paptort
New Member
My brother recently moved out and I am left in charge of his tank which is a 55 gallon FOWLR and LS. The only inhabitants are a blue damsel and a percula clown. I've only kept freshwater tanks in the past but I have done quite a bit of research and I think I'm prepared to keep this tank going.
My problem is that I am having trouble keeping the tank clean, especially the sandbed. I've only had to vacuum gravel in the past and whenever I try to vacuum the sand it seems that all I do is mix up the sand and the brown debris into the water colum. After I finish and let the water settle for a while the debris just settles back on the sand and looks just about dirty as before. I also have a lot of brown debris on the live rocks, which I'm pretty sure is dead algae. I tried taking the rocks out and scrubbing them but it just turned the water brown when I put the rocks back in and after a few hours a great deal more debris was settled on the sand bed. Is it possible I am doing anything wrong? Does anyone have any good suggestions or tips that I should try to keep this tank clean? Thanks for the help.
My problem is that I am having trouble keeping the tank clean, especially the sandbed. I've only had to vacuum gravel in the past and whenever I try to vacuum the sand it seems that all I do is mix up the sand and the brown debris into the water colum. After I finish and let the water settle for a while the debris just settles back on the sand and looks just about dirty as before. I also have a lot of brown debris on the live rocks, which I'm pretty sure is dead algae. I tried taking the rocks out and scrubbing them but it just turned the water brown when I put the rocks back in and after a few hours a great deal more debris was settled on the sand bed. Is it possible I am doing anything wrong? Does anyone have any good suggestions or tips that I should try to keep this tank clean? Thanks for the help.
