Tips this noob has learned about keeping your tank clean.

[jl209]

Hello nano reef. My little reef is a little over 5 months old currently. This past 5 months has been a real learning experience for me. Even with all the reading I have done prior to setting up my reef there is just no sustitute for real hands on experience. Some of the things I'm going to go over may be pretty obvious to some people, but for me the details weren't quite as clear on some fundamental husbandry practices. First an overview of my tank and what went wrong.

 

20L skimmerless sps

105w of par 30 leds

Hob filter with floss, matrix carbon, and phosban

Jaebo rw4 on full blast (not wave mode)

Aqueon pro 100w heater

15 lbs (dry) live rock

Around one inch sand bed

One pair of small ocellaris clowns

7 snails of various varieties

2 stylophora, 1 acro, and 1 birdsnest

 

Right after my tank cycled I started doing weekly 5 gallon waterchanges, cleaning the glass, cleaning the sand, changing my filter floss weekly, sucking stuff off of the live rock, testing reguarly. I thought I was doing a great job. I certainly wasnt being a lazy reefer at the very least. However, the way I was cleaning my tank was not as detail oriented or as efficient as it could have been. At around 4 months I had a near tank crash. The water got cloudy I had a cyano out break, one of my stylophora bleached at the base, and my acropora's main branch bleached. A dead snail rotting for a week helped push the tank past it's nutrient limit, but it was inefficient husbandry that was the long term culprit. So in the past month in battling to get my tank in order here are some details I have learned regarding cleaning your tank.

 

CLEANING YOUR SAND BED

Don't just hover over it with your siphon hose or stir it with a stick. You need to jam your hose down in there and really get to sucking the junk out. I have been doing 2 5 gallon water changes a week since my tank went down hill, cleaning the sand bed every time. There was never any detritus visible, but every time I siphon the sand bed the water in my bucket is so dirty I can't see the bottom.

 

CLEANING YOUR HOB FILTER

Don't just take your old floss or pads out and replace them. Break the siphon on your filter first , then dump out all of the water along with the filter media. This should be done a minimum of twice a week.

 

CLEANING YOUR LIVE ROCK

Get a turkey baster. Seriously wtf was I doing before I got this thing. The best 2 bucks I have ever spent. Just going over your live rock with a hose does not work at all. Be very thorough and blast all of your noOKs and crannies. After your water has cleared up put fresh floss in your filter and do a waterchange if it is waterchange day. If there is a large build up of algae on your rock get a tooth brush and scrub as much off as you can. If it is possible, remove the rock and scrub it in old tank water on waterchange day. This is highly effective at freeing up detritus that even the turkey baster can't get at.

 

CLEANING YOUR GLASS

Clean your back glass just the same as the front. Use a toothbrush to scrub all of the silicone along your tank rim and corners.

 

These are the changes I have made to my husbandry practices. Since implementing these changes my corals are growing again and my algae is receding very quickly. I hope this post can be of use to a noob like me who may be having trouble with thier reef.

[Markburns43]

The only thing is your going to run into rough patches with being under 18 months old. Your tank will endure many changes. It won't be your doing most of the time. All you can do is just keep your husbandry consistent and your tank stable. Esppecially since you now have sps. I've gone through blooms algae phases even when I'm staying pretty consistent with my practices. I wish you the best just don't get disappointed and frustrated when something occurs that most likely will happen because the tank is still young and needs to just mature. I too have quite a bit of sps more so than Lps and my tanks still young at 8 months and i have good stretches and bad stretches and I assume there will be more to this roller coaster.

[jl209]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I'm expecting more surprises are heading my way before this first year is over. I was just shocked by how much detritus I was missing that wasn't even visible. I'm definitely going to wait a few more months before adding anything else to the tank.

[chappy6107]

CLEANING YOUR SAND BED

Don't just hover over it with your siphon hose or stir it with a stick. You need to jam your hose down in there and really get to sucking the junk out. I have been doing 2 5 gallon water changes a week since my tank went down hill, cleaning the sand bed every time. There was never any detritus visible, but every time I siphon the sand bed the water in my bucket is so dirty I can't see the bottom.

 

 

 

I have heard that messing with your sand bed can ignite algae blooms and disrupt the beneficial bacteria. Does anyone know if it is better to dig through the sand and clean it or not? I thought that's what the snails were for?

[FishI]

 

I have heard that messing with your sand bed can ignite algae blooms and disrupt the beneficial bacteria. Does anyone know if it is better to dig through the sand and clean it or not? I thought that's what the snails were for?

