Maintenance

[apinkmanatee]

What is your tank maintenance schedule? As far as cleaning equipment,etc.

 

[Schism]

Depends what equipment you have but for me its

Daily:
Feed 2-3times
Clean glass
Visually inspect equipment is working properly
Visually inspect display for problems (fish, coral, fallen frags, coral warfare, health, nuisance algae, etc.)

Weekly:
10% water change
Siphon sandbed
Refill ATO reservoir
Test water
Turkey baste rocks
Empty skimmer cup
Replace small bag of carbon

Monthly:
Test all water parameters
Clean powerheads
Replace GFO
Remove salt creep (should be a weekly task but i do it monthly since i dont get a ton.

Quarterly:
Clean skimmer, heater, pumps, probes with vinegar solution.

Yearly:
Replace bulbs
Sandbed addition (some sand is lost over the course of a year from filtration when stirred up and waterchanges.)

 

[apinkmanatee]

Awesome. Thanks!

You totally replace the carbon? Is that in your filter? You can replace the whole thing without kicking off a new cycle? Is that because you still have other filter cartridges in there? Sorry I know these are probably stupid questions.

 

[Schism]

Awesome. Thanks!

You totally replace the carbon? Is that in your filter? You can replace the whole thing without kicking off a new cycle? Is that because you still have other filter cartridges in there? Sorry I know these are probably stupid questions.

I do not use filter cartridges. I use small amount of carbon in a filter bag places in the return section of my skimmer. Not it does not kick off a cycle. The bacteria on your live rock is all you need. Why people think additional biological filtration is needed is beyond me.

 

[apinkmanatee]

I do not use filter cartridges. I use small amount of carbon in a filter bag places in the return section of my skimmer. Not it does not kick off a cycle. The bacteria on your live rock is all you need. Why people think additional biological filtration is needed is beyond me.

Ok, thanks for the info!

 

[Schism]

No problem

 

[Thartsockpg]

How do you add sand for the lost amount in filtration?

 

[Schism]

Usually the amount is small, a few cups maybe. But i usually just take some dry sand and wash it in a bucket of ro/di to get out any debris and fine particles. Then scoop it and place in the tank. Not hard at all, also scooping up a cup or two of old sand and replacing with new is a good idea as well. Old sand can contain lots of built up organics and regularly swapping some out yearly can be of great benefit as far as long term nitrate/phosphate control.

 

[apinkmanatee]

Also...when I do anything in the tank like gravel vac or clean the glass, the sand gets stirred up and makes the tank very cloudy...it is very fine sand. Is this dangerous to the fish? It takes several hours to clear up.

 

[apinkmanatee]

Also...when I do anything in the tank like gravel vac or clean the glass, the sand gets stirred up and makes the tank very cloudy...it is very fine sand. Is this dangerous to the fish? It takes several hours to clear up.

Does anyone know the answer to this?

 

[Thartsockpg]

It can be dangerous if the sand is large enough of a grain size. Its probably not a good idea to make the sand cloud often.

 

[Schism]

Does anyone know the answer to this?

Make sure you are turning off all flow while you do this and that will minimize it. It will not hurt you fish however it best to try and minimize the disturbance as much as possible. If this means siphoning half the sandbed one water change and half the next water change then that might work better as far as not clouding up the tank so bad.

On a side note, think about replacing your sand sometime with a slightly larger grain size. I learned this the hard way when i started.

 

[Hondatek]

You shouldn't even have to stick the gravel vac in the sand bed . You can do more harm then good

 

[Schism]

You shouldn't even have to stick the gravel vac in the sand bed . You can do more harm then good

Not true at all. The only case that might be true is with an old neglected deep sand bed where large amounts of gas have built up

 

[Hondatek]

Different strokes for different folks. I'll never do it in my tank .

 

[Schism]

Different strokes for different folks. I'll never do it in my tank .

Curious as to why. Siphoning is pretty important especially long term.

 

[Hondatek]

I'm using a dsb and everything I read and heard states you will release harmful gases and kill your fish. Also there is enough flow in my tank that nothing rests on the sand and no food or poo settles under the sand. So what's the point of doing it is my thinking. I actually never heard of anyone doing this with a sand bed , crushed coral beds yes they need to be vacuumed and maintained.

 

[Schism]

I'm using a dsb and everything I read and heard states you will release harmful gases and kill your fish. Also there is enough flow in my tank that nothing rests on the sand and no food or poo settles under the sand. So what's the point of doing it is my thinking. I actually never heard of anyone doing this with a sand bed , crushed coral beds yes they need to be vacuumed and maintained.

All sand beds need maintained. Trust me things settle that you cant even see. Many DSB's dont work for this reason. And yes if you neglect a DSB for too long It will become a nutrient sink like any other sand bed and gases can form that will buildup. This is often the cause of many tank crashes. There are a lot of misunderstandings about deep sand beds. Eventually it will get to a point where it wont matter if you disturb the sand bed and/or nutrients will become too much for your animals to stand.

DSB's require maintenance like everything else in this hobby. Doesnt matter how much flow you have, flow will help a lot but its not a substitute. Usually neglected DSB's end in a tank tear down and restart, ive seen it way too many times and it sucks.

 

[Hondatek]

Do you have any links to articles on this ? Like I said all the ones I have read say the opposite.

 

[Schism]

Yeah this is a thread in another forum with lots of info on this.

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f77/ways-to-make-dsbs-work-and-why-many-dont-107650.html

Some very good info.