Question on tank cleaning

[Kona26]

I have a question on tank cleaing....here is a pic of what the front of my tank looks after about 2-3days. It has a green film on it. I am wanting to know if this is normal or not....also when I use my mag float i can see that it make it (the green stuff) go back in to my water....is this making my ammonia go up..? or something else..? is there a way to keep this from happening..? it a pain to clean this every other day or so...I do not have direct sun light on my tank.

 

[Kona26]

I pointed 2 pumps to the front of the tank to get some more flow...I see that is most of that area it is not as bad...is this an indication that I have low flow in my tank..?

 

[Aquarist007]

I have a question on tank cleaing....here is a pic of what the front of my tank looks after about 2-3days. It has a green film on it. I am wanting to know if this is normal or not....also when I use my mag float i can see that it make it (the green stuff) go back in to my water....is this making my ammonia go up..? or something else..? is there a way to keep this from happening..? it a pain to clean this every other day or so...I do not have direct sun light on my tank.

This is algae or phyto. It is caused by increased nitrates and phosphates. Have you measured for these? The are two of the three factors that fuel algae. The third is organic carbon.
Phyto will not increase ammonia

 

[Kona26]

I have and both are 0 ( or low enough my test don't pick up). I use red sea and api...also have my LFS test ever so often..never had an issue with either. I do weekly and bi weekly water changes. ...what is the organic carbon that you spoke of..?

 

[Aquarist007]

I have and both are 0 ( or low enough my test don't pick up). I use red sea and api...also have my LFS test ever so often..never had an issue with either. I do weekly and bi weekly water changes. ...what is the organic carbon that you spoke of..?

When nitrates and phosphates are high reefers will carbon dose the tank with a source of organic carbon either with vodka, vinegar or a pellet of polymers.
In your case you are adding just enough phosphates and nitrates to fuel the algae on the glass but quickly consumed by the algae so there is little readings on the test kits
You can control this by your feeding regime
Feed less at a time but more often
Feed less flake food and more meaty foods such as mysis

 

[tmz]

For claification ,photosynthetic organisms like algae do not use organic carbon. They produce it. They do need phosphate and nitrogen. Phytoplankton is limited by PO4 at less than 0.03ppm PO4.

As a technique organic carbon dosing is a bit complicated and involves culturing bacteria that outcompete algae for for inorganic phosphate and nitrogen The bacteria take the phosphate and nitrogen out as th ir bodies are exported via skimming . It may be something you'd like to consider after studying it:

This thread of mine may be of interest:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2134105&highlight=organic+carbon+dosing

I can see from the tracks on the glass build up that your snails are enjoying it. It is inconvenient but not harmful.
With low PO4 and nitrate the source is likely some detritus(decaying matter) build up in the sand or live rock or it could be leaching some phosaphate from the sand or live rock. Cleaning up accumulaltions should cut it down to a more manageable time frame for galss cleaning ,say once or twice a week. Puffing up the live rock and sand with a turkey baster can help.
The amount of food you add will up the input of nuteints wether it's eaten or not as organisms excrete high proportions of the phosphate and nitrogen they consume keeping only what they need for new tissue growth. You can feed as much as you want if the nutrient export capability of your aquarium matches the input. Many don't and reduced feeding can help in those situations. and/ or improving export.

 

[Aquarist007]

For claification ,photosynthetic organisms like algae do not use organic carbon. They produce it. They do need phosphate and nitrogen. Phytoplankton is limited by PO4 at less than 0.03ppm PO4.

Duh Tks for clarifying as I turn red..I can't believe I wrote that

 

[Kona26]

So my tank has been up for about a year and a half and I have never vac'd the sand bed...(I have read mixed reviews on this)....I would assume a good Idea would be to blast the rocks as much as I can and vacume the sand bed...I will also vac the sump. If I do this all in one water change should I see a big spike in params..? Or should I do rock -- sand bed-- sump with each their own water change over the course of a few weeks..?

 

[Kona26]

Thank you again for the info ...!! very helpfull yeah my cuc love it...I just don't have enough cuc yet.

 

[F4talreeefer]

I'd do it over the coarse of 2 or 3 water changes. Blast your rocks siphon water out. Then vacuum on your next water change. I'm a big believer In keeping the sandbed clean. I try and vacuum as much as I can ever water change.

 

[Kona26]

really..? I see so much life in my sand bed I always thought I would kill it all if I sucked it up...but then again I am sure I have alot of unwanted on and in my sand bed to. So you siphon all the way to the bottom of the tank ...? or just about 1/3 down into the sand bed..?

 

[cloak]

You could just use your finger, a stick, or a small power head and stir up small portions of the sand bed at a time. This will kick up a bunch of detritus into the water column. Use the power head again on the rocks, & then siphon out some of the dirty water. Piece of cake.
Running some sort of mechanical filtration during this time would also be a good idea.

 

[Kona26]

ok...I do have 2 filter socks in sump. Is if better to stir the sand bed...or siphon..? and also...I know there is a lot of opinions on this .. but how often should I blast the rocks and clean the sand bed..? I do weekly and bi-weekly water changes.

 

[pete33]

I stir the sand every week right before a WC and have my pumps on nutrient export mode. Been working fine

 

[Aquarist007]

ok...I do have 2 filter socks in sump. Is if better to stir the sand bed...or siphon..? and also...I know there is a lot of opinions on this .. but how often should I blast the rocks and clean the sand bed..? I do weekly and bi-weekly water changes.

It won't hurt. Corals love you stirring up the substrate...they feed off of detritus

 

[F4talreeefer]

I stir mine during glass cleaning. Idk why I'm particular to siphoning, shallow sandbed siphon to bottom. DSb siphon 1/3 way down is what I've always read. I keep a shallow as I just prefer the look of sand.

 

[Kona26]

so would a 2-4in sand bed be considered shallow../

 

[Aquarist007]

so would a 2-4in sand bed be considered shallow../

A 1 to 2 inch would be.

 

[Kona26]

ok so ill siphon 1/3 down when I do...I blasted the rocks today to help with this and the bubble algae im dealing with.