Cleaning the tank help!

[Jade.a.deacon]

I have been running my tank for say... Two months now and I have been cleaning the tank by using a siphon and going round the crushed coral bed and taking out 20% a week and cleaning algae off the glass, I usually take the skimmer head and give that a clean and then clean the fine white foam (from filter) but should I be moving my live rock around when cleaning the coral bed?
Also should I clean the rest of the filter system (corse black foam and bioballs) how often should this be done if so? Also one more thing, should I turn the power in the tank off when feeding (apart from lights) otherwise all food on top of water gets dragged into the filtration? Nitrates are 20ppm trying to get them down should I place a bag of carbon in tank? Only problem with that is I use tap water and dechlorinator (stress coat+ ) along with quick start will that soak up all chemicals needed? Sorry a lot of questions I'm just full of them!

 

[Zero Nitrates]

You don't have to move the rocks when cleaning. The coarse black foam can be a nitrate factory. I would clean it if I was you. I like to turn the system off when feeding so my fish have a chance to get the food. You might take a look at a RO/DI water filtration system. Water from the tap might be causing the nitrate problem.

 

[Jade.a.deacon]

I only have a 20 g tank so would it be worth it or shall I just buy rod water from lfs instead? X

 

[Zero Nitrates]

Water from the LFS would work too.

 

[Jade.a.deacon]

Thank you! Any tips to get the ph up? Done water change today it's gone down from 8.2 to 7.4 will my mushrooms I have survive? They are starting to shrivel!

 

[Jade.a.deacon]

Sorry ment ph is now 8 was 8.2

 

[Palting]

I have been running my tank for say... Two months now and I have been cleaning the tank by using a siphon and going round the crushed coral bed and taking out 20% a week and cleaning algae off the glass, I usually take the skimmer head and give that a clean and then clean the fine white foam (from filter) but should I be moving my live rock around when cleaning the coral bed?
Also should I clean the rest of the filter system (corse black foam and bioballs) how often should this be done if so? Also one more thing, should I turn the power in the tank off when feeding (apart from lights) otherwise all food on top of water gets dragged into the filtration? Nitrates are 20ppm trying to get them down should I place a bag of carbon in tank? Only problem with that is I use tap water and dechlorinator (stress coat+ ) along with quick start will that soak up all chemicals needed? Sorry a lot of questions I'm just full of them!

No, no need to move the rock around.

Whether to siphon the substrate or just stir it or leave it alone is actually controversial. One side says siphon to get the detritus out, the other side says just stir or leave it alone to allow the substrate to act as a biofilter. I have a shallow sandbed, and don't siphon it since it removes the critters and bacteria. I just stir it occasionally to dislodge any detritus while preserving the biofiltration capability. Been doing it for over 3 years now, seems to work better for me.

I remove and clean the skimmer cup weekly, and the whole skimmer every 3 months or so.

The foam in the tray over the bioballs in my FOWLR gets rinsed in hot tap water until clear weekly, replaced maybe every 6-8 weeks or so when it starts to look ratty. I do not clean the bioballs themselves. The bioballs get coated with a biologic film. This film is the bacteria that break down ammonia and nitrites, so if you clean them you kill the beneficial bacteria. The foam and the cascading water over the biobalks keep the bioballs from accumulating any debris. My FOWLR has been running for 6 months, but I had another tank for 5 years and never cleaned the bioballs. In 5 years, there was only the surface biofilm on the bioballs with no detritus.

Sorry ment ph is now 8 was 8.2

Do not chase pH, as fluctuation is normal. Fluctuation is related to photosynthesis and consumption of CO2, so pH is lowest in the morning just before lights go on, and highest in the evening just before lights go out. My reef tank fluctuates 8.2-8.4 in the summer, and 8.0-8.2 in the winter when the furnaces come on. Some tanks can fluctuate 7.8-8.2, and that is still acceptable.

 

[Jade.a.deacon]

Thank you that is all really helpful! There is so much to learn, at first I thought I new a lot but the more I go on the more I realise I NEED to research more. Constantly panicking over my water and little problems. Can I ask do you clean the sponge on top of the black foam? Also for some reason after doing my water change the nitrate has risen up just after it started to get lower :-( could it be because I use tap water? Although I add stress coat + a dechlorinator will it still add nitrates? My brown algae in tank is covering everything so starting to use rod water from fish shop tomorrow I think. Is it best to do another water change tomorrow? I don't want to do too much if it starts coursing not damage than I'm trying to stop haha. Wow 3 years I take it you know a lot to do with saltwater aqarium keeping, do you have a reef tank or just fish? I find this hobby so, so interesting and stressful! X

 

[Jade.a.deacon]

Thank you also, that makes a lot of sense seeing as I tested it again and the ph is better! X