detrius

parrotchute

parrotchute

DUSTOFF MEDEVAC
When doing water changes, I've been vacuuming up a lot of junk on the bottom. But even after my water changes, there's still a lot of it left and now floating around the tank.

I'm cutting back on the amount of food I'm giving them (because, despite my best efforts, I think I was overfeeding).. I have more cleaners coming from Indo-Pacific Sea Farms (pods, more snails, worms, and a bunch of other stuff) -
Will this help cut back the amount of crap (literally!) on the ground?

Thanks guys, can't say enough how grateful I am for all the clutch advice you've all given me so far...
Alex
 
Do you have enough powerheads? Your flow should be enough so that most of the detritus can stay suspended and be picked up by filters/skimmers. If you notice certain areas where crap tends to accumulate, increase the flow in that area. A cleaner crew will definitely help.

If you don't have them already -- I'd suggest adding a pair of brittle or serpent stars. Or one of each. They are great at getting detritus off the ground. Just stay away from the big great brittle stars, they are known to eat fish.
 
I've got 2 300gph powerheads. It seems like there's a good amount of flow, but it doesn't really kick things up off the ground (like heavy poops or the leftover pellets)...

Right now I have some emerald crabs and a bunch of snails (but only 2-3 nass). I'm looking forward to that cleaning crew coming in, it'll have:
comet stars, pods, bristles, strombus snails, spaghetti worms - I think I'll pick up 2 brittle stars tho!
Thanks!

Oh, sort of a related question...when I'm feeding my guys pellets, they tend to space out a lot and miss a few here and there, but they add up...am I doing this wrong? Is some waste normal?
 
daugherty said:
i would add some more powerheads you want to have at a min of a 10x turn over of the tank volume
Click to expand...

I accidentally lied there - I just pulled out the package and each pwoerhead is an 850gph - wow, didn't realize they were that much. I had them angled down a few weeks ago, but they were moving all the sand...
 
You should stop feeding pellets. Pellet and flake foods contain preservatives that tend to lead to bad algae and water quality problems. Feed frozen foods only. Your fish will like you better for it too :)
 
Funny you mention that, biff! I was just looking up stuff online. (btw, is it advisable buy "frozen" fish food online?)

What sort of frozen foods are best for damsels/clowns?
Is it a lot more expensive?

Thanks
 
It's much better to buy frozen food locally. If you buy it online, you have to pay for shipping, which is killer. You can get frozen fish food at pretty much any pet store, even Petco and Petsmart carry a decent variety of frozen foods.

I don't think it's much more expensive. For damsels and clowns, they will do well with mysis shrimp, fortified brine (plain brine has no nutrition, so only buy it if it's fortified), there are foods called Emerald Entree, Marine Cuisine and Rod's Food that are excellent, and are a mix of a bunch of different things. You could cruise on down to a pet store and buy a couple different packs to try out.
 
Thanks, I'm going down to the LFS tomorrow after work for a brittle star and I'll pick some up!
On another note, I just noticed the side of my fish tank has fleas! I need a magnifying glass, I want to watch them.....
 
Biff -
Might as well ask before I try to feed them tomorrow night: Is there a technique for feeding them the frozen goodies? Sprinkle it in, give pinches to each fish, etc. ?

Thanks
-Alex
 
Take a bit of your tank water in a cup and drop a cube in and let it thaw. Then you can dump it in your tank. I use a turkey baster to suck it up and then squirt it in, that way I can aim it around where I want it. Since you only have a couple fish, don't feed the whole cube. Start with about 1/4 cube a day, then adjust it depending on the fish's needs. Most people feed once a day, a lot of people feed every other day.
 
I'd double the flow rate in the tank if I was you.It'll help keep the detritus from setteling out,plus your fish and corals will do better.As long as the sands staying on the bottom of the tank,you dont have too much flow.
I like to rinse the frozen foods with RO water before I feed.That way any preservatives that may be there,are washed off.
 
Yote, double even with 1700GPH? Plus the skimmer?

Thanks for the advice Biff & Yote, definitely applying it to the best of my ability, ha! I feel like I'm flooding the forum with all these questions. Hopefully someday I'll be knowledgeable to give back!

Pics coming soon too....
Alex
 
Holy crap that's a lot! Is what I have suitable for now? (trying to let the wallet recover)
I'm not planning on doing stony corals for a while now, just polyps and soft ones...
Trying to let my budget recover from the slew of things I've told myself I have to have after I bought my tank!
 
Oh yeah,what you've got now is fine.
I didnt add all that flow in one day.It was spaced out over several months,so no big deal.
And with softies and LPS,you wont need hardly as much flow.But you do need enough to minimize dead spot where crud can settle.
 
Its barely adequate for reefkeeping. Minimal at best add another powerhead and see what that does for the suspension of detrious.
 
Wow, Yote... where the heck did you put all those powerheads?
Right now my 46g has two K-2's and they seem pretty large (visually) in my tank.
My rock work is leaning against the back glass and center overflow to maximize space.
Where the heck would I add more powerheads???
 

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