Deep cleaning tank

[Kershaw]

If there are any threads for this I apologize. Please post links for them.

What I want to know is how to deep clean my tank.

I have been slowly removing sand during water changes. I am going to add some new sand. But I am thinking of pulling one rock at a time and rinsing really good in some clean saltwater while using a turkey Baster to blow out all the crevices.

My phosphates and nitrates are kinda high. Been a long summer and super busy at work tank got a little neglected.

So will removing the old sand that is pretty shallow and blowing off all the rocks in a separate container help to lower po4 and nitrate? I don’t have any major algae problems other then random out breaks of cyno that seem to come and go. Well that’s not true I have a major coralline problem which I beleave it out competes other algae’s.

 

[Grey Guy]

I have been in similar situations several times. Maybe water changes will lower your PO4, but when coralline is a problem, that’s a good sign. Go slow. Don’t get in a rush and do something that will make things worse. My coralline was doing well, but when I changed the lighting, it all died, Coraline may be a nuisance, but when it dies out, it’s hard to get it back. I prefer my rocks to be purple, where there is no coral covering them.

 

[Antics]

If you're planning on removing the sand bed completely it would probably be a good idea to do it slowly over a few weeks taking of a section of the tank with each water change. This will give your tank time to adjust as you slowly remove it. I'd also re-consider removing and cleaning the live rock. Blasting the live rock with a turkey baster or a powerhead should be more than enough for cleaning it out. I don't think removing it and rinsing it in fresh saltwater would do anything that the aforementioned process wouldn't achieve.

I'd consider carbon dosing and GFO for your nutrient problem, but depends on whether or not you have a skimmer and or a way to run GFO through a reactor or another phosphate removing media in a bag in a high flow area. Do you have a sump? Buying a "tank" shop vac can make deep cleaning a lot nicer because you can really clean out your sump and make it look brand new by vacuuming out all the detritus and other goodies.

 

[sghera64]

If there are any threads for this I apologize. Please post links for them.

What I want to know is how to deep clean my tank.

I have been slowly removing sand during water changes. I am going to add some new sand. But I am thinking of pulling one rock at a time and rinsing really good in some clean saltwater while using a turkey Baster to blow out all the crevices.

My phosphates and nitrates are kinda high.

How big is the tank?

Man, this sounds like a whole latta work. I'd hate you see you do all that and be disappointed if the N/P levels drop only slightly and then return.

Do you use any sort of macro algae to remove N/P from water?

 

[Kershaw]

I run gfo and carbon.
Tank is 125 gal yes it has a sump.
Here is the deal I have to move my tank so I can do some sheet rock repair on the ceiling from a water leak anyway. And we will be painting and doing tile. So I have to remove all rock and live stock they will be housed in a 55 for about a week. I do 30 gal water changes every two weeks. I do need to vacuum my sump. Every time I try cheto it falls apart and dies.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Honestly. With a few Walmart or HD bins and 30 or so gal of fresh (6 buckets) of fresh saltwater and some of the $8 amazon powerheads you could pull it all dump all the sand and wipe down the whole tank in six hours and put it back. Yes slow is good. Best even. But.

You're going to put 12 to 13 doing it slowly and you're trying to deep clean. I would smash it.

I've done it more than a few times in my 30 and I'm ready at any minute to at least be able to do it in my 55 in case of emergency. I still regularly do a big scrub.

Drain it in tubs. Rinse Rock in dirty rinsing bin. Put the rock in good tank water bin w powerheads. Put fish in. Put in prime. Remove bed from tank. Wipe with bag of towels from HD towels and diluted peroxide. Rinse with lots of water and put the water and rock back in tank and fill. You'll need all the bins n buckets etc for the move anyway and all you'll have to do is the exact same thing you did for the deep clean but move them and the tank across town but now it's all clean already. With some heaters you won't have to rush to set it back up immediately

My .02.

I can link the big deep clean thread if you like.

 

[Kershaw]

Honestly. With a few Walmart or HD bins and 30 or so gal of fresh (6 buckets) of fresh saltwater and some of the $8 amazon powerheads you could pull it all dump all the sand and wipe down the whole tank in six hours and put it back. Yes slow is good. Best even. But.

You're going to put 12 to 13 doing it slowly and you're trying to deep clean. I would smash it.

I've done it more than a few times in my 30 and I'm ready at any minute to at least be able to do it in my 55 in case of emergency. I still regularly do a big scrub.

Drain it in tubs. Rinse Rock in dirty rinsing bin. Put the rock in good tank water bin w powerheads. Put fish in. Put in prime. Remove bed from tank. Wipe with bag of towels from HD towels and diluted peroxide. Rinse with lots of water and put the water and rock back in tank and fill. You'll need all the bins n buckets etc for the move anyway and all you'll have to do is the exact same thing you did for the deep clean but move them and the tank across town but now it's all clean already. With some heaters you won't have to rush to set it back up immediately

My .02.

I can link the big deep clean thread if you like.

Yes please I couldn’t find it

 

[Kershaw]

I am also considering drilling another hole in my tank while it’s down for my return as my tank only has one 2” bulk head. I have to have my return over the glass and I hate it. But I am scared to drill it

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Yes please I couldn’t find it

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-official-sand-rinse-thread-aka-one-against-many.230281/

And chime in if you need. Brandon's cool.

I am also considering drilling another hole in my tank while it’s down for my return as my tank only has one 2” bulk head. I have to have my return over the glass and I hate it. But I am scared to drill it

I'm scared of drilling too. Dunno.

Not sure of your finances or the size and temperature of your houses and life. But you can keep a reef in a big tub. It would make the move easy. It's just parts.

 

[Dizzirn]

I am also considering drilling another hole in my tank while it’s down for my return as my tank only has one 2” bulk head. I have to have my return over the glass and I hate it. But I am scared to drill it

Don’t be scared [emoji33] if I can do it so can you!!
@saltyfilmfolks it’s not hard at all!

 

[sghera64]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-official-sand-rinse-thread-aka-one-against-many.230281/

And chime in if you need. Brandon's cool.

I'm scared of drilling too. Dunno.

Not sure of your finances or the size and temperature of your houses and life. But you can keep a reef in a big tub. It would make the move easy. It's just parts.

Thanks for posting the thread. I read Palleta's article too.

I've never "deep cleaned" my reef system in 15 years. I don't think the reef looks "tired", and I'm not sure I qualify as a relentless 'custodian' - - but I'm not neglectful either.

I have a DSB and stopped vacuuming it many years ago. I do have a skimmer and now a macro algae 'fuge. My N,P levels are typically non-detect. I even tried to boost them with CaNO3 and Na3PO4. But, then kept dropping way down. I've since given up on that and let nature finds its place.

I share this because this "deep clean" consideration has me puzzled. Mike P. warns to get rid of detritus. I leave mine accumulate in my sump and I think Randy H.F. said he has about an inch of it in corners of his.

Why do some tanks go years (decades) without looking tired while other feel they need a "bowel cleansing" every so often?

In the OP's case, he needs to drain to drill holes, so why not take advantage of the tear down and do a good rinsing, sure. But for the rest of us, maybe recent trends and measurement technologies can pinpoint problem more exactly for more specific remedies (e.g. PAR meters, lighting advances, refugiums, wave makers, foods, additives, ICP-AES, hobby test kits, oh, and the R2R community).