Who is anal about cleaning their tank?

[meegwell]

Do you keep your tank spotless? Do you think corraline is a distraction to the view and keep all sides spotless (just personal preference of course). What are your tools to keep it that way? Do you special tools or scrubbers for cleaning powerheads and getting in tight spots? Modified tools? Im looking for some ideas and also to whats available. Im just cycling my first tank and have the basic handheld magnet. Are there different levels of these? What about extentions to reach far behind?

Thanks for any ideas, info, pics, whatever....

Meegwell

[Laddy]

Cleaning tools: magfloat, kent scraper, toothbrush (new) which will allow you to clean between power heads and overflow teeth. It's totally up to the individual on how to display their tanks.

[SuperSaltwater]

i scrub all reachable areas of the glass, the back never gets cleaned and it grows a lot of stuff. i even custom made some 2mm thick magnet scrubbers to get in between the live rock and glass where the big magfloats could never reach.

[meegwell]

Toothbrush...ahhh. Put that on the list. I think ill want to mod some sort of arm on it to reach a bit further...

[Laddy]

Originally Posted by meegwell

Toothbrush...ahhh. Put that on the list. I think ill want to mod some sort of arm on it to reach a bit further...

I've done that .......good luck, I'm sure you'll find the right look for your tank.

[lynchard]

That's depends what you like.

[Tradewinds]

If your system uses a sump, a wet/dry vac comes in handy for removing detritus.

I use a cheap plastic paint scrapper attached to a scrap piece of PVC pipe to clean the back glass.

A turkey baster is a good tool to blow detritus from between cracks in the live rock.

[mcgrawjt]

Part of the majic of owning a saltwater tank is how beautiful it looks when everything is clean. It can get overwelming but consider it a labor of love not a chore. If you are not anal to some degree about overall cleaning you will meet Mr. Cyano soon and other unsightly friends of his. I know corraline is a good sign in the tank but I hate it on the glass (even the back wall) I do my best to scrape it off before it takes over (I think it detracts from the overall look of the tank). I can't stop it on the overflows though as they are plastic and don't take to scraping well.

There is a new tool I have in my arsenal introduced to me about a year and a half ago. You can use the same magnet but I got a second one for this tool and only use it on occaisions - (this is for glass only)

http://premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-s...s/EB-SA-G.html

it accepts these blades -

http://premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-supplies/EB-RB.html

You glue the scrapper to the inside magnet with PVC glue. The blade is adjustable to the surface of the glass. It even takes corraline off like it was nothing. It's "funner" to use than just the velro scrubbing. The algae just peels off. I love this thing. It's like cheating. It's similar to all the other scraper types but this blade is thicker and sturdier and does not bend or kink, also using it on a magnet is much easier than trying to manipulate a pole up and down under your hood or reaching your arm inside with a handheld. Just be careful around the corners and anywhere you have a silicone bead, it will scrape right under that too.

Take care.
John

[swcc]

best way to keep it clean is keeping it ULN. Keep phosphate and nitrate unreadable. This way, glass and overflow surface stay clean(the overflow teeth do get dirty). If your not into coraline all over the place choose aquacultured rocks or dry rock. Credit cards or kent scraper tool can work good if coraline just 'insists'. If using substrate pick a substrate that is easy to siphon(crushed coral, seaflor special grade). No, crushed coral is not a 'nitrate' factory, it just should be siphoned with water changes. Oh, good idea to 'cook' the live rock before you set up the tank. Once the rock is in place after cooking, keep the tank barebottom for the first month or you can keep it barebottom period. This way detritus from additional rock shedding is easily siphoned out.
Very good skimmer is a must as is good flow.
Two negatives to a ULN setup system.... skimmer takes what seems like forever to break in(just not enough bacterial element to slime it up) and Lobopora...brown plate algae (it appears like a brown coraline).

[Subw00er]

Dont forget natural cleaning.. get a big clean up crew. I use a decent sized varied clean up crew and a yellow tang and they do a great job of keeping on top of nuisance.

[Yedgy]

I wouldn't say I'm particularly anal about cleanliness, but I really like the tank and the rest of the equipment to visually disappear, leaving only the reef to be enjoyed. Accordingly, I don't permit coralline to grow on the glass, but I haven't been able to prevent it from growing on the overflow tower because it's made from textured plastic and only one panel is removable. Is there a (non-scratching) way to remove coralline from plastic overflows in-place?