Stuffs a floating when changing water and cleaning - Good?

[yukon11]

So far tests have been perfect without any major problems except for a bit of brown algae and some red starting to pop up. I have a good clean up crew working away. The tank cycled great with LR and live sand. I’ve only been using RO water from a Kent Hi-s 35 filter and I top off ever couple of days in my sump.

I just finished my 2nd major water change and clean up. 15 – 20 % RO change.

I come from having an African Tank for years. My normal cleaning routine was with a Python and the water would get all disturbed with junk floating around and within an hour all settled and cleaned up with my canister. Now with my new reef tank all things are new so I have a few questions...

1. What to do with all the settlement in my sump? Should I drain it and clean it up or should I be letting it build up for a couple of months?

2. I took a trick from the LFS by taking a small clear tube bending the tip to siphon out the LR crevices of dirt etc. But this gets things floating around and then when I put the water back in (slowly) everything still gets moving around with debris all over. I'm assuming all the crap floating around is bad for the 2 clowns and the soft corals but again it’s all settled and cleaned out within an hour and the tank looks great. Is this bad?

3. I’m assuming I can clean my filter media in my sump, return pump intake sponge and overflow trap ever couple of weeks without hurting the tank? Is this ok?


I really like a clean tank but I know to keep hands out as much as possible and let things mature which I’m fine with. So what are some tips and tricks?

 

[Anonymous]

Here's what I do.

I'm not sure how necessary it is to clean live rock every water change, unless you have lots of SPS (which I doubt at this stage). If you have decent water circulation, this shouldn't be necessary.

If by "settlement" you mean all the grunge that accumulates, then yes, remove it. Some siphon it out, but I've never really understood how people do this with a floor level sump! You could try sucking it out with a small powerhead with the output attached to a hose pointed into your water change bucket.

You can clean the filter media etc without harming the tank. They should be used for mechanical filtration, not biological as with freshwater tanks. Some would suggest you change/clean them rather more than every two weeks, as the grunge they trap can become a source of nitrates.

HTH,

Tom

 

[zear0]

I don't think stirring up sediment is anything to worry about. Depending, of course, on how much and how frequently you stir it up.

Many people use a turkey baster or small power head to "blast" their live rock to stir loose sediment into the water column before doing a water change. I've been doing this bi-weekly with a ~20% water change since I started my tank to no ill affect. Granted, if you have delicate corals, you should be cautious about blasting them and do what you can to remove any gunk that settles on them following the blasting.

This probably isn't an apples to apples comparison, but in the ocean, sediment gets swirled into the water column all the time. During a storm or tide changes for instance.

 

[yukon11]

Each bit of advice helps me out!! Thanks....