Tired of scraping algea from your tank?

[greg_keyser]

I thought I would pass this along, since I haven't seen anything about this and didn't see it covered in the archives.

Anyway, I've had my tank for 3+ years now, and I used to scrape the algea buildup from the tank about every 2-3 weeks. After doing this, my tank would look very sweet, but over time it would start looking mediocre again. Then, out came the algea scraper and 20 minutes of hand in the tank later, I'd be in business.

So, I asked my LFS store how often they clean/replace the foam pad filters in their tanks. They said "2-3 times a week we clean it; we only replace it when it gets really grungy" Well, since I would clean mine every 2-3 MONTHS, I knew I had to stop being so lazy.

For the past two months, I've been cleaning the foam pad every Saturday, and I haven't used my algea scraper since!!! My tank is crystal clear every day. I'm not kidding, I've been blown away by how much of a difference this has made. Hopefully this will help some of you--I know I would rather spend 5 minutes rinsing a foam pad than 20 minutes scraping algea.

YMMV,

Greg

 

[Bucktronix]

how do you clean you foam?

 

[SanDiegoBryan]

I had a similar problem before I started putting 100 micron "filter material" over my bio ball inlet (drip tray), and I replace it every day with a clean one.

I've used the same $20 sheet (Cut perfect into about 12 rectangular pieces for my drip tray)

As soon as I run out, I take all the dirty filter pads in the washing maching on hot for one cycle with a little bleach, and another short cycle with nothing.

I'm shocked that the cheap poly sheet turned out to solve 99% of the unwanted blooms!!!

 

[greg_keyser]

I just rinse it out in the sink using hot water, then ring it out before putting it back. Probably not "technically correct" to use hot tap water, but I'm not that paranoid. Works for me.

 

[Anonymous]

Hmm, I removed all of my mechanical filtration about a month ago, and it hasn't increased my cleaning load any at all. I used bundles of polyfil. I still spend about 5 minutes a week with the magnet, that enough for the front and side of the 58 and front of my 20g refugium.

 

[Anonymous]

Why are you running ANY mechanical filtration? Remove ALL of it. There simply is no need guys.

Mechanical filtration starves your tank of food. It traps FOOD that would be downright tasty to many critters in your tank.

No Mechanical means greater bio-diversity and a healthier tank. YANK IT.

 

[Anonymous]

Let's start a Poll.

Who uses machanincal filter? I do, but I could be talked into yanking it. It is a PITA to clean.

 

[greg_keyser]

So you're saying the foam pad is just garbage and I should not use it at all? This is my first reef tank, and that's what the LFS recommended. The LFS is pretty reputable, and the foam isn't expensive anyway so I don't think they were trying to pull one on me.

When I rinse my foam pad out, there's mostly detritus (sp?) so without being an expert in this area, it seems like the pad is a good thing.

 

[MattM]

Greg -

You LFS probably isn't trying to pull a fast one, they just haven't thought things through and the mecahanical filter is one of those "we've always done it this way" kind of things.

The problem with mech filters is two-fold. 1) as Tom mentioned, they compete with filter feeding invertebrates for food, and 2) they don't remove anything from the water.

Think about the second one. Yes, they trap a lot of stuff, but it's still in the water. All that waste sits there and rots while the water continues to flow through it. They don't remove waste, they concentrate it in one spot where the detritovires can't get to it. This is the reason you saw an improvement when you started to clean it more frequently - instead of 2-3 months worth of waste polluting your system, you only have 2-3 days worth of waste polluting your system.

In all honesty, if you can keep to the schedule of cleaning it every other day, then problem 2 goes away, although problem 1 remains.

If you don't clean it that frequently, then you are better off without it.

 

[MediaOne]

Okay, now what about us fish only type guys. Does it help to keep mechanical filtration or to remove it?

I have always used a sponge that I rinse every other day.

Your thoughts people?

 

[Anonymous]

I don't treat FOWLR tanks any differently than reef tanks. Just because there are no corals doesn't mean that filter feeding inverts don't exist in the rock and sand. Sponges and other animals will flourish if you remove the mechanical filtration.

 

[maroon clown]

but i thought the point of this thread was that cleaning the mechanical filtration cuts down on algae growth. If the mechanical filters are removed, will that lead to increased algae growth?

 

[Tony Quinn]

Thank you guys, you have just confirmed to me what I have argued with my LFS attendants for a LONG time. Their obsession with get more filter floss/wool in there as a mech filter blah blah made me think twice about my wool free existence!. My only question is that I use two large pump boxes welded to the two rear corners of my 8" tank. These boxes house 3 5000 powerheads which are plumbed to the various water outlets connected to the wave generator. At the top the water flows over and through grills but basically they are self sealed boxes. Would detritus not merely rot at the bottom of these boxes thus causing a build up of NO3 at some point?

 

[Carpentersreef]

Tony, yes, detritus buildup anywhere will cause problems. If you can, stir up the detritus and get it back into the water column, then your skimmer can do it's job and separate it. Better yet, try to siphon it out.

maroon clown,

as Matt and Tom have said, once the detritus becomes trapped, it doesn't get broken down properly. It rots. There are basically three areas that will process detritus. LR, LS, and a protein skimmer. In your live rock and live sand, there are both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria that are responsible for breaking down animal waste and excess nutrients (food). With your skimmer, it's designed to use the bubbles and water tension so that the dissolved organic matter is mechanically separated (along with some salt water) into the collection cup.
Using foam or filter pads only adds another step for waste and nutrients to go through before they eventually get processed properly.
This thread might help explain a bit.

HTH,
Mitch

(as always, if someone sees an error in my logic, please point it out

)

[ February 12, 2002: Message edited by: Carpentersreef ]</p>

 

[M.E.Milz]

As Tom suggested, treat set up and run FO tanks the same as you would Reef tanks. My 175g FOWLR tank is home to some big eaters (morays, triggers, etc.) that can easily eat 1/2 pound of food per week. Yet, I have very few algae problems, and less so since removing the last of my sponges and bio-material. The tank is, however, set up with lots of live rock, a DSB, a decent skimmer (ETS 750) and a calcium reactor. In other words, I run this tank the same way I run my reef tank.

 

[imow]

Get a good cleanup crew. They will pick up the slack when you trash your foam.