Tank overrun by majano

Is it an option to do the following in my DT? Keep my substrate (part of the biological filter), remove and discard all of my LR, and place new dry rock on top of old substrate. Will this allow the dry rock to cycle and is this safe since my DT is the only place that I can keep my fish?

 

...then after a few months, replace my cc with sand.

 

I am a big fan of Reefrocks.net for dry rock. But it is thought to be the same rock that Marcorocks & even BRS use. Any of those 3 will work. As far as putting the dry rock on the sandbed, the only issue is if you still have majano in the tank, it could populate the dry rock, defeating the whole purpose :-/

 

I don't have any experiance with situations like this, but personally I'd cycle the dry rock in the second tank you have available (at the same time, cleaning up what you can in main tank). Once this is cycled, transfer livestock over to the new tank, then clean out the display, remove rock, replace sand.

I feel like if you try to seed the rock with the sand or live rock you currently have, you'll just risk introducting the anenomies into the new rock.

Also, I agree with the above rock comments above. My first tank I used reefcleaners. I was impressed but went with reefrocks.net this build. Same rock cheaper, though (I am blaming time of year, and the fact I'm getting custom cut rock) it seems like service is a little slower (Def not bad though!)

 

Just to clarify, I have no filtration for the second tank so the fish would only be safe in there while I replace the old LR with the newly cycled dry rock, and the old cc with the new sand. Does this sound like a decent plan?

Also, how would you suggest I kickstart the cycle for that dry rock? Sorry, but I have no experience with dry rock and I'm relearning reefing two years after I started and eventually lost interest. I regret taking my take for granted and want to bring it back to life.

 

Thank you Marshall

 

You should be fine without filtration if you're just cycling your rock, just be sure you have water movement. A lot of nano's only use the rock as filtration.

To start the cycle, just add a thawed shrimp to it so it can start to decompose.

 

This is just my opinion so take it for what it's worth. With an infestation like that, I would want to start completely over with sterilized equipment/tank, new dry rock and new dry sand. In my time as a reef keeper, I've been lucky enough to be blessed with a majano infestation, red planaria and, what finally drove me out of the hobby, a species of bryopsis that was resistant to all known methods of eradication and that wiped out a 180 gallon tank full of sps corals. If you do not empty that tank and sterilize everything in it, you will always stand the chance of becoming reinfested. I really feel for you because I've been there myself.

 

I had a quick question, Corailline gave a method to remove the sand and rinse - I was confused in that I thought the recommendation was to start with new sand....? just curious on that on why you would want to thoroughly rinse the old sand if you're replacing with new....

 

This is the only way that I would feel like I'm taking care of the problem. Even this wouldn't give me 100% piece of mind, but buying a new tank is not an option. I'm sorry to hear about your infestation, they really do make you think twice about dumping any more money into the hobby.

How would one go about sterilizing a biocube with hard to reach rear chambers?