"Dirty" tank...what eats detritus?

[dynagirl]

When I look at photos of other people's tanks, the always look "cleaner" than mine.
My live rock and sand look "dusty" in places...I am assuming this is detritus? What creatures are the best at reducing this stuff?
Currently in my 54 reef tank I have about 10 hermits, 10 turbos, 5 nassarius, 5 cerith snails, 1 queen conch, 1 fighting conch, 1 fire cleaner shrimp, and 1 skunk cleaner shrimp for my clean up crew.
I have been hesitant to add a cucumber because I read that they can poison a tank
if they die or get injured.
Any suggestions?

 

[threed240]

What are your tank parimeters? How long do you leave your lights on, and what kind of lights. And do you have any power heads to help with circulation? All of these things can contribute to excess detrius. Also over feeding will cause it.

 

[rusting]

Originally Posted by dynagirl
When I look at photos of other people's tanks, the always look "cleaner" than mine.
My live rock and sand look "dusty" in places...I am assuming this is detritus? What creatures are the best at reducing this stuff?
Currently in my 54 reef tank I have about 10 hermits, 10 turbos, 5 nassarius, 5 cerith snails, 1 queen conch, 1 fighting conch, 1 fire cleaner shrimp, and 1 skunk cleaner shrimp for my clean up crew.
I have been hesitant to add a cucumber because I read that they can poison a tank
if they die or get injured.
Any suggestions?
You can try to get more flow at the bottom, by adding some small powerheads.

 

[teen]

more flow and try running carbon or some type of floss through your overflow/ filter. just make sure you clean it out/ relpace it regularly.

 

[dynagirl]

I have a rotating powerhead, another powerhead, return flow from my refugium, and 2 returns from my sump so I think I have plenty of flow. It is a 54 gallon corner tank so it is a bit of an odd shape.
My water parameters are great: ammonia & nitrite=0, nitrate=0-2, temp=77-80,salinity=1.026
My corals, fish and inverts all seem to be thriving. I did recently increase how long my lights stay on by two hours (150 w MH for 10 hours, actinics on for 12) and noticed an increase in algae on my sand so I am going to drop back to 8 hours for MHs and 10 for actinics.
Its not a huge deal but I would just like the tank to look a bit cleaner. Do some brittles eat detritus? How about urchins?

 

[teen]

how many gph is each powerhead, and how many gph are the returns after head loss(the distance from the sump to the tank +90deg. turns)?

 

[dynagirl]

I am not positive on that...I have a Rio 800 pump for my refugium, a ViaAqua 360 powerhead, and a
Powersweep rotating powerhead at 190 gph. I don't have the info for the pump in my sump but the flow from each return is powerful enough to move the sand on the bottom. I have the two returns
blowing downward behind my rockwork towards the back and the two other powerheads toward the front. When I feed the fish, the food swirls all around and keeps moving so I am doubting that flow is the issue. I do not have any mechanical filtration in my sump and I think I will try a filter pad to see if that makes a difference.

 

[teen]

try repositioning the power heads so that they blow towards the rock, it could help blow some of that junk around, hopefully into your sump so you can vaccuum it out.
id add some more snails, mostly nassarius.

 

[knedrag]

why not just syphon it out when you do a water change. IMO you have enough of a clean up crew. I also agree with the increase of circulation.
I use a rigid 1/4 tube attached to a flexible tube, that way I dont syphon water as fast, but it sucks everything out, including flatworms.
good luck with whatever you do.

 

[nu2salt]

Originally Posted by dynagirl
When I look at photos of other people's tanks, the always look "cleaner" than mine.
My live rock and sand look "dusty" in places...I am assuming this is detritus? What creatures are the best at reducing this stuff?
Currently in my 54 reef tank I have about 10 hermits, 10 turbos, 5 nassarius, 5 cerith snails, 1 queen conch, 1 fighting conch, 1 fire cleaner shrimp, and 1 skunk cleaner shrimp for my clean up crew.
I have been hesitant to add a cucumber because I read that they can poison a tank
if they die or get injured.
Any suggestions?
i am by no means an expert but i asked the only true marine biologist that lives around here (he also runs a very good lfs) that very same question and he said that i may need more flow but he aslo told me to take a turky baster and blow off the rocks about once a week and that i would have free marine snow for my corals. just what i was told

 

[dynagirl]

Thanks! I am going to try adding a cut to size filter pad and syphoning some of it out. I will probably adjust my powerheads a bit too!

 

[rusting]

Originally Posted by dynagirl
I have a rotating powerhead, another powerhead, return flow from my refugium, and 2 returns from my sump so I think I have plenty of flow. It is a 54 gallon corner tank so it is a bit of an odd shape.
My water parameters are great: ammonia & nitrite=0, nitrate=0-2, temp=77-80,salinity=1.026
My corals, fish and inverts all seem to be thriving. I did recently increase how long my lights stay on by two hours (150 w MH for 10 hours, actinics on for 12) and noticed an increase in algae on my sand so I am going to drop back to 8 hours for MHs and 10 for actinics.
Its not a huge deal but I would just like the tank to look a bit cleaner. Do some brittles eat detritus? How about urchins?
I mount my power heads on PVC pipe, caped at the bottom, with a lot of holes at the bottom 6". I feel this gives me more flow, at the bottom. Works for me.