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melev

Cleaning Fest

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by
melev
, 09-04-2011 at 09:25 PM (3286 Views)
This weekend, my reef got a huge cleaning, tackling a lot of things that I felt needed addressing. My lighting fixture above hadn't been cleaned in seven months, so each Lumenbright pendant was taken out carefully, wiped down, the glass removed and cleaned on both sides, reassembled and reinstalled. The light rack was wiped down of dust at the same time.






I'm treating the tank for a little cyano outbreak. It's not bad, but I never let it get out of hand. While the 325 drops of Chemi-Clean Liquid is working its magic, I took the skimmer out for a well-needed acid bath. I've had this skimmer since 2005, and do this about twice a year. I'd guess this is the 12th time I've done so. The bin holds about 15g of water, and I added about 1/2g of HCL.



It's ready for installation. Since I need to do a big water change after the Chemi-clean treatment, I'm leaving it out for now so I can clean the sump thoroughly. I'll be doing this on Monday night, more than likely.





The flow in my tank has looked far too placid lately, and I wasn't sure why. Since I had that white container filled with muriatic acid and water, I soaked all three Vortech wet sides, and the penductor assembly. After a couple of hours, everything was clean and like new again.



I ran a credit card between the sand and the glass to clean up that area that always looks dirty, trapped against the viewing panel. I do this about once a month.



Once done, the flow is visually significantly better. I can not emphasize enough how important it is to clean your powerheads and return lines. I see all too often dirty powerheads clogged up with algae or coralline in people's tanks. The fact is, we spent a great deal of money on our equipment and the electricity to keep them running non-stop, but if they aren't clean the flow rate will lessen exponentially. Having really good - yet dirty - gear will not guarantee results nor will it it remain cost-effective. Odds are, those with dirty pumps add extra pumps to increase flow where it seems to be lacking, when if they just cleaned the primaries, the tank would look far better. If you have a pump that outputs 1500gph at 45w and later you are getting 1000gph or less for the same 45w, whose fault is that? Clean your gear.

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Updated 09-04-2011 at 09:55 PM by melev

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Comments

  1. baker.shawn's Avatar
    your tanks looking great!! i never realized how deep your sand bed was....makes me want to add to mine now
  2. melev's Avatar
    Yes, it's a 4" DSB. I like deep sand beds. I forgot to mention that I ran a credit card between the sand and the glass to clean up that area that always looks dirty, trapped against the viewing panel. I do this about once a month.
  3. baker.shawn's Avatar
    where do you get your HCL? and what brand is it, i was at homedepot and i told them what it was for...they guy thought i was nuts then he said they didnt have it
  4. melev's Avatar
    I buy it at Kroger, our supermarket. If you ask for Muriatic acid (or maybe Hydrochloric Acid?) at Home Depot, they sell it 2 1-gallon bottles in a box out in Lawn & Garden. Walmart and Kroger have it in the pool section.
  5. Saltydog1's Avatar
    Geez, I wouldn't expect a cyano outbreak in your tank with your religious maintenance and carbon pellet dosing.
  6. jlemoine2's Avatar
    I agree with Saltydog1. Are nitrates and/or phosphates out of whack?
  7. melev's Avatar
    No, but I was feeding Oyster Feast to the suncoral frag tank, and it was just enough to kick it into gear and take residence in a few spots. Plus, as I indicated I noticed the flow was down in the tank which is why I started cleaning everything to get things back to 100%.
  8. mhowe9's Avatar
    Marc, what is your protocol after the acid bath. Do you just rinse it or do you do something else before setting it back up?
  9. melev's Avatar
    Once it is algae free, it is rinsed down thoroughly with water from the garden hose. I rinse everything prior to installing it anew.
  10. Myhahockeykid's Avatar
    Marc,

    what is a good ratio for muriatic to water in a smaller quantity than 15g. Are you aiming for a certain acidity? Also I'm sure that it's somewhere in one of your detailed articles, but I'm not sure which so I'll just ask...

    1. What brand penductors do you use?
    2. What brand/kelvin/wattage bulbs do you use, I can tell they're different.
    3. How long do you leave your equipment/run your skimmer in the acid bath? I've heard it can melt impellers if left too long?
  11. melev's Avatar
    I don't have a ratio'd measurement of HCL to water. Once I have the water in the vessel I'll be using, whether that is a trashcan, a barrel, a tub or a bucket, I add acid to it along with a powerhead to mix it up. For a 33g trashcan, I've used 1 to 2 gallons of acid (but didn't mix it with a pump) trying to clean off the Durso Standpipes years ago. While the standpipes and aiptasia didn't die to my amazement, I discovered that all the acid was in the base of the barrel and all the locline pieces were cracked from the HCL. So that is why I mix it up. With a 5g bucket of water, I'd use two or three cups of HCL.

    1) The penductors were from a friend, so I don't know the brand. They are 3/4", and also come in 1" some places.

    2) I'm using XM MH mogul bulbs. 250w 10,000K - 400w 20,000K - 250w 10,000K. I've run this combination of wattages & Kelvin ratings for the past 7 years and love the look.

    3) Usually one to two hours is more than enough to get everything clean. I wouldn't do it less than an hour, unless you wanted to do a cursory scrub to knock off the upper layer and then resume so it can soak the stuff beneath. If something isn't clean yet, I'll toss it back into the solution for another 30-45 minutes. I want it completely clean if I'm going to go to the trouble of doing this. Why clean it halfway?
  12. Myhahockeykid's Avatar
    Thanks for all the answers, the 10k and 20k combo sounds very cool, and thats smart to run the 20k bulb as a 400w to get relatively equal PAR. Excellent detailed answers are truly your thing, thank you!
  13. melev's Avatar
    Exactly, it's about the PAR. I'm doing a presentation about PAR at MACNA, and using the data compiled from the 280g as well as the 400g's lighting.
  14. dahenley's Avatar
    what happened to your fancy acrylic tray for cleaning your skimmer? (did it get turned into a frag tank?)

    also, what pendants do you run? arnt they the Mini's or mini wides?
    thanks!
  15. melev's Avatar
    The Acrylic Skimmer Cleaning Tank I made ended up being converted into a frag tank with an external overflow for a local club member. I was only using once or twice a year, plus frag swaps. So I parted with it.

    I use the Lumenbright Large reflectors. They are 20" x 20" x 9".
  16. baker.shawn's Avatar
    what would you say your sucess percentage is with Chemi-clean treatments? i currently have some cyano that ive been fighting for months using Blue Life Red Slime Control. what were your steps for treatment?

    because these treatments are erythromycin based did you consider bypassing or unhooking your biopellets to try and save the bacterial life in the reactor.
  17. Myhahockeykid's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by melev
    Exactly, it's about the PAR. I'm doing a presentation about PAR at MACNA, and using the data compiled from the 280g as well as the 400g's lighting.
    Looking forward to seeing that posted here
  18. Sisterlimonpot's Avatar
    Marc,
    Did you take apart the wet sides or did you place them in the acid as is?
  19. melev's Avatar
    I submerged them as an entire piece to soak. After 20 minutes, they are disassembled and cleaned. If anything is still needing more soak time, it goes back in for another bath.