Detritus Question

[JustinReef]

Can someone explain this to me a bit? I understand the basic idea of detritus but would like to know more! How do you keep it reasonable in a tank?

[zoomfish1]

Unless I musunderstand your question, that is what we use the clean up crew for. That's one of their jobs. I have a sandsifting starfish, hermit crabs and 3 or 4 variety of snails, each of which may speciliaze in a different function. Also there are some gobys that help.

Hope this helps some.

[zoomfish1]

A bit more on detritus. It is defined as decayed or decaying matter. So, anything that feeds on it would help to keep it under control.

[kneepuck]

the tank is a closed system. whatever you put in stays in. fish poop (detritus) can be utilized by crabs, snails, etc. but then they poop (detritus). detritus usually looks like greyish-brown-dust but it's also a catchword for any waste. detritus bad - clean tank good. regular water changes (siphon out the detritus when changing water) will be the best way to control detritus and keep a healthy reef.

[steri]

How do you siphon out the detritus in a LS bed. I thought you weren't supposed to disrupt the SB?

[kneepuck]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8946930#post8946930 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by steri
How do you siphon out the detritus in a LS bed. I thought you weren't supposed to disrupt the SB?

I have a store bought siphon (2" tube). once you get a feel for how strong it pulls you can be quite acurate about what it sucks-up. detritus is usually light and flackey (sp?) and will lift off the bottom before the sand. it usually has a tendancy to gather in areas of low flow. a keen eye will seek it out. I do a monthly "all out clean" by turning off all flow. then use a turkey baster to blow off the live rock. you'll be surprised as to how much there is in holes and crevices. w/ the pumps off the detritus will sink to the bottom, ready for siphoning.

[steri]

But isn't that what the bacteria and crabs and junk are in the tank to do (eat and break down the watse)?

I always just assumed when you did a WC, you do just that change out about 10% of the water. I never thought to do anything to the SB.

Maybe I'll give your method a shot sometime. I'll bet your method helps keep you trates quite low!

[TekCat]

It is OK to diturb shallow sand bed. I don't think that ocasional manual stirring would do any harm. When you do this (along with blowing junk from rocks), if your flow is good then suspended detrius find its way to skimmer where it could be removed; changing "dusty" water is also a good way to export some of it, or running a micron filter in a cansiter.

All of these methods are labor intensive, except for letting skimmer catch all of the suspended junk. So, along with good flow and good skimmer, one should have to get good detrivore population in place: snails, pods, worms, sponges, bacteria and other filter feeders.

[mnestroy]

What do you suggest about always having suspended 'stuff' in your water?

I've tried everything, low flow, high flow, 25micron socks, water changes, vacuuming the sand ... still seems like the goby can find tons of stuff to stir up.

[bertoni]

I wouldn't use a siphon on a live sandbed, not regularly, anyway. The sand surface should be kept in good shape by the cleanup crew.

If your fish are stirring up detritus like that, the tank likely will have some debris in the water column no matter what you do.

[mnestroy]

grrhh its my darn Golden Head Sleeper Goby, I know he's just doing his job but makes my tank such a constant mess. Are all Gobies cause this problem?

[cloak]

Always thought detritus was inert. Kinda like "dust" or "ash". If it's leftover food, a carcus, or just a whole lot of poop then you can control that.

FWIW

[JustinReef]

The reason I ask is because I do not have a big clean up crew, as this is a puffer tank and they will be eaten quite quickly! I do have about 15 or so hermit crabs that have managed to survive but snails don't even last a week! I was worried about all the rock work because I have a lot of caves and areas that I cannot get to and cannot clean with a siphon. Do I need to worry about these areas? I wanted to try to add some stars to the tank but Im sure they would be a snack for my puffers too.

[TekCat]

hm... I guess amphipods and bristleworms should be able to reproduce fast enough to keep their population up, provided that your puffer is well fed. They do consume detrius. Also adding filter feeders like fan worms, feather dusters, etc... might be able to catch junk. Not sure if they will be untouched by a puffer though.

But mostly water flow, with some directed to the rocks will help you to keep detrius from settling, so it could be skimmed out.

[JustinReef]

No, feather dusters or any worms really, are eaten quickly. I will try to get more flow on the rockwork.

[TekCat]

bummer. then lots of flow directed to rocks. Do you have any substrate?