Cleaning Stratagies

[ElGuappo]

How does everyone clean their tanks. ? do you clean the bio media bag? i have a RED SEA MAX it has a built in sump behind the glass. every two monthes or so i notice cleaning filter sponges alone does not allow sufficent flow to my pumps thus injecting to many bubble into system.

SOOOOOOOOo i remove my pumps to get at carbon for new carbon and at his point i also rinse my bio media (i hope this isnt too bad) . i have to do this as the bag itself gets loaded with debris. anysuggestions.

I have also recently noticed a cream colored slime in my sump pumps and other places in my tank any ideas of what this might be? is it harmful?

Thanks for Looking.

[michika]

The cream colored slime might be precipitation. Are you dosing anything in your tank?

Try for monthly regular maintence, pump cleaning etc. You can clean pumps with a diluted solution of vinegar. Do you have a skimmer on your system?

[ElGuappo]

yes i have a skimmer and i dose calcium strontium and iodide .

Vinager? added directy to tank? or rinse pumps with it ?

[Brent F]

El Guappo,

You asked me to check this thread since we have the same tank. My cleaning is completely different than yours because I have a sump in the stand. My rear compartments contain the overflow, heater and circulation pumps only (no media back there). I threw out the ceramic bag, carbon, black sponge, white sponge and skimmer that came with the RSM because I was concerned it would become a detrius trap and I couldn't imagine constantly having to unscrew the pumps to get at the ceramic bag and carbon for cleaning.

My carbon is in a phosban reactor with the Zeovit. I have a filter sock on the inlet line in the sump for mechanical filtration.

[ElGuappo]

see this is excatly what i was wondering thank you brett. so you run everthing out of your sump then? how hard was it to set a sump up for this tank.; I AM GETTING SICK OF REMOVING PUMPS for that reason.

[Brent F]

The difficulty accessing the media in a RSM is a common complaint.

A lot of people with RSM have been removing the media from the back and putting a canister filter in the stand to get the media more accessible and reduce maintanance. The lines to and from the canister can be run through the oval shapped chiller plug in the back. This can be done without having to do any mods to the tank.

People who also need a chiller have been using the canister (Magnum 360 or Fluval 404) as a circulation pump for their chillers. If you don't need a chiller you can use a smaller canister.

[Brent F]

see this is excatly what i was wondering thank you brett. so you run everthing out of your sump then? how hard was it to set a sump up for this tank.; I AM GETTING SICK OF REMOVING PUMPS for that reason.


Setting up a sump in an operating tank would be very difficult. You need to do a lot of cutting to install an overflow. It would be hard to do without getting plastic dust in your water. I installed the sump and did all the mods before adding water. You can see what was involved in the first page of my tank thread (link in the signature line below)

I'd go with the canister option for an operating tank.

[michika]

You soak your pumps in a vinegar water outside of the tank. I usually do it as a 1:4 ratio. I wouldn't dose iodine, there are no test kits for it and there have been reported deaths due to it. You can search over on Reef Central for more details.

What are your parameters like?

[ElGuappo]

i have been looking at chillers and am thinking of a 1/15 or a 1/10 HP . do you run a chiller brent? i find my abiant temp to get up to 27 C in the summer. i have not gone through a summer yet with my SW tank so i am a little intimidated with the thought of loosing all my coral though.

If i added amagnum or fluvial would i just get rid of the currnt power heads ?

This hobby has tawt me one thing. ( i am already aware i cannot spell)
i thought i knew plmbing but i am dumbfounded. i have been tring to find sites online but am unable to find anthing with the general outlines to sumps and such. all i need is a general idea so i can get the logic here . i have no idea why i am having such a hard time getting this. its a little clearer now that i realze the back part of the tank is a sump essentialy. the litiature i have bought is less than helpful

[Brent F]

I have central air conditioning so don't need a chiller.

You leave in the existing pumps with a canister. You take the water out for the cansister above the skimmer. You can return the water either to the same area in back or run the return line over the smoked glass to the main tank.

Either way, you still need the stock pumps to keep flow through the skimmer and past the heater.

[ElGuappo]

Cool thanks again brent. but one of the original pumps would be enough to get the flow up for the skimmer right? and the canister just has to have the in line before the skimmer? so behind the comb would be fine where the sponge fiilter was? ant the out after the skimmer and befor the baffles?

[michika]

Would diagrams or photos help you to understand sumps better?

[ElGuappo]

i think i get it for the most part its the concept i dont get . is a sump basically another tank that is there to make water changes easier, and somewhere to put insightly things like skimmers heaters. and what the thing with micro algae? people still keep fish and inverts in ther esumps do they not?

[Brent F]

Not sure how best to plumb in a canister. Check that link I sent you for ideas on where to run the lines. They figured out where to put them wthout having to do any cutting of the tank and so that the microbubble problem is fixed.

The problem I see with placing the line to the canister to the right of the skimmer (behind the overflow grate) is wouldn't the skimmer get in the way of the lines? You might be able to make it work with some cutting.

Regarding the original pumps, I'd leave both in. they are small pumps and having two gives a better mix to the flow. Also, if you remove the pump you need to plug the hole through the smoked glass

[ElGuappo]

i have as you can see from some off my pics added two korialia PHs a nano and 1 for flow . i have run the cors out the back under the small hood. i was thinking of cutting a small u shaped hole from the back for the hose.

i hope you get the idea. i am talking about the small hood over the skimmer.

[Brent F]

That would probably work. I forget where there is space around the skimmer since mine was never placed in the tank.

[michika]

A sump is for additional water volume, which promotes additional stability in the system. Its also a great place, like you mentioned, to hide extra equipment. As for macro algae most people put that in a refugium, which is ment to promote pod growth, and use the algae for nutrient export.