 

 

Id like to know the answer to this too. I think it depends on the depth of the bed. But lets say a sand bed under 2 inches is it good idea or bad?

[ReefWeeds]

 

I have heard that messing with your sand bed can ignite algae blooms and disrupt the beneficial bacteria. Does anyone know if it is better to dig through the sand and clean it or not? I thought that's what the snails were for?

I do NOT siphon the sand bed personally, but I do clean the back chambers, blow rocks frequently and scrape the glass, change floss bi-weekly etc. I noticed my tank did better the less I messed with the sand bed. My sand is roughly 2" deep.

 

Edited to add: however, what works for one may not work for someone else. I think there are many different ways maintain a tank

[HarryPotter]

 

I have heard that messing with your sand bed can ignite algae blooms and disrupt the beneficial bacteria. Does anyone know if it is better to dig through the sand and clean it or not? I thought that's what the snails were for?

 

That applies more if you let it get VERY dirty with barely any flow, and then mix it up. If you dig through it regularly you wont have an issue. I mix it up once a month roughly, and never have an issue. My sand bed is about 2" and doesn't really grow algae on it.

[Nano sapiens]

Thought I'd pop in here since this is a topic that is at the core of keeping a nano running for the long term, but is only now starting to receive the attention it deserves. I have a bit of experience with this running a nano 12g continuously for nearly 7-1/2 years...

 

A while back I created this to show what I do to maintain my tank:

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/327364-maintenance-and-the-nano-reef-tank/?hl=maintenance

 

Techniques may vary, but what's important is understanding that a reef tank (especially a pico or nano tank) can only remain 'undisturbed' from a cleaning prespective for a finite period of time before the system breaks down. How long depends on many factors, but for a nano, major issues can surface as early as the 6-8 month mark up to maybe 2-3 years for a low bioload/heavily filtered tank.

 

To the OP, basting the live rock (LR) is very good practice. I would not recommend scrubbing the rocks too often unless one is trying to remove nuisance algae or other organisms in specific areas. The reason is that LR develops 'periphyton/biofilm' colonies that aid in cleaning the water of particulates (kind of like a sticky fly-paper). These are especially needed in non-filtered systems, like mine.

 

Periphyton link:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periphyton

 

Deep 5-6" sand beds (DSBs) are somewhat different and because of these there is the common misconception that all sand beds should not be touched. A DSB, in theory, relies on a large microfauna population to stir up detritus, etc. to be captured and exported by mechanical filtration.

[Nano sapiens]

 

I have heard that messing with your sand bed can ignite algae blooms and disrupt the beneficial bacteria. Does anyone know if it is better to dig through the sand and clean it or not? I thought that's what the snails were for?

 

Snails do not export nutrients, what they do is consume and condense most of the nutrients that they ingest into fecal pellets. The pellets sitting in the tank are best removed regularly since they will be broken down in time by other organisms which will then resupply the nutrient pool.

 

Big snails in a pico or small nano are dangerous when they pass away (can spike ammonia, spur bacterial growth which limits oxygen, etc.) and for that reason I find a few small hermits plus a small group of the smaller snails (stomatella, collunistas, 'Dove' snails) sufficient.

[masssnapz]

I surprised you have to clean your sandbed at all with your rw4 on blast, I run my rw8 at 50% in a 20Long and never have anything settle on the sand. Everything usually ends up in the hob

[jl209]

Thought I'd pop in here since this is a topic that is at the core of keeping a nano running for the long term, but is only now starting to receive the attention it deserves. I have a bit of experience with this running a nano 12g continuously for nearly 7-1/2 years...

 

A while back I created this to show what I do to maintain my tank:

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/327364-maintenance-and-the-nano-reef-tank/?hl=maintenance

 

Techniques may vary, but what's important is understanding that a reef tank (especially a pico or nano tank) can only remain 'undisturbed' from a cleaning prespective for a finite period of time before the system breaks down. How long depends on many factors, but for a nano, major issues can surface as early as the 6-8 month mark up to maybe 2-3 years for a low bioload/heavily filtered tank.

 

To the OP, basting the live rock (LR) is very good practice. I would not recommend scrubbing the rocks too often unless one is trying to remove nuisance algae or other organisms in specific areas. The reason is that LR develops 'periphyton/biofilm' colonies that aid in cleaning the water of particulates (kind of like a sticky fly-paper). These are especially needed in non-filtered systems, like mine.

 

Periphyton link:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periphyton

 

Deep 5-6" sand beds (DSBs) are somewhat different and because of these there is the common misconception that all sand beds should not be touched. A DSB, in theory, relies on a large microfauna population to stir up detritus, etc. to be captured and exported by mechanical filtration.

