I'm new ( 1 yr ) as a reefer so I've been watching and learning anything and everything I can about tank cleaning and maintinance. After several videos, articles and trials I think I have found the best way to clean my tank. ( Please feel free to contribute with your tricks ) 1. SAND BED: I used to think I needed to clean every inch of my sand bed spic n span so I would vacume and suck etc till I couldn't eat anymore junk up. Some say leave it alone and some say vacume once a week etc. my sand bed is only 1"-3" depending on area. I stopped vacuuming and simply stir up the sand slow by moving a glass rod through the sand back and fourth allowing junk to free flow into overflow. For the hard to reach spots I'll simply give the sand a good squirt with a turkey baister to get around rocks n stuff. Using this method I feel I leave the vital culture that helps break down the unwanted filtration left in the sand while getting rid of the heavier dooty. ROCK: Live rock is very porous and holds many necessary creatures that help filter out our tank water. It's like a hard sponge msg we've never seen. I used to clean my rock with a tooth brush thinking I was cleaning off the hard to get stuff but lately I have just been blowing it off with again my turkey baister. With every squirt I blow out dust and dirt from each rock like Swiss cheese. Even after a week my tank is clouded with flakes of junk hidden in every crevice. Hard to believe my lps and fish can tolerate such debris. To look at my tank it's clean and comfy, but when you really start stiring things up you see that it's not. No matter how much I clean it. It's all gotta go somewhere, if I can't see it I have a hard time believing it's happening. I read a lot about sand bed ecosystems etc and I'm sure with time to some degree we do have little helpers in there. By stiring up my sand I feel I'm leaving what's important and eliminating what's not. Feed back please !!! I guess the important part is being consistent and effective without interrupting life in tankville. As I mature I'm finding my stride being simpler is better. I used to complicate everything , test to much, water change way to much, move this, change that. My tank must have thought I washed my hands in there. Now days I can pretty much tell by looking what's going on. Test my major stuff few times a week, adjust as needed. Keep my water changes consistent and my equipment tuned in. Enjoy, enjoy enjoy. I'm still learning here so anything you can share that helps I'm all ears.
Tank - rock - sand bed cleaning
- Thread starter Cstone123
- Start date
Bpb
New member
One thing I've discovered in this hobby is what's good for the goose is NOT always good for the gander. Every tank itself is unique. Even multiple tanks under your own care. Not every method of husbandry will be equally effective for everyone and there will always be a feeling out period to find out what your own tank responds best to. Sanjay blasts his tank with 700+ par and runs his nitrates up over 50 ppm and has too much sandbed to ever clean. Would my tank respond favorably if I let my nitrates spike and I doubled my light output. Probably not. Some people go years without a water change, I start getting coral necrosis by the 12th week. Every tank is different.
I personally run very high flow levels, calcium reactor and just do a 15% water change every 1-2 weeks. I just siphon water off the top. I've never taken a toothbrush to my rocks, a siphon to my sandbed, or even cleaned the sump (there's a 1/2" layer of detritus at the bottom of the sump and the sides are caked so full of sponges and feather duster worms you cannot even see through. Looks totally solid white from the outside. You could say my tank is fairly high nutrient (though not on the level of some).
I realize this is not a long term sustainable way of doing things. My rocks are poorly laid out, blocking most flow to the back half of the tank and too much rock surface is contacting the sand. Eventually it will become a nutrient bomb I can't control. But this tanks days are numbered and I fully intend to break it down within a year or two. Next time around will be built with longevity in mind (10 years +) and I will be very thoughtful and considerate to ensure I am able to remove and clean everything regularly. I can't even disassemble my plumbing to break loose a clog if it were to happen. Lots of learning done on this tank
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I personally run very high flow levels, calcium reactor and just do a 15% water change every 1-2 weeks. I just siphon water off the top. I've never taken a toothbrush to my rocks, a siphon to my sandbed, or even cleaned the sump (there's a 1/2" layer of detritus at the bottom of the sump and the sides are caked so full of sponges and feather duster worms you cannot even see through. Looks totally solid white from the outside. You could say my tank is fairly high nutrient (though not on the level of some).
I realize this is not a long term sustainable way of doing things. My rocks are poorly laid out, blocking most flow to the back half of the tank and too much rock surface is contacting the sand. Eventually it will become a nutrient bomb I can't control. But this tanks days are numbered and I fully intend to break it down within a year or two. Next time around will be built with longevity in mind (10 years +) and I will be very thoughtful and considerate to ensure I am able to remove and clean everything regularly. I can't even disassemble my plumbing to break loose a clog if it were to happen. Lots of learning done on this tank
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swhobbie1
New member
nutrient bomb ... yes IMO .. I never vac the sandbed in a tank then 5 years later GHA became a problem, eventually decided to go BB. So much dirt muck removing the sandbed. Didnt care for the BB so went back to sandbed, probably 1"-2.5" and vacumn some of it really good with every WC. I dont turkey bast rocks because my MP40 kicks up all during nutrient transport mode. I only have SPS and 4 fish in my tank so keep up with vac the sand and use MP40 modes to get stuff in the water so the skimmer can take it out. I think its key to get waste up in the water so the skimmer can take it out.
