tischdog32 January 27, 2009 Share January 27, 2009 Well I dont know if I would go as far as saying its a problem yet, but since I upgraded my lighting to t-5's ive been having detritus build up. Whether its realted to the lighting or not, I have been looking in to possibly solutions and have upgraded my crab and snail population, specifically blue-legged and nassarus snails, and have been looking into possibly adding copepods ... any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowerseller January 27, 2009 Share January 27, 2009 I siphon it off with it water change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amos January 27, 2009 Share January 27, 2009 Enlarging the clean up crew will help, but I'd also suggest increasing your water movement. If you can keep detritus in the water column, it will both be absorbed by filter feeders and skimmed off by your skimmer. That should help a lot, even if it its just so you don't see the detritus pile in the corner. When I do a water change I use a turkey baster to remove any detritus sitting in the sump. I know lots of folks use it to blast rocks also, prior to a water change (to remove even more). Hope that helps. Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trockafella January 27, 2009 Share January 27, 2009 I agree with Jon, cleaners will definetly help, nass snails do a great job with picking up stuff on the bottom as well as blue legs, and i definetll think lots of water movement, put a pump (or 2) down low and get things moving.. I have my pumps set up to basically create a cyclone, i havent had any detrius problems at all anymore... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowerseller January 27, 2009 Share January 27, 2009 I appreciate that current keeps it suspended, clean up crew can work on it but detritus is a fact of an aquarium. Clean up crews leave their own detritus as well and the larger a clean up crew, the larger amount of detritus. It has to be removed, via skimming which removes the smaller "cloudier" detritus or via siphoning, the larger particles or even the most debated process, mechanical filtration. While mechanical filtration can lead to higher nitrates if left long term, it does work and work well. Providing areas for the detritus to settle out, a well designed sump for example, can allow the best of both worlds. If you clean mechanical filtration at least weekly and siphon the traps in the sump at water changes, you leave the skimmer free to polish the water of the free floating stuff. It's not just one thing to prevent detritus and you can also start by seeing how much you feed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak January 27, 2009 Share January 27, 2009 current that keeps it in suspension along with filter floss and/or filter sock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b January 27, 2009 Share January 27, 2009 Flow and floss! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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