Thanks for the info nano sapiens I will definetly give that a read. I was mainly refering to scrubbing rocks only when there is a large overgrowth of algae. Algae seems to have a knack for trapping gunk and using it to fuel more algae.

 

I surprised you have to clean your sandbed at all with your rw4 on blast, I run my rw8 at 50% in a 20Long and never have anything settle on the sand. Everything usually ends up in the hob

I thought the sand was fine too. Everything from food to poop flies around in a gyre like rotation and never settles from what I can see. I was even stirring my sand bed and sucking up as much stuff as I could that came out of it. This method just doesn't compare to sticking the hose down in the sand with a slow flow and letting it pull the gunk out. I don't think you can have enough flow to keep the sand clean unless you are actually moving the sand all over with it.

[jl209]

Excellent write up on physical maintenance Nano sapiens. We really need somthing like that to be a sticky for the beginner forum.

[Nano sapiens]

Excellent write up on physical maintenance Nano sapiens. We really need somthing like that to be a sticky for the beginner forum.

 

True, considering that year after year people are having to discover this the hard way.

 

One could always make a request of the Administrator, but I think it might take a few such requests to get it to 'Sticky' status

[Nanofreak79]

I find syphoning my sand only causes me algae problems and cyano. I like my critters to stir up the bed, natural method.

[Hammerstone]

Nassarius snails, fish that like to dig burrows, sometimes my cowrie will join in the party. Placement of power heads ?

[Nano sapiens]

I find syphoning my sand only causes me algae problems and cyano. I like my critters to stir up the bed, natural method.

 

If one stirs up too much sand bed from a detritus laden bed, then yes it can release too many nutrients for the system to effectively handle. However, once a sand bed is relatively clean (cleaning small portions over many weeks) then stirring it regularly should not cause any additional algae issues.

 

Critters can help to stir up the bed, but they do not export detritus. Floss, filter sock (when cleaned regularly), vacuuming, a low-flow 'settling area' can be used for this purpose. My guess is that you use one (or more) of these export methods.

[Nanofreak79]

 

If one stirs up too much sand bed from a detritus laden bed, then yes it can release too many nutrients for the system to effectively handle. However, once a sand bed is relatively clean (cleaning small portions over many weeks) then stirring it regularly should not cause any additional algae issues.

 

Critters can help to stir up the bed, but they do not export detritus. Floss, filter sock (when cleaned regularly), vacuuming, a low-flow 'settling area' can be used for this purpose. My guess is that you use one (or more) of these export methods.

I use filter socks, changed frequently. I rely on my critters and my turkey baster to move around the sand, and gyres to pick it up and get it to the overflow.Thank you for the ingo. I guess once you've been doing something a certain way its hard to change your ways. Thank you very much for your comments, I promise ill give it a go. lol

[Nano sapiens]

I use filter socks, changed frequently. I rely on my critters and my turkey baster to move around the sand, and gyres to pick it up and get it to the overflow.Thank you for the ingo. I guess once you've been doing something a certain way its hard to change your ways. Thank you very much for your comments, I promise ill give it a go. lol

 

Whatever works...

 

As an old, wise grandma once said, "The proof is in the pudd'in". In my mind, if a method works for 5 years or more and keeps the organisms in good health in a small nano tank, then there must be something to it

[Nanofreak79]

I will say, your obviously doing something right. Its a miracle just to keep a tank up and system running for as long as yours, considering most upgrade from a few months to a couple years, mostly due to boredom I think.

[Nano sapiens]

I will say, your obviously doing something right. Its a miracle just to keep a tank up and system running for as long as yours, considering most upgrade from a few months to a couple years, mostly due to boredom I think.

 

Well, after 30+ years of reef tanks (and many different sizes/shapes) it's nice to have a tank that is compact, simple and manageable.

 

There are so many reasons for upgrading ranging from boredom (as you mentioned), peer pressure, running out of space, fear of a tank crash (the '"Let's start again/upgrade before this one crashes" syndrome). Personally, I have never been bored with my little setup as there is always something happening (coral in-fighting, mostly) and just a lot to learn by direct observation...which happens over time.

 

One 'trick' I can recommend is to avoid the temptation to get large frags/colonies. Mini-frags are a much better choice IMO as they take a good amount of time to 'grow-in' and when they do they look like they actually grew up in the system. This gives the aquarist something to look forward to.

