how often do you blow off the detritus buildup........

[Naperville Reef]

off your rocks. i do it once a week and can't believe the amount that comes up. is this good, bad or indifferent?

 

by the way, i have a 12g nano cube with no skimmer. i do weekly 1g water changes. my water parameters are good.

 

does the lack of skimmer cause the buildup? does filtering it once a week with the water changes make up for the lack of skimmer?

 

thanks

[uglybuckling]

Daily, for awhile. Then I got lazy. Now it's like...3x per week.

 

--B

[cartophilus]

I've blown it off for entirely too long... substrate full of detritus now.

[Madmike]

I run a BB for just that reason, blow it off...let it settle, then siphon out. I do this a few times a week.

Mike

[EtOH_is_good]

not as often as i should. even with a skimmer it will build up. skimmer takes out dissolved solids, but not large solids.

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

I to have the 12 gallon Nano Deluxe. And I have found the best way to rid yourself of the debris is to create a storm in your tank, let me explain.

 

I do my normal water changes once a week and top off water daily if it needs it but once of month I place my turkey baster in the tank and create water surges against everything rocks, corals, polpys, sand bed and especially in the refuge, the bio balls and ceramic rings.

 

Once the storm is in high gear I have on the side of the tank the Marineland HOT Magnum, which does 250 GPH. With the the flip of the switch in just under 15 minutes my entire storm has become a sparkling paradise.

 

There is no debris left anywhere, since the HOT comes with a Micron filter the purification is awesome, its rated high to even catch water born ick, now that's pretty damn good.

 

Because of this technique I have been able to keep my Nitrate non existent. Man I don't know how I would do without that filter, since what comes with the nano is not really a good mechanical filter at all.

 

Hope this sheds some light on creativity amongst us reefers.

 

Mike

[ODOG]

I do something similar and find that the day I do this my corals never look better. i guess it's the extra food floating around in the water column.

[uglybuckling]

Not a bad idea with the HOT filter. I do the detritus storm thing and let it get trapped in my fuge, but that takes awhile (have to stir it up a lot). Plus I'm not sure how much good it does....gets the detritus out of the tank, but it's still in the tank circulation, where it can break down and send chemicals into the water. I also of course do it before/during water changes.

 

--B