hmm, cleaning secrets...
When I do maintenance on my tanks, I usually do it in to parts and twice a week.
1st part
1. I siphon out all debris, detritus, left over food, waste and other things collecting on the sandbed and in the rocks.
2. Use a credit card or a kent pro scraper to easily clean away any unwanted coralline algae, green algaes, and other things. Then fill the tank back up with clean saltwater.
3. Pick out any unwanted pests, move corals, frag corals that have overgrown.
4. take a mag float and clean the deep spots.
5. Stir up 1/4 of the sandbed in certain areas to aerate and keep it from collecting too much waste.
6. Replace filtration media, including blue and white bonded filter pads, charcoal, phosban, and any other type of media being used.
7. Clean the protein skimmer thoroughly, taking it out and using hot water to rinse it off, including the pump. Place it back in tank while it is still hot.
8. Test all water parameters before you get started and also again AFTER your done to compair.
Part 2: Adjusting chemicals
1. Test for phosphate, nitrate, pH, alkalinity, calcium, magnesium.
2. If phosphate is anything above 0, replace filter media.
3. Nitrate should be as close to 0 as possible.
4. If alkalinity is low, adjust with buffer or baking soda in appropriate portions. (Thank you Bangguy!)
5. Adjust calcium up using calcium suppliment if needed. Use Kalkwasser to bring both alk and cal up at same time if needed.
6. Adjust magnesium levels if needed.
I've considered keeping iodide and strontium in my regular routines, however I haven't in the last few years because I believe that my aquariums get enough through routine water changes.
