AIO, to Clean or Not to Clean?

[Lunar Mike]

Hi, I have a Nuvo SR-60.

The back sump area has all kinds of life, smaller feather dusters, little starfish(long thin arms), sponges, pods and who knows what else.

Can I just throw the vacuum in there or should I be concerned that I will kill off all life that's thriving? I do not want to shock the reef in anyway if possible.

There is some build up/sediment at the bottom of the chambers but not too bad IMO. There is two layers of glass(on each side) really close together that water flows through and have been making extra noise lately.

Also getting little bursts of micro bubbles in the main display. Thinking I need to clean between those layers for better flow.

Is it worth cleaning and should I do it all at once or individual sections/areas spaced apart?

Mainly Acropora/SPS

 

[Bob Escher]

I have a JBJ 45 gal AIO I converted to have a sump so therefore it has a overflow
I guess it’s more of a refugium now.
The only thing ive done is try to clean some aptasia out of it other than that I have left it alone.
I have live rock in it and feather duster and everything else as well. I don’t touch it.
I do have a small wavemaker in it though

 

[Lunar Mike]

I have a JBJ 45 gal AIO I converted to have a sump so therefore it has a overflow
I guess it’s more of a refugium now.
The only thing ive done is try to clean some aptasia out of it other than that I have left it alone.
I have live rock in it and feather duster and everything else as well. I don’t touch it.
I do have a small wavemaker in it though

That's what I was thinking, I'll probably leave it alone.

Almost like it's own tank behind the scenes/in the shadows, thriving. The main display feeds off all the extra life so I'll leave it alone.

 

[Bob Escher]

That's what I was thinking, I'll probably leave it alone.

Almost like it's own tank behind the scenes/in the shadows, thriving. The main display feeds off all the extra life so I'll leave it alone.

If I would have thought of it I would have removed the false wall, oops a little late now

 

[Kyle Rinker]

I suppose it comes down to personal preference. In my experience, you won't cause a crash or negative chemistry swing by cleaning the crud out. I'm all for letting interesting organisms grow like feather dusters and sponges, etc. But, being able to siphon out just the sediment can certainly be beneficial to your overall chemistry/balance. Every time I pull my return pump or either one of my reactor pumps out of my nuvo, I siphon the junk out of the bottom of the overflow sections. FWIW, I have never scraped the side walls back in the return section--just siphoned out the leftover fish poop, sand, and crumbs of marine pure

 

[Lunar Mike]

Update! Haven't cleaned the sump area hardly but think I now have to. Neither the filter socks in about 3 months. Still keep up with 5-10 gallon water changes every 7-14 days, corals look happy.

Noticed what looks like a huge aiptasia on a filter sock while feeding and flow was off. It's in the corner of the room and difficult to get a good look in there.

Been fighting aiptasias for a while now and now I think it's time to clean out the sump. Aiptasia X doesn't really work for me. Kills a few, "sometimes," the rock I have has holes everywhere and they just hide or pop out somewhere else.

Here's some pics. Really thinking about starting my tank over and staying away from LFS Frag tanks with Aiptasia... Thinking I should have also cleaned the sump and socks(often). Maybe I would have noticed the aiptasia, saving me the headache trying to kill the ones in the reef. If anything I should center my tank on the wall instead of the corner of the room. It would be easier to get to the socks and sump.

 

[Justfebreezeit]

I cover the back area of my nuvo 20 with a piece of plastic so nothing that requires light can grow in there. Might be a way to get rid of the aptasia back there.

Its been about a year with this tank but I do siphon the back area's floor every other water change. Nothing major.

 

[Lunar Mike]

I cover the back area of my nuvo 20 with a piece of plastic so nothing that requires light can grow in there. Might be a way to get rid of the aptasia back there.

Its been about a year with this tank but I do siphon the back area's floor every other water change. Nothing major.

Great idea, might just have to cover it up. Someone also told me to ditch the socks and just put some bioballs all in the sump area for low maintenance.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[LetItReef]

When I used to have my IM 40 it had alot of Aiptasia in the chambers. I added a Peppermint in there and took care all of the Aiptasia.

 

[Lunar Mike]

When I used to have my IM 40 it had alot of Aiptasia in the chambers. I added a Peppermint in there and took care all of the Aiptasia.

I was considering a few if those but I read/saw they eat some corals when the Aiptasia are gone. I found this coral in the sand and would hate to see it get eaten. It was tiny when I glued it to the plug and is still attached to it. It was even smaller when I glued it to the plug but cant find thise images. It is usually opened up more but I was feeding earlier the water flow was off.

Some before and after images. Also saw that a fish called copper banded butterfly(I think) that eats aiptasia.

 

[Lunar Mike]

When I used to have my IM 40 it had alot of Aiptasia in the chambers. I added a Peppermint in there and took care all of the Aiptasia.

This is the coral I think it came from, sold it and hope I still have a piece of it. Nothing has been altered in the image. Cell phone pic