Dirty Tank Bare Bottom Help

[MarkS]

Hi, my bare bottom tank keeps getting dirty with Detris and small reddish particles. All my Parameters are normal, Nitrate about 5 how can I stop this from happening.

350L Tank. 5 fish and about 4 snails do I need more cleanup?

I have 2 MP10’s placed in the middle at apposing ends for flow etc it does will get dead spots. I find this the best for the coral though?

Any advice welcome.

 

[Miami Reef]

Small reddish particles? Do you have a picture?

 

[G Santana]

I wish I could help, I have 3 power heads in my 130 BB, used to have 4 but at some point I believe it's possible to have too much flow unless it is an SPS dominant tank.

I have to syphon twice a month in order to keep bottom clean. Too much flow hurts LPS which are on the bottom so I had to pick my poison.
I have two heads pointing at the surface and one going across the bottom front. This will inevitably push the detritus to the bottom left hand back where it's easy to syphon.
I also have an urchin and he creates a lot of rock scraping that adds to the problem.

There is no easy answer or perfect setup, everyone regardless of tank substrate has to deal with accumulation of detritus.

 

[blaxsun]

You may need more cleanup crew, yes - possibly some hermit crabs. You might also need some more flow along the bottom of your tank to stir things up.

 

[HuduVudu]

@MarkS the purpose of a bare bottom is just that. Now you can see and remove the detritus build up that will always be there.