Redoing Aquarium

[Thunderkat]

Gary came by last night and looked at my tank.

He wasn't even close to it when he saw all my dinoflagellettes. I thought I just had lots of light green algae in there. Maybe that is why the clam I bought way back only lasted a month.

He also saw the results of my snow storm.

The cyano in all its glory could not be seen because the tank was all white but a few patches had started to break through.

Yes he saw the flake food eating cleaner wrasse.

Anyways Gary recommended I put my fish and corals in a 10 gallon aquarium (as I don't have much) and hold them there for a few days while I empty out my tank and bleach it and clean everything out really good. He also recommended the plenum system and he described the microbiology and chemisty involved with very good detail so I think I will try that out.

I also have to throw away my old aragonite (if anybody wants it they are welcome to it just bring the container you want it in ASAP, I think I will be able to start doing all this Monday). I will then have to get some new sand. PM me for address/phone number.

Polkster gave me some good recommendations too and I would like to here tips, tricks, and recommendations from as many people as possible before I start this.

I do have a few questions:

Is it possible to buy any live sand anywhere around San Antonio area?
Does anybody sell 100% cured rock around here?
Would it be wise to hang onto my old live rock?
If I don't where can I get some cool assortments of macro algae (I love the stuff)?
If I am able to keep it what do I need to do to make sure its clean (just soak in RO water for 30 seconds and soak it in 8.6 pH seawater until dinoflagellettes gone?)?

[Polkster13]

I know Wolf Reef, Fin Addict and CB Pets all sell LR. Alex posted the other day that he had cured Figi for sale. I was in Fin Addict over last weekend and Phillipe had some cool looking Pulhka <sp?> rock.

If you are going to get rid of the argonite, I'll take it off of your hands. I can pick it up from you on Sunday at the meeting if you will be there, otherwise I can make other arrangements with you.

[cbianco]

Thunderkat

It was nice meeting you yesterday and I am sorry to hear about your tank. I wish you lived closer I would gladly help you rebuild your tank!

Even with cured liverock and live sand your going to have a "cycle" since the bacteria population has to build up somehow. Of course with cured live rock and live sand you would minimize this cycle. I think that the money spent vs waiting a few extra weeks would not be worth it but to eaches own.

You could "save" your old live rock by cleaning it. I am not exactly sure of the process you would have to take to save it but I am sure that you would probably kill most of the life on the rock in the process.

If I am not mistaking Aquatic Warehouse and TX Tropical (where I bought mine) both sell LS.

Hope this helps a bit and good luck with the re-setup.

Christopher

[jaded]

Would it be wise to hang onto my old live rock?

I think if I were in your situation I would probably work hard to keep the rock you have, but if you decide to get rid of it I need dead rock for my bubble problem... again, if it were me I would bleach, soak, dry that rock and reuse it, but if you dont have the time for all that then please let me know, I could really use it!!!

[GaryP]

Jade,

He doesn't have a lot of LR and some of it isn't really LR. Its limestone and large barnacles. I recommended he clean it and add more LR. The sand can be killed and cleaned and used over again.

[Thunderkat]

Yeah, you said I could kill it but it would be hard to clean in an apartment so I am just going to get some new stuff. No biggie, just rinsing the sand is hard in my apartment, not looking forward to that.

[Tim Marvin]

I hope you are talking about a refugium, and not plenum. There are some very long threads on plenums on other sites. They tend to crash and wipe out your entire tank after a few years if not properly maintained and turned over. Stick to a refugium, they are much easier and worry free.

[cbianco]

Thunderkat

Any crazy chance that you have pictures of your aquarium? I didn't get a chance to see it.

Thanks

Christopher

[Thunderkat]

I don't have a digital camera but maybe I can borrow one from work. If I can I will take a few pics but I am not sure if I can post pics here. If I can't I will be happy to email to anybody that wants.

Those plenum systems seem to be a really good idea from what I have heard about them. When I was in Hawaii I had my aquarium unknowingly set up like that. I tried to mimic an undergravel filter (because I had used undergravel filters for years) and have sand on top of that, I used a tightly woven piece of cloth to seperate the sand and gravel. I never had any problems. I had a yellow tang, a goat fish (that died a few months later when the power went out in the barracks), cleaner shrimp, a mantis shrimp, a clownfish, and a blue damsel. They all did fine in my 20 gallon aquarium.

In one year I am going to move so if I can have a tank run fine for a year then I am not going to complain. Besides if you have those snails that burrow in the sand and keep it clean (like nature does) then there should be no problems.

[thedude]

I'm going to have to disagree with alot of the stuff being said. A great source of information is www.reefcentral.com and there are lengthy discussions on the use of plenums and there eventual downfalls. All of your problems sound nutrient related but whether this is due to overfeeding/tank maintenance or the rock itself is in question. You have three options for the bottom of a tank the way I see it, each with it's own problems. You can go barebottom with starboard, have a deep sand bed (typically 4 inches or more) or a shallow sand bed. In your case since you have experience with gravel I would be more inclined to go with a shallow sand bed. The problem with shallow sand beds is that many times detritus is accumulated and is not able to be taken out of the aquarium. You are right in the fact that nassarious snails and the like help to lengthen the amount of time this takes to happen. A great way to go is due what Steve Weast's huge 800 gallon aquarium does. Siphon the sand monthly and replace the sand you accidently suck up with fresh. I would definitely ditch your sand bed that you currently have, keeping maybe a cup only for bacteria variety.

On to the live rock. If live rock has been sitting in an aquarium for long amounts of time, it becomes saturated with nutrients, especially in a high nutrient system which sounds like what you have. This can cause to phosphate leaching and many other problems. Your cheapest way to fix is, is to undertake a process called "rock cooking." You take out your rock and put it into a container (trash can etc) with a heater and pump, and no light and let it sit. The bacteria will begin to consume the nutrients in the rock and spew out all kinds of nasty stuff. Every week or so, you take the rock out, shake it, and replace all the water with fresh clean salt water. Eventually after a month or 2, the rock will no longer spew anything and you will know that your rock is ready for reintroduction into your tank. Fresh clean rock still with all the bacteria important in live rock is your final product. A search on RC can produce greater detail on the rock cooking process.

Two final notes, not enough flow is often the major cause of cyano breakouts, what kind of pumps do you have running? Also dead sand could be used every easily, then seeding with the live sand from other's tanks (i'm in austin but would be happy to give you a cup). You could let this sand stew and develop during your rock cooking process.