Help with beginning a conversion to a reef!

[jwalsh1]

Hello!

Ive got a 75 gallon aquarium with a wet dry trickle filter consisting of your everyday materials in the sump itself fed by a HOB overflow. This tank has been running for over 10 years as a South Amercian biotope and contained severums plecos and rainbows.

Apparently last Sunday the entire tank came down with ich. I didnt return home until Monday to find this and found a myrad of secondary infections ranging from fin rot to other problems. I tried as much as I could to save the fish; medications etc etc and all week Ive been incredibly saddened to watch the tank die. This morning the last of the survivors passed.

My goal for many many years was to convert this tank into a reef. The plan being keep the existing fish as long as they were alive and not adding stock. I did not plan on a die off. I had hoped the tank would go on for many more years to come. One of the severums was 8 years old, the other was 5, and they had fry one of which made it and Ive raised him for 1 year, so very sad to see it all go away.

Anyway, considering the disease I had in the tank, I need advice as to assuring that there are no diseases left when I begin construction of the reef. Due to money constraints and the untimely-ness of this, Ill need a few months to save up the money to begin building so I have time. My plan is to empty the tank today and move it to a new spot where it will reside as a reef. What should I do to the tank to make sure its disease free? Drain and dry? Bleach? I have no idea what to do to the tank or the filtration system.

Thanks, and sorry for the long winded-ness.

Jason

[omard]

Sorry to hear about loss.

But good excuse as any to move to SW.

Bleaching tank a good idea.

Gonna need new lights, skimmer, etc.

More importantly need insure no Copper from past FW water treatments in tank. Can leach from tank seals for ages, killing off all your newly acquired and very expensive inverts.

I would get rid of all plastic filters and media altogether. In addition to swapping out all tubing.

Rinse, rinse, rinse. Let water stand in tank for at least a week and then get Cu kit and test. If any reading at all. Don't use tank!!! or at least use only for a FO. No good for a Reef at least till all Cu gone.

May even be worth considering selling current system entirely to new FW keeper. And start out with new tank, lights, skimmer etc for starting new Reef system.

Keep us posted.

Good Luck.


Rgds,

Scott

[lunatik_69]

Welcome aboard to the dark side of the pond. Im really sorry for your loss, thats everyones nightmare. While your waiting and saving, read up on things. Heres a great site to learn while you wait. Saltwater Aquarium Setup Guide

[wildreef]

I would think you would be able to use this tank , if cleaned out good.. use bleach as prescribed above, then fill with water
of course theres lots to learn here ! read, read , read !

Of course you'll need to replace all tubing,filtration systems , but sadly as you dive into this salt water , you'll never get rid of all diseases/parasites , they ultumitly come in on live rock / fish them selfs.

Its' just when "fish/s" falls i'll or ages as yours may have' it most likely beacame suseptible to ich.
Just like us as we age' or have poor imunity , we often fall victim to common illnesses
your fish were no diffrent ,
And depending on how often you did water changes,types of foods,medications,etc.

And in the "SW" world , you'll have to keep an open mind as most SW fishes are wild caught, and sold at your local LFS place. And a bit more vigalance and paitence pays off in this hobby.

Remeber one thing , STABLE WATER QUALITY !!! ( that one thing is all to often the killer of SW corals/fish/inverts).

[jwalsh1]

I treated using Maracyde TC and malachite green.

Its going to be maybe two months minimum before I can start up with actual live rock etc (saving for lights and skimmer now). Will running longer help eliminate any copper left?

Lastly, is there something I can use to neutralize copper?

Selling the setup has also crossed my mind, and is a good suggestion. If I went with a new tank, would something a little smaller be acceptable for a first time reef? The house we bought doesnt have the same amount of wall space as the last place I was in so I was considering something slightly smaller (but still over 40 gallons). Ive read opinions ranging from very difficult to same as a large tank re: tank size.

[jwalsh1]

Re: filter systems, I cant remove the media from my trickle and use that as the basis with a skimmer? (ill replace all the plumbing, I want to do a neat job of it anyway and nows a good time)

[jwalsh1]

hehe, a million questions.

What about removing the silicone and resealing the corners to help with the copper problem?

[omard]

Originally Posted by jwalsh1

I treated using Maracyde TC and malachite green.

Its going to be maybe two months minimum before I can start up with actual live rock etc (saving for lights and skimmer now). Will running longer help eliminate any copper left? (not really as Cu will remain in water column and continue to be absorbed by tank seals - There are a number of copper removing media, Cupisorb, etc. I also had great luck using BioMed Polyfilters...but Cu was only in tank short time...)

Lastly, is there something I can use to neutralize copper? - (Not that I know of. )

I was considering something slightly smaller (but still over 40 gallons). Ive read opinions ranging from very difficult to same as a large tank re: tank size. - (Smaller tank just needs a little more attention then a larger tank...but easily managed for an experienced aquarist as yourself...)

Best of luck.

[jwalsh1]

use that term "experienced aquarist" carefully! Ive done this freshwater for a long time now, but that doesnt mean I know what Im doing!

Heres my plan:

5 weeks of cycling to clean the tank. Schedule as follows:
1) empty tank/relocate to new spot, fill with H20 and bleach
2) cycle water/bleach solution for 1 week
3) empty tank, fill with water/bleach solution
4) cycle water/bleach solution for 1 week
****end bleach*****
5) empty tank, fill with water (fresh)
6) cycle fresh water 1 week
7)empty tank, fill with water (fresh)
cycle fresh water 1 week
9) empty tank, fill with water (fresh)
10) cycle fresh water 1 week

Any suggestions on an appropriate mixture of bleach to water? Im heading to the store now to get that filter media for the copper...

Thanks a ton for all your help. Im excited.

Jason

[gazog]

Don't you mean Maracyn® TC, if so it does not contain any copper nor does the malachite green so I don't see any reason to worry about copper unless you previously used it. Click on the links and you can see what both products contain.