Rocks

12 posts • Page 1 of 2

Discuss all topics related to saltwater / reef tanks.


chi6488
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2009 12:26 am

Rocks

by chi6488

How does everyone keep their rocks clean?? My rocks always have some type of crud built up on them.


puffedupseagull
 
Posts: 623
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:38 am

by puffedupseagull

when you say crud, you mean like a silt build up yeah.
that is detritus and can be easily removed into the water coloum by means of power heads or you can manually turkey baster it off. but if you have enough flow you will tend to eliminate the problem. do you have a sump or a canister filter, either way you should direct the flow of detritus towards the outlet to try and get rid of it that way.


fihsboy
 
Posts: 1837
Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 4:20 pm

by fihsboy

I was suffering the same problem. I was getting detritus build up on my sand in the back of the tank. Once a week..I make sure my hands are free of oils detergients lotion.....and I swish my hand around to make sure everything got stirred up a little. Thats what I used to do, aka I didnt have the money to buy new powerheads. NOW, I have a TON of flow, so if you can add some flow, your corals, fish, and detritus will appreciate it. :)How big is your tank and what kind of flow do you have?


gldntrmite
 
Posts: 55
Joined: Wed Mar 18, 2009 8:38 pm

by gldntrmite

Even with good flow the crevices of the rock in my tank tends to get build up. I take care of this with my water changes, I use a hose to drain water from tank into my 5 gal bucket. In esence, i vacuum the rock carefully... occasionally i'll snag a snail or crab and simply fish him out of the bucket however this process has helped keep my tank looking pretty good.


fihsboy
 
Posts: 1837
Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 4:20 pm

by fihsboy

what kind of clean up crew do you have? Heres why I ask. I used to think that the bigger the crew the better.....wrong. You need enough to keep algae under control, and thats it. nothing more. Just because you put 100 hermits in your tank.......doesnt make it cleaner. Your adding bioload....in the manner of detritus pooping crabs and snails. 90% of my detritus is from snails and crabs.....fish poo stays in the water column and gets sucked in by the overflow. SOOOO, how big is your crew? Are they doing more bad than good?


puffedupseagull
 
Posts: 623
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:38 am

by puffedupseagull

fair point fish boy fair point.


gldntrmite
 
Posts: 55
Joined: Wed Mar 18, 2009 8:38 pm

by gldntrmite

In my 200 i've got 20 hermits, 20-30 turbos, 1 sally lightfoot... as the tank has aged i've noticed less with each water change.


fihsboy
 
Posts: 1837
Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 4:20 pm

by fihsboy

now look at your deitrus on your rocks....is it mostly pill shaped? if so....its your turbos. They poo more than any freakin snailn I have.I have considered ridding them from my tank....and relying on the smaller ones.


jweb
 
Posts: 318
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2009 6:45 am

by jweb

I don't know how much margarita snails poo, but they definately eat 20x what a turbo snail does in a day. I have 3 and they keep my entire 58 gallon clean of major green hair algae.


gldntrmite
 
Posts: 55
Joined: Wed Mar 18, 2009 8:38 pm

by gldntrmite

I'll have to mix it up a little and see if i notice any change, the turbos i have are all very large so that could very well be my issue. Maybe i'll weed some out and see if the tank stays algae free..

Rocks

12 posts • Page 1 of 2

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