Detritus clean up
 

I have a 90 gallon display with SPS, LPS and 9 fish.

I had a shallow sand bed and got sick of the detritus making the sand very dirty so I removed the sand bed and it made cleaning the bottom far easier.

The issue I have not is the bottom collects so much detritus that it needs to be cleaned twice a week minimum. Is this normal?

How do those large tanks deal with detritus? Surely they don't clean it out as they will be there all day. I have 3 power heads trying to blow it off the bottom so the skimmer and filters can do their part.

It will likely subside over time, but you might consider pointing some powerheads where junk collects to keep it in suspension.

Is it the fish or corals causing it?
The tank is 10 months old and is not getting any better.

Would it be giving off much phosphates or nitrates if sitting around?

I would check your levels first. I would also make sure the problem areas are getting lots of good flow. Don't' one feed your tank and allow anything to settle. Also what kind of clean up crew do you have? how often are you running lights? these are all things that need to be checked. do you run carbon/phosguard or anything else?

ummm.... if you remove the sand, where do you think the shlt goes??

I have x1 cleaner shrimp, about 100 turbo snails (at night they are all over the glass bottom) x1 astrea snail

LED lights for 9 hours

PO4X4 about 250ml in a reactor

Phosphate is 0.08 with red seas test kit.
Nitrate im not sure as I have API test kit which is hopeless.

I do have some Zeovit Carbon so could put that in a mesh bag.

i have used api trate tests before and have found them to be easy to use and somewhat accurate. is your expired?

It comes from Fish, food, inverts. Not corals so much.

you have 100 turbo snails in a 90g?!?!

how much do you feed? with 9 fish plus corals im not surprised you have plenty of detritus. re-aim some powerheads to keep it stirred up and maybe run a filter sock every once in a while to polish the water. if it stays stirred up better, the coral will eat it..

There is no expiry date on the bottles, I threw the cardboard away when I first got it. The problem I see is the first colour change is at 5.0ppm so anything under that just reads 0. Do you know if you can double the drops to test inbetween 0 and 5? Or is unrealistic to get these values in a reef tank.

Is the detritus collecting more in certain areas or spread out all over ?


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They breed very fast,they are only small (about 2mm) but at least 100 perhaps more.

In about 2 main areas and then small amounts around the tank where flow stops it from moving. Lots of power heads looks rather ugly, I would prefer to get a mp40 but I don't know if it will be good enough.

there should be a 'code' printed towards the top of each bottle. the last 4 numbers the month and year they were bottled. the tests are good for 3 or 4 years depending on the test. i don't think you can test for 0-5 nitrates with the api kit. anything under 5 should be just fine. what does yours read?

Probably collonista snails, not turbos.

You can't double the test drops to read lower, you'll just get a wrong reading by not following the directions.

0810 - so should be good for a while.
My nitrates are 0 or bright yellow on the api test kit.

Post a tank for us to see. Show how the heads are positioned. If you can afford to swap even 2 powerheads for a single mp40 or 2 mp10s would be a bonus IMO. I'm all about the wave effect. No hermits or crabs at all? I am new still being I've had one nano (28g) but still learnt lots through others. Felt I needed to point that out so I don't look like I know alot haha when I to am learning :) also are the fish all larger or have some algae grazers like blennies?


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http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...tz/photo36.jpg

I cleaned the bottom this morning (6 hours ago)
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...tz/photo37.jpg

You might want to point one of them more towards the middle front glass, that way the flow will bounce back and hit that area in the middle of the bottom, between the rocks.
Think about buying an mp10 or mo40 in the near future to help more in keeping the detritus in suspension in the water column. Then your good skimmer can break it down.
Other than that it doesn't look too bad.
It doesn't say above the first picture if that is before you cleaned it, because the 2nd picture states that it was taken after you cleaned it.

I have a tank of similar age. I took out my ssb in the DT as I increased flow. The sump DSB also. You have to think about the phosphorous cycle as we'll as the nitrogen cycle. PM me and Ill send you a long discussion between Randy and Boomer I found helpful and led to the removal ofnthe DSB.

For me, it is a balance between amount of flow and the types of corals I witsant to keep. I find with any reasonable rockwork, you wiill collect detrius. So I blow it out with a PH once a week.

What you are seeing -- if its gray stuff -- its probably bacterial flock. Good coral foodnif you csnget it out of the crevaces. :). And snail poop for me, argh.

Anyway, I enjoy cleaning this out becausenI know I'm exporting phosphates and future nitrates.

All that from a relative n00b. I'm. Sure somebody will jump in and educate us both :)

I certainly have learned a lot, that's for sure.
Allnthat from a relative n00b

Should try and point two powerheads at each other. Maybe to hide them a bit have them both in the side corners pointing to collide on the glass or in the middle of each side and straight across the tank. Then having some on the middle of the back wall pointing to the front of the glass or one blowing across the bottom of the back o the tank.


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In the second picture it looks like you have a hitchhiker on your rock. Might need help IDing it, but I believe it's a Ford!

Lmao. Thought about pointing that out ;)


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