Paul B
Premium Member
Today I decided to have a typhoon in my reef. I do this sometimes twice a year and IMO it is the main secret as to what has kept my tank going so long.
I run a reverse undergravel filter like almost everyone on here! No? Oh I thought everyone did. In any case, this is what I do to keep the tank going. As you can see I have two diatom filters running at the same time. I could do it with one but it takes twice as long. A diatom filter removes anything smaller than a micron which is much smaller than Paris Hilton's dog.
I could do this with any canister filter but I was near the diatom filters so that is what I use.
Yes it does remove plenty of pods but their cousins will re populate the tank in no time as I have been doing this for almost fifty years and have not had a problem yet. My mandarins give me dirty looks but they will get over it.
My purpose is not to get every bit of detritus out of the tank as that will never happen, but I mainly want to open up channels in the gravel and clean out as many pores in the rock as I can. With the two diatom filters they will clear the tank in about half an hour, then I stir it again. I do this until I get tired or decide to do something else but it could take all day as I don't have to sit here and watch the particles going into the filter.
The numerous bristle worms hate this as they swim like a brick. I am sure my shrimp/gobi combination also will not like this and I am not surer where they are.
After the water is well stirred and I feel all I hit most of the gravel, I use the last few passes to clean off the rocks and corals. They close up during this and text me things that I can't post here but it must be done.
The sea has typhoons all the time and I have been underwater right after some of these, believe me, my diatom filter doesn't wreck as much havoc as a good typhoon. I know some people use a turkey baster for this and if you are keeping turkeys,that may work, but in a tank, especially an old tank, you need a "MAN" filter with a decent pump and not a Sissy turkey baster that was built for "Girly Men".
One of my chalk bass was so excited he just jumped into the algae trough, but I coaxed him back into the tank, I think he enjoyed the trip.
The only time I can't do this is when I have bluestriped pipefish as they disappear during this. I would imagine their tiny gill openings get clogged with muck. Every time I did this and had those pipefish, I lost them.
After this is over, the tank will look much better and the corals look much better.
Nothing lasts without maintenance and with my system I never see any detritus because it hides in between the gravel grains. :eek2:
I run a reverse undergravel filter like almost everyone on here! No? Oh I thought everyone did. In any case, this is what I do to keep the tank going. As you can see I have two diatom filters running at the same time. I could do it with one but it takes twice as long. A diatom filter removes anything smaller than a micron which is much smaller than Paris Hilton's dog.
I could do this with any canister filter but I was near the diatom filters so that is what I use.
Yes it does remove plenty of pods but their cousins will re populate the tank in no time as I have been doing this for almost fifty years and have not had a problem yet. My mandarins give me dirty looks but they will get over it.
My purpose is not to get every bit of detritus out of the tank as that will never happen, but I mainly want to open up channels in the gravel and clean out as many pores in the rock as I can. With the two diatom filters they will clear the tank in about half an hour, then I stir it again. I do this until I get tired or decide to do something else but it could take all day as I don't have to sit here and watch the particles going into the filter.
The numerous bristle worms hate this as they swim like a brick. I am sure my shrimp/gobi combination also will not like this and I am not surer where they are.
After the water is well stirred and I feel all I hit most of the gravel, I use the last few passes to clean off the rocks and corals. They close up during this and text me things that I can't post here but it must be done.
The sea has typhoons all the time and I have been underwater right after some of these, believe me, my diatom filter doesn't wreck as much havoc as a good typhoon. I know some people use a turkey baster for this and if you are keeping turkeys,that may work, but in a tank, especially an old tank, you need a "MAN" filter with a decent pump and not a Sissy turkey baster that was built for "Girly Men".
One of my chalk bass was so excited he just jumped into the algae trough, but I coaxed him back into the tank, I think he enjoyed the trip.
The only time I can't do this is when I have bluestriped pipefish as they disappear during this. I would imagine their tiny gill openings get clogged with muck. Every time I did this and had those pipefish, I lost them.
After this is over, the tank will look much better and the corals look much better.
Nothing lasts without maintenance and with my system I never see any detritus because it hides in between the gravel grains. :eek2:
I blast my rocks with a powerhead to loosen up the detritus. Plain old hob filter though. No diatom filter here.
