offroadodge Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 So this past weekend as every year i did my usual yearly tank maintanence which consited of water change, draining the return side of the sump and cleaning the detris off the bottom, redoing all the vinyl tubing to reactors, disassembling both return pumps to check for wear, pulling return pipe and megaflow drain pipe and cleaning, power head cleaning and inspection, cleaning skimmer complete, and changing the carbon and GFO in the 2 reactors. WOW its amazing how when its done things just seem to look HAPPIER!!! I made a cover for my overflow box to try and keep the algae growth inside return box down to a minimal. I am only writing this to remind PPL that sometimes we let the hard work go and inevetably something goes wrong. This year everything for me look to be in good working order and didnt cost me much money. Maybe this will persuade one of yall to check the things you dont normaly check and clean the thing that you dont normally clean. HAPPY REEFING guy/gals... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhart032 Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Ive fallen into that category of neglecting things out of sight. now its costing me. just pulled all my rock and scrubbed it, claned the sand bed very well with a vac ( i know i know shouldnt do that) but i did. doing a 90% water change cause of all the sludge that was in the mountain of rock it was bad, but im gonna feel happier and my reef will be happier for it. was having to many problems. aslo 75lbs of rock is to much for a 34g solana.. good job on the cleaning i miss having a big tank. it was so much easier everything went down to the sump vs staying in the display. gonna drill my solana tho and add a 40g sump thats should make it better.. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Hmm.. pulling the rock/scrubbing seems a bit extreme to me. When I did something like that in my 24g to help combat hair algae, I had a major cycle happen and lost most of my fish. But this is a good thread to remind people about cleaning things that normally don't. I need to do some good cleaning on skimmers and refugium on my tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzobob Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Ah, offroaddodge, Good list. I try (try being the operative word) to change my bulbs yearly. On multibulb tanks I try to change half the bulbs every 6 months to minimize the impact. I also give all my stands the once over to check for any rusting hardware, water damage, sagging, ect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Amen! Best equipment in the world ain't going to do didly squat if proper maintenance isn't done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhart032 Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 i have some stability and 20g of salt mixed on hand just in case that happens..i just used a toothbrush and a finger nail brush. i didnt go at it to hard. just really on the spots that had nuc green zoos that took over the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barderer Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 in my 29 cube I siphon off my entire thin sand bed every 6 m and clean all the filth out of it. Then poor it right back in via a tube without even moving the rockwork. It really keeps the algae away. So much nasty out of the sand bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 remember that restocking your clean up crew needs to be done every 6 mo if not every year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crab Rangoon Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Makes me feel very OCD about my weekly maintenance I did, however, go above & beyond my routine maintenance last weekend. Did a 50-60g water change, pulled all my rock, removed a few BIG fireworms from the rock, scraped & syphoned the glass bottom, remixed my aquascape when putting the rock back in & sold all the excess/leftovers, removed my Blueface Angel from the DT and put in my pair of Bellus Angels that have been in QT since Halloween. On a weekly basis, I dump & clean my skimmer collection cup, change socks twice a week, spot clean the bottom w/a scraper as needed, check anything & everything for salt creep or moisture, and flush my UV sterilizer w/high flow to evacuate any air that could be trapped inside. Thanks to the LED spotlights, I never get any growth/build-up on my drain & return, side & front glass, Vortech, or the inside & outside of my overflow box Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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