Tank cleaning when running AWCs

[Tastee]

Hi all, I’m planning to setup an AWC system for a couple of reef tanks (my existing 65g RSR 250 and a planned new 140g RSR 525 XL). I’m interested in how those of you who run an AWC setup maintain your tanks for those tasks that others would do when manually changing water - cleaning filter sponges, vacuuming sand etc.

So you know my current approach I run a mixed reef in the current tank and will do the same in the new one. I have a 3/4” sand bed and don’t regularly vacuum it. I leave it to my Sand Sifter Starfish, Nassarius snail and the fish to keep it clean and they do a fairly good job. It grows some algae in patches but that doesn’t bother me too much. I have vacuumed it in the past but not for 9 months now, and I don’t plan to unless I see a problem. I keep some Poly Filter in the sump along with the stock RSR sponge in the bubble trap but only give them a rinse every 3 months or so, seems quite sufficient. These are the only two tasks I would normally do during a WC.

What is your cleaning approach when running AWCs?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Retro Reefer]

I personally don’t do AWC’s but I would certainly think you would need to step up your mechanical filtration maintenance because your not removing the same amount of solid waste as manual changes, it’s for this reason Im not sold on auto water changes, may be great for helping with chemistry and some nutrient export but for me water changes are about exporting as much solid waste from my tank as possible such as fish waste, algae and detritus

 

[Gareth elliott]

With Simple filtration really comes down to flow imo. The more time everything is suspended the less the chances it falls on the tank floor.

my filtration is a protein skimmer and my corals(mainly my gorgs). The aws i use mainly to keep trace elements in the tank without having to worry about testing for them, or playing around with math and tying them to calcium uptake.

I actually have to add nitrate back into my system to keep it detectable. My sand creatures are ceriths and a cucumber.

flow in my tank is roughly 100x my display volume, I excluded my return from this math.

 

[Tastee]

Thanks @Retro Reefer and @Gareth elliott. I run 225 micron filter mesh socks and a skimmer which are cleaned weekly. I does Aquaforest 3 part 24x7 to maintain the basic parameters - I target the Aquaforest recipe for these so the WCs are just to replace whatever trace elements are not already in their 3 part. Plus to reduce nutrients a little.

Like you @Gareth elliott my corals do a good job for both filtration and nutrient control. I have mainly softies and LPS with a couple of SPS. Currently Nitrates are 4 ppm and Phosphates 0.12 ppm as measured by a Red Sea Pro kit and have been stable there for a few months. Phosphates have been gradually rising over the last 12 months as things stabilised (my tank is only 2YO) but seems to have settled at the current level which I am happy with.

I’d love to hear the thoughts and experience others who run AWCs have.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

I do AWC and I hear this question a lot. I dont really get why
The answer is AWC does not preclude you from doing any maintenance you would otherwise be doing during water changes.
You can still siphon your sand whenever you want. You can suck what you need out and add new water back. Or you can run it through a filter or sock and save the water. Any socks or foam or floss can be rinsed in water just as you would without AWC.

Personally, I almost never vacuum sand but I may stir it up a bit here and there. I dont regularly use socks or pads or floss of any kind. I dont skip these things because of AWC though, I skip them because I dont see any need to do them. If I ever see a need for any of these things I can still do them at any time just as I could have before AWC.

I will never again own a tank without an AWC.

 

[AZMSGT]

I know AWC folks that just siphon down to the sump into a tie on filter sock. The water stays in the system and the levels never change. This is my plan if I can ever get the last part I need for my AWC.... But that's a whole different story.

 

[Vinman]

With Simple filtration really comes down to flow imo. The more time everything is suspended the less the chances it falls on the tank floor.

my filtration is a protein skimmer and my corals(mainly my gorgs). The aws i use mainly to keep trace elements in the tank without having to worry about testing for them, or playing around with math and tying them to calcium uptake.

I actually have to add nitrate back into my system to keep it detectable. My sand creatures are ceriths and a cucumber.

flow in my tank is roughly 100x my display volume, I excluded my return from this math.

You got a pic of that cucumber

 

[Tastee]

Thanks @GoldeneyeRet. Fully understand I can manually take out and replace some water any time I need to and vacuum sand, clean sponges etc. I was just interested to hear how those folk who do run AWCs manage their tanks in this regard. It’s encouraging to hear you have success without a lot of additional cleaning.

 

[SPR1968]

Ive started doing auto water changes on my Red Sea S650 with Apex DOS and it makes life much easier. My new system is fully automated as far as water changes are concerned and I also would never run another tank without this.

I will however still do a manual change from the sump probably every 6-12 months or so to remove any accumulation of debris from there. My new tank has an X Filter 1.7 with 25 micron fleece so this will limit the debris in the sump;

As far as sand is concerned, I’ve never cleaned it and can’t see any need to. It’s part of the overall bio filtration of the system unless its very dirty and full of rubbish not being eaten or removed.

Any other maintenance is just done as and when needed so doing automatic water changes doesn’t change that part

 

[Tastee]

Thanks @SPR1968. Your approach to sand is pretty much the same as mine.

 

[Waters]

I don't have any substrate so running AWCs is even easier in that regard.....but when I need to do some siphoning of detritus I normally just shut off the AWCs on the day I am doing maintenance and manually change 4-5 gallons manually.