Water Changes

When doing my water changes ( both salt & fresh ) is it better to borrow deep into the sustrate or just clean the surface ?

I have just set up a planted discus tank. The plants have not yet had a chance to take hold. I clean around them gently so as to not uproot them & also not to clean up the mulm.

While cleaning my reef tank, I find cleaning deep into the substrate upsets the coral more than just doing the surface.

I've often thought that the less disturbance, the healthier your tank will be.

What do you think ?

 

I look at it/approach two ways

If you do the routine wc and remove most surface detritus from the rock work, corners and surface of the sand bed, then you really should not have to do deep cleanings. This includes blasting the rockwork or rubble within the sump and or fuge.

And if you feel compelled to do a deeper cleaning, do so in stages. Do not disrupt the entire sandbed in one cleaning.

 

Good advice here. Many of us never clean/siphon the substrate. You may want to look into a product called Marine-Clean by Tropical science, I use it. For your salt water tank you can add a few Conch and Nassarious snails to keep things tidy.

 

I am very against cleaning substrate in a reef tank. That just causes problems IME (unless you do it consistently and from the beginning).


What I do (when I rarely do a WC) is turn off the power heads, grab a turkey baster type thing and blow off all my rock. Get the water column dirty that way. Then just siphon it out.


In my FW, I clean deep into the gravel and move it around... except in the area I have plants... Which is a small area in my case.

 

What kind of problems ?

I do not feed much, low bio-load but I garauntee the amount of sludge that comes out of my sump and rockwork is frightening, and that is monthly and bi-monthly. I can only imagine the amount if I rarely did it, and I can see and have run into problems with excess nutrients, algae promblems, and consistantly eleveated nitrates.

 

I do my discus planted tank 2 times a week. I do my salt water once a week. I think I am on the same wave length as most of you. Clean off rocks, etc & just a very light covering of the gravel. The turkey baster is a good idea. Thanks everyone. If I got anything wrong, let me know.

PS. How many hours do you leave your marine lights on ? I have my brights on 8 & the dim ones 1 hour before the brights & one hor after.

 

For me the average is 6 hours. Phoenix 150 w HQI, not the strongest light by far, but I would probably burn my corals if I ran anything better. The design of the JBJ leaves the bulb about 4 inches from the waters surface. I get good growth with sps and those nasty algaes do not go to town. Just me though.

 

Im using T5 and my routine is 2 x actinic on for 12 hours
with the main white lights coming on for a 10 hour period between
so I have just an actinic lit tank for 1st and last hour, similar to you Oceansurf

Steve

 

i wouldnt stir the sand bed to much just get the detris off the rocks as best as possible and the surface then just add the water the sand bed is full of bactria and orginisims that when stired release toxins into the water

 

You are talking rock and sump, peredhil and I are talking substrate. The vacuuming of the sub/sand can release massive amounts of unwanted nutrients/nitrate etc.
Oh, by the way, if you are getting that much sludge, look into Marine-Clean by Tropical Science.