Need to do major tank cleaning, do it all at once or slowly?

steallife904

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I have slacked on my tank in general for a few months. Between my oldest son starting kindergarten and having a 1 year old as well and work etc.... Tank didn't get the care it usually does. Have a bit of algae outbreak, lost a few SPS but other than that its ok. I need to do a major cleaning of sump and tank. I wondered though can i do all at once or do in steps over a week or so? By all at once i mean blow all the rocks out real good and stir sand a bit then water change. OR should i say stir sand and water change, next day or 2 half the rocks etc..? I didn't know if stirring it up all at once would hurt the fish or have any negative results. I have never really had to do any major cleaning like this in my 12+ years. Tank is 150 gallons by the way :)
 

Jedi1199

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I have slacked on my tank in general for a few months. Between my oldest son starting kindergarten and having a 1 year old as well and work etc.... Tank didn't get the care it usually does. Have a bit of algae outbreak, lost a few SPS but other than that its ok. I need to do a major cleaning of sump and tank. I wondered though can i do all at once or do in steps over a week or so? By all at once i mean blow all the rocks out real good and stir sand a bit then water change. OR should i say stir sand and water change, next day or 2 half the rocks etc..? I didn't know if stirring it up all at once would hurt the fish or have any negative results. I have never really had to do any major cleaning like this in my 12+ years. Tank is 150 gallons by the way :)


Personally, I would break it up. Clean the sump and all its components one weekend, then the display the next.

I doubt it would hurt anything to do it all at once. I would break it up for 2 reasons. 1. Im lazy and don't want to do it all in a day lol. 2, Once the sump is all cleaned out, it will eject a mess into the display. No matter how careful you are with that, it's going to toss some of the gunk into the tank.

So I would do this. Clean sump, then 10-20% water change. Next weekend, clean display and repeat water change.

That should get you back on track.
 

Jared Bryant

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I am overworked and have a wife and children I am lazy. I would just start and get as much done as possible. I always try to get as much done when I am feeling it because tomorrow I might put it off again... :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:
 

vlangel

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Actually there is merit in both suggestions but as a tech who used to service tanks for a lfs, I would not be afraid of doing it all at once. I saw tanks that had been neglected a lot longer than you described and I had to do it all at once.
It sounds like your tank is well established, stable and has generally had good care, so an overall cleaning (although will stir up a lot of detritus and gunk), with a respectable water change when you are done, should be fine. Maybe run some carbon in the filters after and add some Seachem Stability or one of the other bacteria additives to help boost good micro-life.
 

Brucealmighty

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I personally like to make what I call storm mode (obviously I am alot more gentle than a real storm) I stir sand blow rocks out with turkey baster scrape the glass and then turn all 4 wavemakers on to 100% 2 jebao and 2 neptune, I have done this about maybe quarterly through the years but never done the sump on the same day that I save for the next weekend.

I have mainly zoa's in my tank a few mushrooms, acan colony and a couple of sps Birdsnest, green slimer acropora and a blue Digita which will be closed up a little bit while it happens but the next day I have a crystal clear tank I have a Bubble Magus fleece roller to get the crud out so I am confident that I won't be causing spikes as much as when I had socks, I also have 2 fluid filters running carbon in the sump as well, I can say I have never had a problem with stirring it all up hope it works out well for you.
 

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GARRIGA

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Consider using an external canister with some fine polishing sponges to remove bulk of detritus without having to remove water. However, instead of sucking the muck out. Consider using the effluent to stir the rocks and gravel and get detritus and loose algae in suspension to allow the canister to then pick it up. Just shut off the sump to avoid it going there. Can later do a final polish be reversing and using it conventionally to suck muck out. WC can then be based on need vs a means of export.

Would consider carbon dosing to minimize amount of WC to just that needed to rebalance trace vs a means of nutrient dilution.

An alternative is using the canister conventionally along with a powerhead to stir the detritus but original approach a bit easier since you can place rigid tubing to extend reach and keep hands out which avoids adding potentially other contaminants.

Final step would be to gravel back, if needed. Pointing a hose tends to dislodge bulk captured and not far from one of the reasons wave makers are used to keep dirt in suspension.
 

mtraylor

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I would stir up the top early in the morning and several hours later turn off the return pump. Now mark level of water in sump. Remove all water from sump and shop vac to get all detritus etc from it. Clean skimmer collection cup and then replace all water back into sump with mixed water that's at temp. Turn pump back on. This keeps display running and undisturbed during heavy cleaning.

Have fun
 

GARRIGA

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CBF225B6-F3A7-4D3A-90E6-86214C705AD6.jpeg


could drop this in the sump and output would stir it up putting gunk in suspension to get it pulled out. Cleaning it is as simple as I’m screwing the bottom and replacing the internal cartridge which can be filled with floss of choice and can tendon in operation 24/7.
 
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