set up question

[reeftofishonly]

Hi guys. I put dead aragonite and marine sand into my tank about a week ago. The initial clouding lasted about ten hours, and then was crystal clear.

Question is, I did a water change yesterday, and when I rearranged some of the rock I had in the air, for it was too cloudy to see when I initially put the rock back.

When I moved the rock, underneath I noticed there appeared to be little pieces of trapped detritus, food, algae etc. There is little sand under the rock, not by design but being the rock isn't totally flat, the sand via current blew under there.

Is this normal, and will that create a nitrate spike? I hate to think everytime I do a water change, I need to lift and siphon under the rock. Is this normal and ok, or does something else need to be done?

[fishroomlady]

you will have detritus in your tank, you just want to minimize it. Make sure to have good flow and you can use a turkey baster to help keep detritus from building up in areas. Over time, trapped detritus can create higher nitrate levels but I wouldn't worry about it.