Hi there, I have a thousand questions about tank maintenance and figure you all have had enough experience to have developed your "works" and "doesn't work" list so I'm hoping you can share some of your expertise. I also hope others will ask questions in here about maintenance issues. I'll try to limit myself to one question per post!
Share your tank maintenance strategies
- Thread starter journey0820
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I have a glass tank. I ordered a glass cleaner package which came with a device with a razor blade on it. It works great at cleaning the glass but I'm wondering if it is safe or it it could scratch my glass? Also, if it gets small bits of rust on it, how dangerous is that for the tank?
I have substrate that is a mix of small to large grain with the smallest grains of sand settled at the bottom and the larger gravel size chunks on the top. If I vacuum the substrate am I interfering with any natural process that would benefit my tank or am I protecting the tank from a "nitrate factory"?
I have a filter with carbon, gravel textured round things, and a sponge. Should I run carbon all of the time or part time? If part time, when do I use it? The gravel textured round things get pretty filthy...how do I clean them without killing off all the beneficial bacteria? Same question with the sponge? Also, do I need to replace those last two medias?
If you have 4"+ of sand and would like it to be a functioning deep sand bed, you would not want to vacuum it. You would be removing the microfauna that lives in the sand and threaten the anaerobic layer where nitrate consuming bacteria live. You can, however, gently stir small, shallow patches of it to resuspend any detritus you may have in that area. The key here is only to do a small area during each water change and to only disturb the top layer of sand. While proper flow in the tank, detritus accumulation should be minimal.
I do not run carbon in our 90g. I use to run it for a 3 day period prior to a water change, but I've since realized that isn't even necessary. We have several leather corals in our tank along with Acropora, Montipora, and other SPS corals and have not had any problems with chemical warfare from the soft corals negatively impacting the SPS corals.
The textured media (probably ceramic?) is likely to serve as increased surface area for aerobic bacteria to live (the kind that convert ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate). You can clean them in old tank water from a water change. The same goes for the sponge.
Any metal that's used to clean the glass can cause scratching if not done cautiously. I use the Kent Pro Scraper with the plastic blade on our glass tank and an old credit card on the glass in tight spots. Both work great. Even the plastic scrappers can cause scratches if any sand gets caught in between the blade and the glass. Thorough rinsing in freshwater, drying, and letting the metal blade air out should help cut down on rust formation. However, if it becomes very rusty, I personally would not use it in my tank. Is the metal blade replaceable?
Hi FSN, that's really helpful. A follow up question...my sand bed is only 2-3'' deep. I wonder if I could funnel more sand in on it over time? Or should I vacuum it because it is shallow? Or leave it alone and let things take care of themselves?
I'm thinking that the sponge in my filter gets REALLY goopy...I had to scrub the bejeezus out of it to get some of the funk off. I don't know if swishing it in old tank water will clean it enough. Or, if I cleaned it too much in the sink! Also, when I replace the sponge (recommended every month or so on the box...aren't I losing all of the bacteria I'm supposed to want? So confused.
Yes, you can add more sand over time, if you like. Recommendations I've seen (and followed myself) state adding no more than a 1/4" layer at a time, in order to prevent smothering some of the microfauna living in your existing sand.
Some people that use those filter sponges (I do not) buy a couple spare ones and rotate them out. In the meantime, they heavily clean the one just removed from the tank. If I remember correctly, they even do so in a very mild bleach solution to help remove all the gunk and essentially sterilize the sponge (I encourage you to double check this with an internet search if you'd like to do it). I would think they rinse the sponge very thoroughly to remove any remaining bleach before returning the sponge to the tank.
When you clean the filter sponge in old tank water, you will certainly remove some of the beneficial bacteria along with all the gunk. That amount, however, should not be a significant portion of the total beneficial bacteria population in your tank. If you clean the sponge in the sink using tap water that contains chlorine, you definitely run the risk of killing off all of the bacteria on the sponge.
Most of the beneficial bacteria should be contained within your live rock and sand. Bacteria will populate any surface they can, which includes the filter sponge. If the filter sponge was a significant part of the total inhabitable surface area for the bacteria (or the only surface area for them to grow on), there would be more cause for concern. Since you have a good deal of live rock as well as sand, I wouldn't be concerned with the amounts of bacteria you are losing off the filter sponge from regular rinsings or switching it out from time to time with a completely clean sponge.
After reading the comment about putting carbon in your filter, i was wondering if i am doing the right thing. i have a rena cansiter filter and I always have carbon in my filter. Is this not a good idea? I have a 55 gallon aquarium with about 25 lbs of live rock. (i need to add more i know). I also run a protein skimmer on it, and it has a slot that i have carbon in?? Should I remove the carbon or keep it it there?