[Nanofreak79]

Great response, I myself have only 8 years of reefing, and feel like I'm always learning. I never buy large colonies, it's fun to see them grow up and a sense of pride as well. Anyway, good luck to you and your awesome little tank and thanks for your input!

[metrokat]

OP - without data on your parameters (Alk, calcium, magnesium, phosphates, nitrates) I would probably venture to guess that your tank crash was because your system was too clean, it did not have the necessary combination of beneficial bacteria and your biological filter was still not mature. The severe cleaning right from the end of the cycle, siphoning the sand bed, phosguard in the HOB, all point to a stripped tank. A snail rotting should not throw a 4 month tank out of whack unless the biological filtration of the tank was compromised or was in its infancy.

 

As NanoSapiens (NS) said, there is no need to scrub your rocks unless you have a problem in which case the scrubbing is a treatment and not a maintenance step. The rocks contain beneficial bacteria - they are live rocks, destroying this with scrubbing for no reason is not ideal.

 

The sand siphoning is something I do about twice a month. I learnt the benefits of it from NS. For those asking about it - if you have never siphoned, you should start with a very small area of the tank and go no further in one session. Tackle a different, still small, area the next time but not before a week or more.

 

There is much much more that goes into balancing out a tank, and my balance will never be the same as NS or yours. So take advice with a grain of salt. The most important thing to remember is not to add things like phosguard unless you have a phosphate problem. Do you?

A general rule of thumb is 10% water changes weekly (just the norm that people go by) - that equates to 2 gallons for your tank. If you do a heavy feeding the 5 gallons makes sense.

[Nano sapiens]

Anyway, good luck to you and your awesome little tank and thanks for your input!

Thanks, and you're welcome. Hope your systems do well for a good, long time

[jl209]

OP - without data on your parameters (Alk, calcium, magnesium, phosphates, nitrates) I would probably venture to guess that your tank crash was because your system was too clean, it did not have the necessary combination of beneficial bacteria and your biological filter was still not mature. The severe cleaning right from the end of the cycle, siphoning the sand bed, phosguard in the HOB, all point to a stripped tank. A snail rotting should not throw a 4 month tank out of whack unless the biological filtration of the tank was compromised or was in its infancy.

 

As NanoSapiens (NS) said, there is no need to scrub your rocks unless you have a problem in which case the scrubbing is a treatment and not a maintenance step. The rocks contain beneficial bacteria - they are live rocks, destroying this with scrubbing for no reason is not ideal.

 

The sand siphoning is something I do about twice a month. I learnt the benefits of it from NS. For those asking about it - if you have never siphoned, you should start with a very small area of the tank and go no further in one session. Tackle a different, still small, area the next time but not before a week or more.

 

There is much much more that goes into balancing out a tank, and my balance will never be the same as NS or yours. So take advice with a grain of salt. The most important thing to remember is not to add things like phosguard unless you have a phosphate problem. Do you?

A general rule of thumb is 10% water changes weekly (just the norm that people go by) - that equates to 2 gallons for your tank. If you do a heavy feeding the 5 gallons makes sense.

 

Metrokat thank you for your reply. The tank had a massive algae bloom and bleaching corals that just happened to coincide with the snail rotting in my tank. I have no idea if this had anything to do with the situation, or if it was coincidence, it was just an observation. My first mistake was that I added sps tank a young tank.

 

Prior to the near tank crash I wasn't running phoban it was added afterwards. The sandbed was being stirred with a plastic fork with the siphon hose right by it. I don't recommend scrubbing your rocks as part of a maintenance routine. I recommended it only to help combat an algae infestation. Maybe I should have emphasized that more in my op. I dont think the tank being to clean was the cause of the problem. I think it would have done worse instead of doing better once I doubled my waterchange frequency. Judging by the way the water looked when I siphoned it into the bucket, I don't think there was any way my tank was to clean, especially for sps. I could definetly be wrong though since I have very limited experience. Every thing I am doing right now is kind of trial and error based on things I have read on the net. I have been thinking maybe my sand and rocks have been purging nutrients. I only have api test kits though. I don't really have the funds for salifert tests or hanna checkers right now. The tests results from the tank crash were.

Ph 8.0

Kh 7

CA 400

Nitrate 0

Phosphate 0

The phosphate was measured via api so who knows what it really was. Ammonia and nitrite were also 0.

[jl209]

I also don't have a mg test and I am not dosing anything for that. I am using regular instant ocean salt. The salt right now is really low in CA like 290. I have been raising it prior to adding it to my tank using 99% pure calcium chloride. Alk is maintained with 1/4 tsp per gallon of kalk water added at 20 ml per minute via topoff on a timer.