Time to start over :o(

Discussion in 'General Reef Topics' started by Stovebolt-V8, May 10, 2015.

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  1. Stovebolt-V8

    Stovebolt-V8 Feather Duster

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    I'm sure everyone has been through the frustration of everything going wrong and nothing seems to help. I have reached the point where I'm going to tear down my 65 gal bow front and start over. I mean remove EVERYTHING and sanitize the coral, rock, gravel, tank, hoses, sump, and anything else that water touches or even comes near :( Right now I'm in the planning stage and could use some advise :) The sanitation process could take several days and I need to house the live crew. I'm thinking of putting them all in two 50 gal plastic trash cans about 2/3 full. Lots of air stones and a portable light I can keep over them for a few hours and for feeding. Any thoughts on how long I can keep them this way and if I should provide anything else? Any ideas on a fast sanitation process? In case you are wondering, NO MORE live rock! I firmly believe that was the source of most of my problems. HELP!
     
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  3. RHorton

    RHorton Pajama Cardinal

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    I would suggest nuking the live rock but if time is a factor I would just buy base rock instead.
    all the rock in my tank is nuked from my other tank 4 years ago.
    This is why I never buy live rock again as it lead to my other tanks demise.

    sounds like a good plan with the trash cans.
    Do you have any corals or just fish?
     
  4. Stovebolt-V8

    Stovebolt-V8 Feather Duster

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    Hate to sound a dumb smuck but how do you nuke rock? Microwave? I have a lot of volcanic rock I used in a tank 20 some odd years ago still in storage, might break that out. I have fish and some soft corals. How long do you think I could keep them in a trash can like that?
     
  5. WhiskyTango

    WhiskyTango Eyelash Blennie

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    To keep your livestock stock alive, it will need moving oxygenated water around 80 F.

    Nuke means to kill everything on it. There are several ways to do this, but don't microwave your rocks. That could put some potentially deadly compounds into the air inside your house.

    It is really hard to know exactly what the problems are in your system, but "sanitizing" is the last thing you want to do. Remember fish poop ammonia, and bacteria convert it back to nitrogen gas. To me it sounds like you may be using older less effective gear and filtration techniques. Like your gravel for instance, is known to collect detritus that can spike nitrates that fuel algae growth.

    Maybe you have funky live rock that is leeching nutrients into the water. Do you know when and where it came from?

    Skip the 20 year old volcanic rock, if anything get some dry base rock, Pukani and Reef Saver are pretty awesome and popular, and use this as your new reef structure/filter.

    Do you have a properly working skimmer and macro algae in your sump?
     
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  6. RHorton

    RHorton Pajama Cardinal

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    this is how I was taught years ago:

    1. Soak rock in 50/50 Bleach and water solution for 3 days.
    2. Soak rock for next 3 days in RO water if possible
    3. Soak rock in RO/DI water and Baking soda for 3 days to neutralize the bleach. For a 30g trash can I use 4 lbs. of Baking soda.
    4. Let rock sit outside in sun for 2 weeks turning the rock to make sure all water is out of holes. If cold out side I have put in my garage with a fan on the rock for about 1.5 weeks and still turn rock every day.

    as far as how long they can be in the can I am not sure, Ive seen people do it for 2 weeks but maybe longer,
    hopefully someone can chime in on that as I don't have a definite answer.
     
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  7. Stovebolt-V8

    Stovebolt-V8 Feather Duster

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    Whew! You had me worried, I couldn't see putting all those rocks etc. in the microwave :) What's wrong with sanitizing everything to bring everything to it's original virgin state? :| I've been using the most current "recommendations" for the gravel in lew of what I had been using years past with NO problems :\ semi large coral gravel, with an under gravel filter system. All my chemical balances have been well within specs for years now but "hair" loves the tank anyway. Using an oversize skimmer, GFO, marine land tray filter that I change the media weekly during the NASCAR Race :) The volcanic rock was used in my old 125 tank for ten years. The live rock came from the previous owner of the tank and now I want it CLEAN! and gone. :(
     
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  9. Stovebolt-V8

    Stovebolt-V8 Feather Duster

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    That's what I had in mind for cleaning the "live rock" but thought I could use my old volcanic rock and coral pieces that have been stored with just a through rinsing before using again. Save the live/dead rock for future setups :) I forgot to mention that I will have heaters in the trash cans set at 78 my systems normal temp.
     
  10. Corailline

    Corailline Super Moderator

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    It is a dry heat, yeah right !
    Do you currently use an under gravel filter? I might be reading your last post wrong.

    Your issues are not related to higher phosphate or nitrate levels?

    Any how you need some type of biological filter in your livestock containers, those containers are just like an uncycled tank. Get some Prime and have fresh saltwater made up. Test the water just like you would in a tank cycling. As long as you can keep ammonia and nitrites undetectable you can leave the livestock in those container as long as you like.
     
  11. Stovebolt-V8

    Stovebolt-V8 Feather Duster

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    Hi Coraline! No I'm not using one now but am seriously considering going back to one with power heads. I never had any problems at all with it in the past and had many delicate fish :) Current specs;

    PH = 8.4
    AMO = 0
    Nitri = 0
    Nitra = 0
    Calc = 280
    Carb = 200
    Phos = 0.1 +-
    Salinity = 1.023
    Temp = 78

    This newer tech stuff just seems to take much more fiddling and adjusting than the old time setups. My old 125 tank had lots of fish including my favorite a Passer Angel . I might have made a partial water change every few "months" and I'm sure the nitrates were off the chart but everyone was living happily with little to no algae. It was a FO setup but looked beautiful :) I then had to move around and never set it back up until I got here to Oregon. That original tank had nearly 1" thick glass but never made it here due to weight :(
     
  12. Corailline

    Corailline Super Moderator

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    It is a dry heat, yeah right !
    How old are your light bulbs?

    I am not anti-undergravel, however I do think there are better ways to achieve the same results without the commitment to an undergravel filter.

    In the past I have made the mistake of nuking (slang) live rock and not considering the enormous amount of die off. Macro brittle stars, stomatellas...........You have to kill everything and then recycle the rock.