bodie
Aquarium Advice Regular
I have a 55 gallon reef tank with corals and a few small fish. I perform 10% weekly water changes and use a turkey baster to blow the detritus out of the corals and live rock. I then use a siphon to remove as much detritus as possible and will also gently siphon as much detritus from the sand without disturbing the sand bed.
My problem is usually after everything settles, I can see large amounts of detritus left on the sand (particularly in those hard to reach places). Within the span of a few days the detritus usually starts to build and eventually algae begins to develop on the sand bed. I have a couple of scarlet hermit crabs, about 15 nassarius snails, and a really lazy tiger tail sea cucumber, but they don't seem to do the job. I've tried purchasing additional cleaners, but they usually die off from lack of food (I don't feed the fish too often).
Does anyone have any thoughts on how I can improve the cleanliness of my tank and get rid of the detritus on my sandbed? Maybe I should add a small powerhead to the area where detritus and algae is building so that stuff doesn't settle? Any advice is appreciated...
My problem is usually after everything settles, I can see large amounts of detritus left on the sand (particularly in those hard to reach places). Within the span of a few days the detritus usually starts to build and eventually algae begins to develop on the sand bed. I have a couple of scarlet hermit crabs, about 15 nassarius snails, and a really lazy tiger tail sea cucumber, but they don't seem to do the job. I've tried purchasing additional cleaners, but they usually die off from lack of food (I don't feed the fish too often).
Does anyone have any thoughts on how I can improve the cleanliness of my tank and get rid of the detritus on my sandbed? Maybe I should add a small powerhead to the area where detritus and algae is building so that stuff doesn't settle? Any advice is appreciated...