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)

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