Dirty Tank

[sroot17]

My 50g has started to show signs of sever detritus buildup. Does this mean I need to increase my CUC? I do 5-10g water changes every week but can't seem to keep up with it all. Parameters are all good. No sump, just chemipure elite through a reactor and a cpr aeroforce skimmer. No algae issues, decent corraline algae growth. CUC consists of probably 20 or so assorted snails, 2 fighting conchs, a brittle starfish and probably 10-15 assorted hermits.

Whats the best way to get rid of all this dirt and how do I prevent it from coming back?

 

[jcs11236]

turkey baster.. every few days. it mainly means you have dead spots in your tank.. you need more water movement.. u have powerheads? vortech?

 

[sroot17]

mp10 and a koralia 1050

Think I should crank up the mp10?

 

[Imbarrie]

That will just keep it in suspension.

You need to remove it. What kind of substrate do you have? You should vacuum it regularly.
Or get some kind of particulate filter.


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[ming]

added pics from OP

 

[sroot17]

Aragonite sand substrate, I remove as much as I can every week when I do my water change but I just can't seem to keep up with it all. Is a canister filter worth the investment? I would only run it once a month or so when cleaning the tank.

 

[bizzarro]

Just wondering, what are you feeding the tank that you have severe build up? All I can see is 1 fish. Is the darker specks in the substrate the detritus or the sand?

 

[sroot17]

The darker spots you see is detritus. My livestock consists of two occelaris clownfish, a coral beauty and a spotted goby.

I feed every other day a variety of frozen food and flake food on occasion. Feed my zoas dendras, acans and blastos twice a week or just let them get a little of the fish food. Once a week I broadcast feed using reef snow.

 

[tynman]

Get a sand sifting goby and or sand sifting star fish. That should help with the sand.

 

[Imbarrie]

+1 on the sand sifting.

A canister filter can't hurt, you need something to filter that crap out. You won't find anything that will eat all of it.
You could be getting detritus from worms or other hitch hikers in your rock. Wherever it comes from you don't have anything to export it from your tank.



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