How often should I maintain my tank? part I

Well this hobby can be really easy to maintain if you keep up with your chores.  Every tank is different and run differently but you can apply the same rules to all set-ups.  It's easier to break down the maintenance if you separate them.  I recommend a journal or a simple notebook to write down the days you need to clean your tank or change your media.  I myself keep a record on my phone and alerts me when it's time for some tune up.  

I run Filter Floss, Purigen and Chemi-Pure in my Mediabasket. 

I replace my Filter Floss every week, Purigen is recommend to be change every 6 months or until the beads exhaust and turn brown/dark.  The Chemi-Pure, according to the manufacturer is suppose to be change every 6 months as well, suggestions by other forum members and hobbyist suggest 3-4 months.  I look at it as depending how my tank looks and its bio-load, usually lasts me from 4-6 months.  Since this tank is fairly recent I used the Chemi-Pure Nano when I set it and let the tank cycle. Once my ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates where 0, it was time to get rid of it and replace it with a regular size 6.5oz.  Now I will place a memo on my phone to remind me to within  4 months to check the status on how it's doing.  

So being that I'm replacing my Chemi-Pure I figure I might as well check my Purigen and since my Filter Floss is schedule to be replace I start doing my changes.

Now as you can see my Purigen has turned brown and it's exhausted so it's time to remove.  The Purigen can be either replace or wash under a certain process to bring it back to life(I will discuss this on a later blog).  

As you can see we are ready to go. I then turn off my pumps and proceed to start scraping and cleaning my glass.  Any detritus will fall on the substrate and here is where your siphon tube is good for. I myself do a 10% water change.  You wanna make sure to siphon your substrate and pass on lightly enough to not disturb your sand.   I use a turkey baster to blast any detritus on rock surfaces. Now that you siphon your water it's time to replenish your tank.

I have my water ahead of time, it's always good to be prepare, either if you buy or make your water mix.  I use a 5gl container I bought at Home Depot to store my prepared water, I leave a heater and powerhead to get the right temp to match with my tank.  Once the desire temperature is achieve I start to fill in the tank.

I use a Maxi-Jet pump I have laying around to start filling the back of my tank.  I always place the hose starting on the back chambers to avoid any disruption on my aqua scape and corals.
Next step is to turn back on your pumps and your set to go for your next maintenance schedule.

 (Next upcoming blog... maintenance part II, taking pumps, skimmers, and powerheads and giving them a good scrub)

eeeeeeik eeik eeeek

Now that my tank has been set up and running for over 5 weeks its time to focus on some maintenance.  I hate the algae film over your walls and if you let It be the tank will look blurry and give the impression that is just dirty.. ooh la la.. you dirty tank..
I have a mag float but realize I have to pass that magnet cleaner several times before I started seeing any results. It does not have enough strength to keep the magnets together,  one quick move and the inside piece of the magnet will fly and float away.
Seeing several magnet cleaners in the market and experiencing with some, I have made my final decision.  I wanted something that has a strong magnet grip not too flimsy and avoid the cost of spending way too much money for a magnet... seriously.. a magnet -_- 

Ladies and Gentlemen I introduce to you... the Flipper (you can add your own dolphin noises here) 

as you can see my associate Chromi is holding  here... well let's try that again..












here!


The Flipper has a low profile design that you can slide back and forth without knocking over a rock or coral. It comes with two blades, one for acrylic and on for glass.  The Flipper has a pad to scrape on one side and when you flip it you get the blade side to start scraping away.

The magnet is so powerful that you can feel it's magnetize force when placing the top and bottom together.
The large soft cleaning pad on one side is great for daily maintenance.  This Flipper can be use is fresh and saltwater aquariums up to 1/2" in thickness. 

The Metal blades are made with stainless steel which is highly corrosion resistant.  You can leave the Flipper in your tank and the blade should last for months without rusting. This is one heavy duty cleaner I would recommend for anyone in need of some scraping and cleaning your tank.

New JBJ ATO with Tom Aquatics dosing Pump

So I been getting several water evaporation, and it's a pain getting that 5gl jug over the tank to add water.

I decided to try one of those Auto Top Off system, there's so many out in the market ranging different prices.  Today I'll be focusing on the JBJ ATO, now I gotten several mix reviews that it's an okay item.  

This comes with 2 floater sensors and several brackets to adjust the height of the floater sensors, as well as     

2 suction cups.

I like the feature that you can set this up 2 ways.  The way I'll be setting up is with one floater sensor and as the pump i will be using the famous Tom Aquatics Aqualifter.. oooohhhh la la..

 

So I cut 2 pieces of 3 ft length on the flexible tubing, one to go into the Aqualifter and 1 ft length of the tubing that's going into the into the suction pre-filter. The remaining three feet goes from the suction pre-filter into the reservoir(in this case I'll be using a 5gl water jug)

Next Step is too mount the JBJ ATO, I mounted it next to my wavemaker.  The float sensor was placed with one bracket on the left chamber next to the protein skimmer.   I adjusted the height by cutting a small piece of 1/2" tubing and placing it under the bracket sitting firmly on the rim of the aquarium.  The output hose of the pump was run in between this 1/2" piece of tubing to hold it place and not to allow it to be in the water as this may cause a back flow siphon.

 After testing the system, the Aqualifter was mounted on a hook drilled to the wall at a level that would not affect the outcome of the water being pushed up.  The 5gl jug had a cap with a hole in the middle that was perfect to insert the flexible hose in and still keep it cover from any dust or any other contaminated particles that may affect the water.  I got an old test tube with a rubber cover that would slide perfectly in this hole.  All I had to do was make a small insertion for the flexible tubing to slide in.

It's been 2 days and so far the water level has been stable.

NPX screen replacement

so I got rid of my guetto screens cause they where catching to much debris and blocking the filter.  So I bought a set of the The Two Little Fishes NPX screens.  Once outside of the plastic seal I cut them to size from the original screen the media reactor had.  After trimming them to minor adjustments, they where able easily fit on the bottom and the top cap.  So no more debris and perfect flow going inside the reactor.

Another Sneak Peek

Tank update

Well these is week number 4, here is the progress so far.

media reactor turned into a bio pellet

So I decided to try out this Media Reactor to see if it would work with bio pellets.  It comes with different filtration pads, 1/2" tube, and john guest fittings.  It looks pretty simple to install and pretty much plug and play.  

                                                          I drilled in 2 screws and made sure it would be leveled.  The John Guest fittings slip really easy to a 1/2" pump output.  The issue I was experiencing here is that I don't have enough space on my chamber to work with,  I placed the pump on the far right chamber, had to force it a little to make it fit.

After leveling the cap on the screws, the next step was to add the bio pellets.   I measured the amount with a measuring cup for 1/4 . I sealed it up and realized the screen is not enough to hold the pellets. Since I can't use the sponges I had to remove them.  I used some left over filter bag to cover the screens.

I placed the return hose on the protein skimmer chamber, I connected the pump and turned on the valve.  To my disappointment there was not enough flow to get the pellets to tumble.   The next thing was to upgrade to a higher pump.  I got the MJ 1200 and to my surprise the pump has a smaller footprint than the one I had connected to the reactor and not to mention more flow. I'm pretty satisfied with results. I dosed some micro bacteria to the pellets to speed up the process and now just have to wait a week to increase the bio pellets for 1/4 cup