Tank cleaning

[Lionfish55]

I have a 55 gallon reef. 70 pds live rock 60 pds live sand,yellow tang,maroon clown, black and white clown, brilliant garamma, blue damsel,yellowtailed blue damsel,domino damsel,green mandarin, 6 blue legged hermit crabs, 6 snails, banded boxer shrimp, black spinned sea urchin, bubble tip anemone, 7 mushrooms, cavalarius all fish are 1 to 2 inches right now. Have a xp3 canister filter, with a skilter 250 protien skimmer. What would be a good partial change and filter cleaning time frame on my tank?

 

[Mrc8858]

That's overstocked imo and the tang needs a larger tank but your filter will need cleaned weekly and weekly water changes of about 20% is reccomended

 

[Animal-Chin]

Let your nitrates be your guide. If they start going over 5 adjust. Our set ups are similar but I have less fish. I clean the canister every second week and do weekly water changes of 10 - 20 % depending on my nitrates.

 

[bskerrichard27]

Wow I thought I was boarderline with my 55 with two clowns a damsel bi color and snowflake eel then my cuc ...I change 10% everyother week

 

[Thartsockpg]

if i were you id start at 15%. +1 on the nitrate guide.

 

[crister13]

Yellow tangs need a 6' tank. And your overstocked. You will probably run into water quality and aggression issues.

 

[AquaticFuture]

Its overstocked yes. but its not do able.. your fish are relativly small and if your not losing any then your ok for now. but i would look into a Refugium or look into building one. it will help to naturally combat the nitrites and nitrates in your aquarium to help to prevent horable water quality that comes with such a large amount of fish. Also test your water probably twice a week. this will help you to get a better idea of how often you need to do water changes.

 

[Lionfish55]

Does any ones canister filter take 15-30 minutes to fully get the air out and get primed. I have the xp3 canister and it acts like it still has a little air in it!!

 

[rupp3322]

I bought the new Nexx canister filter by API and its awesome! Disconnects w/o unplugging and after you put it back on the base it instantly primes itself. Takes a couple minutes to clean it, replace media, and replace it. Very happy with it!

 

[Sniperhank]

As long as canisters are cleaned weekly they arent an issue. They are usually frowned upon for reefs for this reason. Without proper maintenance they build up all the detrius and such which produces nitrates. For most people, like myself, they wouldnt get cleaned weekly and would cause problems. The same can be said about sumps. Without cleaning they can cause nitrates as well from this buildup.

 

[Lionfish55]

Thanks sniperhank, I have excellent flow with it and not scared of cleaning. Thanks for the info