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Water change

All sump: rinsed out the reactor, filter pad, and skimmer crud etc in that water. I don’t let anything in my tank touch fresh water. Everything get rises in water change water, except on the occasion when my pumps get vinegar baths. You never get 100% off when you rinse stuff. I believe you always have Some die off when you rinse in freshwater. With this method, Im feeding heavy, and struggling to get detectable no2 and po4. It had actually settled out a bit when I took that picture. The sps corals that I favor do very well. It a bit to clean for LPS and softies though+ my light and flow are a bit too much for them.
 
I stumbled upon this method on my previous tank to starve out hair algae. It was successful. That tank was skimmer-less and overstocked as well. It was mainly just rinsing the filter pad, which is where the majority of that crud was exported from.
 
Maybe Im doing something wrong but when I do a water change the most I get is clear water with some algae that I cleaned off the glass prior. it would be to hard to stir up the sand bed and rock work, I think the most I would do I blast the rocks with like a turkey baster but for the most part I don't have a lot of build up. Now the sump/refugium Id probably get some more stuff out of but id be concerned of ammonia spikes from the stirring up of sand bed and sediment.
I have been running a weekly 20 gallon water change for the past few months now which has been proven pretty helpful, but the indication I look for is my water seems slightly cloudy not like murky white but it just doesn't seem as crystal clear as normal.
 
Try catching it in filter floss and rinse it frequently in some tank water. Sometime I only use a half gallon or so to rinse it out real quick. If your having a problem high nutrients, do it frequently, like even several times a week whenever you have a minute. You don’t have to get them perfect clean. Every time you do it you get some crap out of your tank, and still preserve the bacteria that’s also working for you. But don’t overdo it, or you’ll crash your nutrients and get Dino’s. I did that once.
 
Try catching it in filter floss and rinse it frequently in some tank water. Sometime I only use a half gallon or so to rinse it out real quick. If your having a problem high nutrients, do it frequently, like even several times a week whenever you have a minute. You don’t have to get them perfect clean. Every time you do it you get some crap out of your tank, and still preserve the bacteria that’s also working for you. But don’t overdo it, or you’ll crash your nutrients and get Dino’s. I did that once.
when I do any kinda filter cleaning one of the things I do is rinse my media with clean tank water to prevent killing the beneficial bacteria that's built up on it since the start of the tanks life. I read it in a old school reef keeping book. The most I run is a filter sock and some Chemi Pure Blue which I truly believe is the best media I have ever run threw the tank
 
when I do any kinda filter cleaning one of the things I do is rinse my media with clean tank water to prevent killing the beneficial bacteria that's built up on it since the start of the tanks life. I read it in a old school reef keeping book. The most I run is a filter sock and some Chemi Pure Blue which I truly believe is the best media I have ever run threw the tank
I run cheap bulk filter pad. They have it on a big roll at my lfs. When it starts to break down, cut off a new piece. I use high grade activated carbon in a reactor. Brs carbon is the best I’ve found. Not a bad price either a specially if you buy a big container. Here is a pic of my filter pad. If you really want to spend the money on chemipure, it’s much more effective in a reactor. You can throw the whole bag in the reactor, but carbon is fine and way Way cheaper. I use a media bag in my reactor with the carbon in it. I don’t use the foam end cap in the reactor since the bag contains it.
 

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I run cheap bulk filter pad. They have it on a big roll at my lfs. When it starts to break down, cut off a new piece. I use high grade activated carbon in a reactor. Brs carbon is the best I’ve found. Not a bad price either a specially if you buy a big container. Here is a pic of my filter pad. If you really want to spend the money on chemipure, it’s much more effective in a reactor. You can throw the whole bag in the reactor, but carbon is fine and way Way cheaper. I use a media bag in my reactor with the carbon in it. I don’t use the foam end cap in the reactor since the bag contains it.
Theres more to chemi pure then just carbon but I guess in a sense I could make my own mix, I haven't tried a reactor yet but I have thought about it. I am thinking about making something similar with egg crate. If I come up with something I might take pictures and post about it.
I don't know Its alittle pricey but since the first time I used it I have always had good results.
 
Theres more to chemi pure then just carbon but I guess in a sense I could make my own mix, I haven't tried a reactor yet but I have thought about it. I am thinking about making something similar with egg crate. If I come up with something I might take pictures and post about it.
I don't know Its alittle pricey but since the first time I used it I have always had good results.
 
Theres more to chemi pure then just carbon but I guess in a sense I could make my own mix, I haven't tried a reactor yet but I have thought about it. I am thinking about making something similar with egg crate. If I come up with something I might take pictures and post about it.
I don't know Its alittle pricey but since the first time I used it I have always had good results.
I know it’s more than carbon. I’ve used it. It’s good stuff. It’s arguably whether it’s worth the money or not, but it is good. No doubt.
 
In my opinion, you need to invest in a diatom filter system. That nasty! I like running high nutrition in tank but not that high
 
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