This is the full maintenance and husbandry schedule for my Red Sea Reefer 250. It keeps all my tank inhabitants happy and I don't find it too onerous.
Daily: Feed the fish!
I now feed twice a day as I have found this reduces aggression amongst the fish, particularly for Rocky the lawnmower blenny as the others appear to get jealous that he's got something to do all day and they don't. I noticed that Sonic the coral beauty angelfish (and the official tank terror), who is also very partial to algae, follows him around when he's bored/hungry and that stresses Rocky out. Feeding during the day keeps Sonic otherwise occupied for a while.
I feed small sized pellet food in the early afternoon and am looking to get an automatic feeder to do this maybe 3x in small portions during the 'high noon' lighting period once the Coronavirus lockdown ends here in Switzerland and I won't be around in the daytime.
In the evening I feed a variety of frozen food, which I thaw in tank water but do not strain. I feel that this helps feed the corals too and my use of No3Po4x and a small amount of GFO (in a bag, in a filter cup) means I always have very low nutrients.
I always include 1/4 to 1/2 cube of lobster eggs and once a week I baste this straight to the bottom of the tank rather than pour it in with the rest of the food. I do this so that more of it reaches the substrate and rocks where my mandarin fish can get at it. When I pour it in with the rest of the food the other fish (who also love lobster eggs) seem to pick off a large portion before the mandarins get a chance.
As needed: Clean the glass
I want my glass to be crystal clear so I tend to clean the three visible sides about three times a week. I leave algae to grow on the (painted) back and overflow box until I do my once-a-month display tank cleaning (see below). I get very little algae, so it doesn't really mess with the blue look.
Twice a week: Feed the LPS
At the start of the week I target feed my LPS including the sun corals with LPS pellets to ensure they get enough food besides what they happen to catch from the fish and SPS feedings.
Twice a week: Feed the SPS
Towards the end of the week I will heavily target feed my SPS corals. I usually prepare a mix of Coral Sprint, preserved zooplankton and preserved (brown) phytoplankton, or occasionally just feed one of these but more heavily.
Once a week: Feed the filter feeders
I feed a large amount of live (green) phytoplankton the day before I perform my weekly tank maintenance. Personally I see a good response from all corals, although apparently acropora cannot actually use these molecules as studies found they are still intact within the algae tissue rather than being broken down. The invertebrates, especially the featherdusters inc. bismaworms plus my secret tank favourite the black and white tunicates seem to enjoy this a lot. It does always create a green film on the glass, which clogs up the filter socks very quickly when I clean the glass, which is why I do it the day before the weekly maintenance. I turn down the skimmer for a few hours as the fresh phytoplankton makes it go nuts.
Tank maintenance:
I am too lazy to perform water changes every week and I think this is ok since my water parameters remain very stable. Generally I follow this schedule and test my water before starting to see the 'worst' readings of the week:
Week 1 - Clean the 3 visible sides of the glass. Change filter socks about an hour later, fill up top-up reservoir (c. 30 litres), make new RODI water for next week (80 litres). Manually dose Voogle EasyLife Maxicoral Coral A and Maxicoral Coral B 5ml each (works out at 60% of recommended strength as my corals are not grown out yet). I believe this is just trace elements so I might try amino acids too, which everyone raves about. But I also suppose there will already be a reasonable amount of those in the fatty-acid lobster-egg water.
Week 2 - Water change from sump (40 litres = 15%), using turkey baster to remove large detritus accumulations from the corners, blowing away detritus from return pump area and around heater. Clean the alkalinity outlet of the doser (not removing it, just with my fingers and in-sump water). Change filter socks, fill up top-up reservoir (leaves c.10 litres emergency RODI). Replace 5 Bactoballs. Hold fresh filter bag on return outlet in the display tank for the first minute after restarting the pump as a lot of crap gets dislodged in the pump during the basting process. Dose Voogle Easylife liquid filter medium (filter feeders seem to love this) at recommended strength. Make new bag of carbon (needs to soak for 24 hours so in that time the filter medium can do its thing without carbon as instructed). I turn down the skimmer for a few hours as the filter medium makes it go nuts.
Week 3 - Same as week 1
Week 4 - Water change from display (40 litres = 15%), using razor-on-a-stick to clean the back glass and overflow box. Use toothbrush to clean detritus off gyre netting that covers the outlets. Allow crap to settle briefly and then use a siphon to remove this and clean the gravel. Change filter socks, fill up top up reservoir (leaves c.10 litres emergency RODI). Replace Bactoballs. Refill from sump. Dose Voogle Easylife liquid filter medium (filter feeders seem to love this) at recommended strength, this time I just leave the carbon in, as its not super fresh. I turn down the skimmer for a few hours as the filter medium makes it go nuts.
Other dosing:
I dose Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium and No3Po4x via a doser to meet the tank needs. I always have a bag of carbon in a filter cup, which I change in Week 4 of my schedule, and a small bag of GFO. I find the GFO is extremely effective at Po4 removal so periodically I have to take it out to allow a bit of algae to build up for Rocky my lawnmower blenny. That happens about once a quarter and that is when I replace the GFO. I find that keeping phosphates too low with GFO not only makes the green algae disappear completely but (in combination with healthy No3 levels around 3-5ppm) can cause cyanobacteria to grow instead. The reason I don't rely purely on No3Po4x is because I feed quite heavily and it is more effective at reducing No3 than Po4, so Po4 can creep up over time. If you react by increasing the No3Po4 dose while No3 is already low then you get white slime forming in the sump and potentially even the display. That stuff really messes with the skimmer so you will have to clean it out if you experience that, to get it working again properly.
Equipment maintenance:
Skimmer - Once a quarter on a 'sump water change' day
Gyres - Once a quarter on a 'display water change' day
Return pump - Once a year on a 'sump water change' day and while I have it all disconnected I change the bulb on my UV steriliser too
I clean the equipment by soaking it in citric acid with water solution, then disassembling and scrubbing it with a toothbrush. I didn't have any issues with vinegar but I found I could make the solution stronger using powdered citric acid than the vinegar easily available to me here.
Overflow + box / return lines - I have never cleaned these but am thinking about some steel drain pipecleaners to get off the calcium buildups for the next pump maintenance session!
Here is a picture of my secret favourites the black and white tunicates to say thank you for making it through this long post!
they are all over here and there have even been petitions as to whether they should all be allowed to keep their horns! Hoping to start some livestock posts coming weekend. I am watching your thread now too and will read through it properly -- I also have 5 blue-green chromis that school very well!
