Topic of the Week August 21 - tank maintenance!

[billyr98]

Well I never put a poll for this week.. So i took it into my own hands and made it tank maintenance..


Once every other day ... I clean my glass
Once a week.... I topoff my topoff water tank...
Every other week.... I do a water change... And clean my skimmer cup
Every month... I clean my sump and water change ...
Every three months - i change my phosphate reactor media and clean algae out of my fuge
Every six months - I clean my skimmer and pumps....
Every year - change my bulbs

But my question is this.. I have noticed how smelly and dirty my overflows are in my tank... What is a good way to clean my overflows out.. 28" high tank

PS. I probably forgot things.. so I will add more as I remember

[Woodstock]

Tank maintenance? What is that? LOL....

I actually like doing tank maintenance. I can almost hear the corals and fish saying "thank you" I like to keep a clean tank..or as clean as possible given that I feed my fish several times per day and also spot feed all LPS and anemones on a regular basis.

Here is my routine for my 90 gal and 30 gal:

Daily:
Check temp & PH monitors
Check sump's water level
Check auto top off reservoir

Twice weekly:
Clean skimmer riser tube and collection cup
Clean overflow's prefilter sponge
Clean front glass IF necessary with magfloat

Weekly:
Replace carbon IF in use
Blow off rocks in 90 gal
30% water change on my 30 gal cube, blow off rocks, scrape coralline algae from all sides
Test both tanks for alk, ca, mg, and nitrAtes (more often if needed)

Biweekly:
20% water change on my 90 gal Reef, blow off rocks, scrape coralline algae from all sides

Monthly:
Nothing

Every three months:
Change phosban media
Clean out sump & overflow during water change

Every 8 months:
Replace all PC bulbs

Every year:
Replace all MH bulbs

To clean out the overflow and sump area, every 3 months or so, I siphon out all the detritus during a water change.

[Witfull]

when ever i feel like it, i do something~

[Woodstock]

There is one thing that I forget to do.... Cleaning the light's acrylic sheild. It gets covered quickly with salt spray but cleans up easily with vinegar and water. I should do that tomorrow...

[cheeks69]

Daily*topoff with kalk {slow drip of course}, blow off detritus with turkey baster, check temp several times a day especially since I have a Won Brothers Titanium heater...lol

Empty/clean skimmer cup twice a week

Weekly*10% water change, replace/wash filter sock, check necessary parameters cal/alk particularly, use mag float to remove algae, clean any salt buildup on the glass shield of my Lumenarc reflector

Every couple of months or when I feel like it...lol take ph's and return pump and skimmer pump and run them in warm water and vinegar to remove calcium deposits.

Replace MH annually and PC's every 14-16 months.

[Cougra]

As for cleaning the overflow, I would recommend using a canistor filter or something similar. It has a long narrow tube that you could use to reach the bottom and ackward areas of an overflow since it's difficult to reach in with your arms. The use of a canistor filter will also allow you to keep syphoning detritus out of the tank/overflow for as long as you need to since you don't have to worry about how much the tanks water levels are lowering.

I generally do a good cleaning every weekend and then a good size water change. I top off whenever my the evaporation lowers the water level in my sump past a line that I marked (About 1 to 2 gallons). The frequency of doing this varies troughout the year.

[cheeks69]

But my question is this.. I have noticed how smelly and dirty my overflows are in my tank... What is a good way to clean my overflows out.. 28" high tank

I never clean it and don't worry about it. I have tons of pods small snails and even bristle worms that get in there so any leftover food will be taken care of, as a matter of fact I look at it as a mini refugium as I have some macro-algae growing in there.

[Gina]

Every couple of weeks we do about 20-25% water change.
Everyday I check the PH monitor, top-off water (fill as neccesary).
Check the Kalk reactor, temp and skimmer (clean and empty when needed).
Replace carbon weekly.
Clean the sides of the glass every couple of days.
During the water change, I sipon off debris off the rocks.

Have to admit, I never thought about trying to clean the overflow. I'll have to see if I can get a look in there.

Replace MH's yearly and PC's when needed. We can usually tell when they need replaced by the color of the tank. It's probably yearly also.

[Witfull]

water change in progress now~

i should clean the skimmer cup,,,but that can wait~

[Frankie]

I try to stay out of the tank. Every time i go in to clean i end up re-scaping! Man i need to load up on corals so i stop it.

[billyr98]

I have so much coraline algae.. I just wanted some tips..

I use a kent Stainless steal scraper and it works awesome, but has anyone used the glue on adaptor to their MAG Float?

[Witfull]

dont do as i do, i dont follow a schedule any more, there seems to be so little free time that i do what needs to be done when it needs it or soon after it needs. water changes every 3 weekish, skimmer when its uber nasty looking, glass when it needs it. bulb changes, when i cant remember how old they are. about the only thing i do consistantly is feed and watch the tank~

[Woodstock]

Originally Posted by billyr98

I have so much coraline algae.. I just wanted some tips..

I use a kent Stainless steal scraper and it works awesome, but has anyone used the glue on adaptor to their MAG Float?

I have not. I only use the small kent pro scraper but would like to try the long handled one!

[billyr98]

I got the extended kent scraper, i like it !!!!

[Woodstock]

Yep, that's what I need!