Equipment cleaning- reef tanks
10/15/19
Dear team
<Morning.>
How frequently should be clean out equipment’s like wavemaker , skimmer pumps
and return pump ?
<Depends on your particular system and chemistry but a *regular schedule* is the
important thing. It's very easy to overlook this kind of maintenance. Out of
sight, out of mind. Yet some things like pumps in particular are both expensive
and cannot be allowed to fail. Preventative maintenance is the embodiment of an
ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure. I have learned this the hard
way in the past by "letting it go" for too long and not realizing I messed up
until an impeller seized up and either wrecked the powerhead or else lead to its
early demise due to wear and tear, which I could have prevented by be being
diligent and throwing the thing in the sink with vinegar and a toothbrush
sooner. Money down the drain or worse.>
Is it a must to clean them in vinegar?
<Not necessarily but it's simple, cheap and easy. See also here
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clnaqfaqs2.htm . Towards the top of the page
you'll find an entry where those wiser than I have expounded a bit on using
diluted chlorine bleach. Please read there. In particular the safety
information. Personally I consider that sort of the "hardcore option" and would
save it for times you really have hard-to-remove buildup, and/or have concerns
about contamination of some kind. The Nuclear Option of cleaning. Otherwise,
about once a month, inspect all your plumbing, fittings, pumps and clean as
necessary. Also check soft parts like gaskets and tubing. I also advise
unplugging powerheads and wavemakers, putting them in the sink, or a clean
fish-tank-dedicated plastic bucket and soaking them for a few hours. Then take
them apart as much as is easily done and use a fresh toothbrush to scrub 'em
down thoroughly. Soaking them lets the white buildup flake off easily. I'm
always sad to see a little coralline algae go, but it's the price we have to
pay. Freshly cleaned "things with propellers" are vital if you want to keep that
GPH flow rate we all hope to have. Rinse them off very well. Short answer: you
must clean them, about once a month, and can use diluted plain old vinegar, or
else diluted bleach as per Bob's info in the link above. Beware that certain
bleach in the grocery store has additives in it for laundry use and check the
bottle.>
Is using vinegar to clean safe?
<Safe and advised. Obviously take care when handling it. I have found that the
biggest risk in the reek of vinegar aggravating housemates...if you've cleaned
out a coffee maker you know the feeling!>
Rgds
Srinivas
<Hope this helps! -Earl>
Scented bleach.... to clean aquariums
5/5/15
Hey bob_-
<BH>
I took down my girl friends tank this weekend. It is one of those jbj all in one
tanks, 31 gallons I believe.
We put it up for sale, and already have someone interested. It had some algae on
the glass that was tough to come off.
I took the tank outside, filled it with tap water, and put a half gallon of
"fresh linen" Clorox into it and ran it for half hour. Drained, rinsed 3 times,
used dechlorinator, and rinsed again.
<Okay>
Can this tank still be used, having used "scented" bleach, or is it garbage?
(From what I read, its no good for filter socks or sanitizing NSW)
<Should be fine... I'd let air-dry for a week or so>
No filter media was exposed to it. Just the glass, plastic bio balls and pump.
I will let it air dry a week or so before trying to sell it. Just not sure if
that is the right or responsible thing to do.
<Non-scented might have been better, but...>
Thanks, bob
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>
re: Scented bleach 5/5/15
Great to hear, thanks Bob. I was ready to put it out on the street for pick up.
I suppose tank "crashes" resulting from the "scent" (or whatever else makes it
non pure bleach) is when people add it to there tank water (natural sea water
disinfecting) add dechlorinator and add fish, thinking DeChlor neutralized
bleach and perfume agents.
Or in the case of filter socks, the residue lies in the sock, same way laundry
detergent would.
Thanks again, Bob h
<W. B>
QT/Marine Ich/Sanitize Questions, 5/5/11
Hello All,
<Hi>
First, thank you for providing this service.
<Thanks for writing in.>
I purchased a purple tang from a wholesaler in Los Angeles 5 days ago.
I brought it home and acclimated it using a slow drip line in 5 gallon
bucket. It is in a 40g QT tank with 2 clowns and a Banggai cardinal,
also obtained from the wholesaler.
<Ok>
On day 2, the tang had a few white spots on it. Looking at photos on
your site and others, it appears to be marine Ich (Crypto). I
researched as many sites as I could, talked to 2 local fish store
employees, and also talked to a few local hobbyists whom I respect.
Since they were already in QT, it seemed that the two best options for
treatment were copper or hyposalinity.
I picked hyposalinity because I preferred to not dose the fish with a
substance like copper if I could avoid it and didn't have the
copper and test kit, but did have a good RO/DI system.
<Copper and tangs generally do not mix well, but hypo has it's
own issues.
I personally would have gone with one of the quinine drugs with this
set of livestock, http://www.wetwebmedia.com/quinmedfaqs.htm
.>
The clowns and Banggai have not shown any signs of Ich to date, but are
still in the same tank (I felt if they were exposed to the tang who has
Ich, they were clearly exposed and should be treated as well).
<Agreed>
I couldn't find anything that said how quickly I should take the
fish and water down to 1.010 SG (my target). I did a 5 min FW dip, and
then took 2.5 days to lower SG to 1.010, afraid to shock the fish. I
figured this was the best way to proceed since I did find information
that said that when going back up to 1.024-1.025 SG after treatment, I
should a couple of days - so in the absence of information about how
fast I should lower SG, I took this rationale and applied it in
reverse. I then read (today) an article on your site that recommended
prepping the water, a short FW dip, then immersion straight into
hyposalinated water.
<Down is easier on the fish than up.>
So question #1 - was my mistake (slowly lowering SG) something to worry
about? Am I creating some type of hypo-resistant strain of Ich? Should
I keep going, or abandon, slowly raise SG, and then treat with
copper?
<It should be fine.>
Question #2 - If I am to keep going with hyposalination, how long
should I keep the water at 1.010 SG?
<That is the trick with hypo, it needs to be there for a minimum of
4 weeks which is generally one lifecycle of the parasite. If the SG is
allowed to go up through evaporation or mistakes it is all for naught,
so be vigilant.>
Question #3 - How should I sanitize nets, buckets, strainers, etc.,
that come into contact with tank water from the QT tank? 1:10
bleach:water solution? Soak? For how long?
<Rinse in fresh water and allow to dry completely. You could use a
mild bleach solution if it makes you feel better but the parasite
cannot survive in a dry environment so that should be enough.>
As always, thank you for your help.
Paul
<Welcome>
<Chris>
