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dodo99

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I was wondering how deep one must siphon the substrate when cleaning. I know denitrating bacteria grow there, so I was wondering if there was a wrong way of doing it. I'd hate to crash the whole tank just because of a little cleaning. I think I may have some cyano starting to grow... :?

tank: 29gal, 2x65PC, soft corals, 20# live rock, one perc, substrate depth is about 1.5-2". Just tested all levels, they are below testable limits, including phosphates.

Thanks,

DoDo
 

ThrillYa

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What kind of substrate to you have? Crushed coral perhaps or sand? Depending on the filtration you have you may not need to be siphoning your substrate. Give us some more info about your system.

Mike
 

dodo99

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I'm using CaribSea Aragonite reef sand.

Two MJ600's and one MJ900.

I'm just using a Lee's 18" skimmer, 3" wood airstone. Skimmate collected is about a cup-full per 24hr period, and it looks like a somewhat runny honey. (I'm saving up for an AquaC) *sigh*

Mechanical filtration on the MJ's, with a surface skimmer on the MJ900 that then flows onto phosphate sponge material. (Although I alternate w/carbon, but the water never smells bad, or yellow in color.)

10-gal water change every 4 weeks, using purchased RO water. (I was using a simple DI filter before the last water change.) The tank's been running since late Aug. Lots of coraline groth on the LR, but not anywhere else.

Cleaning crew: 5 blue-legged hermits, two emerald crabs, 3 Astrea snails, one peppermint shrimp. I also have another snail that looks like another astrea but doesn't seem to have a shell, but you can see a spiral shape to it's dorsal area. He's hard to take a pic, doesn't venture out much during daylight. Also about a dozen tiny brittle stars, hanging out in the LR.

Calcium 440, dkh 9 to 10. Using Kent Superbuffer, Kent liquid calcium, and Kent Coral-Vite. Also add a bit of Tropic Marin Bio-Calcium every week.

Corals are: Toadstool leather, Polyps, Star polyps, and some neon green-tipped hairy mushrooms, all growing steadily. (Esp. the shrooms)

Actinics on 10 hrs, 10K on for 8, and two moonlights.

The perc is very active, bright colors, and very healthy apetite. I feed him Hikari Marine-S pellets, about 5-6 per feeding, twice a day. He's about 1.33"long. I also have some frozen brine-shrimp as a treat.

Hope this helps out.
 

danmhippo

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Unlike FW tanks, we do not recommend people vacuum the sand. Why are you vacuuming the sand?

In the old days, FW tanks with UGF need constant cleaning because water brings detritus down into the subtrate and large debris got trapped is vacuumed out. In tanks without UGF, detritus does not gets sucked down "into" the sand, and sand does not accumulate food scrap that readily. With DSB, vacuuming the sand only defeats the purpose.

Food that actually made it's way into your sand layers are intended as food for the sand fauna such as worms, pods, and such.
 

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