Clearing up floating detritus

[johnnyenv]

Hi,

Ever since I started this hobby I've suffered from alot of unwanted algae growth on ther rock work and sand. Only in the last several months has this ceased however there is still a lot of loose detritus within the rock structure.

There is some algae on the rocks but its not a lot. This is about the worst patch of it

Ive blasted it many times and kept the MP40s on full to keep it suspended but my overflow isn't that fantastic so most of it just settles again. I've built a filter floss filter within the aquarium to run for a few days but it never seems to get the job done.

Anyone have any ideas on how I can get all this loose detritus gone.

I have floss in my overflow exit, a reactor with floss in side and there is a skimmer running.

Thanks,

 

[DLHDesign]

How long has the tank been running?
One option would be to remove the rocks and rinse them off (eg; manually remove the detritus), but this may not be a feasible option if the tank is well established...

 

[Crabs McJones]

Are you able to take the rocks out and scrub them with a toothbrush or something similar, and then dip them in RO/DI water?

 

[johnnyenv]

Unfortunately not, I have built the entire rock structure into this huge clump which won't break apart easily. Also its completely seeded with coral frags. (I'm deffo going to do things differently with my next structure!)

 

[Daniel Waters]

If you have a sump, blast the rocks and get all the detritus stirred up and floating in the water column (keep all your pumps on) Take a hose and start a siphon but place the discharge end in your sump with a filter sock attached. I usually clip a sock on the inside of my sump and run the tube down into the sock...just be sure the tube doesn't pull out of the sock. Then you can proceed to suck as much stuff out of the water column as you like. The water will flow to your sump and the detritus will get caught by the filter sock and your tank will keep pumping water back into the tank. Just keep blasting the rocks and siphoning as needed.

The other approach would be to remove the rocks and give them a good rinsing in ro or saltwater but that may not be practical depending on your aquascaspe