can not be moved. Some of my rock is basically glued together by corals. So I was just looking for any neat ideas to for example snake some flow or suction down between the rocks thru small openings. Maybe I will hand hold a powerhead and stick the output into cracks and areas between rocks.