265 reef

[Rmckoy]

So is the consensus here saying remove all fish and put them in a quarantine tank?
I do believe the stress of this will kill them all

I don’t believer you have many other choices .
either they stay in the tank where it’s not going well as it is .

if you choose to qt with some of the rocks which are live it should skip any cycle or ammonia spikes . ( ammonia should still be tested and monitored )

once the display tank sand is cleaned the fish can go back .
I can’t tag jay
@ReefSquad could also provide advice

@vetteguy53081

 

[MasterOfNone]

I've seen posts elsewhere, where a dude scooped out a handfull of sand from his DSB in order to seed bacteria into a friend's new tank. The dude's entire tank died in short order. I personally run a DSB and love it, I have a wrasse that sleeps in it, and nassarius snails that root through it, but I would never have anything in the tank if I needed to disturb below the uppermost layer. I'm not an expert on the matter so be forewarned, but apart from doing a total teardown and starting from scratch, it may be possible to get all the livestock out, then let the tank sit for a few months to reballance itself and get the anaerobic and aerobic bacteria in the sand layered out and filtering again while doing water changes, then a couple 100% water changes before adding tester livestock.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Follow Brandon on this one. Get the fish out into a suitable tank and take care of that sand bed.

 

[rusty dowell]

OK here is my plan
1 Set up a quarantine tank
2 Pull all corals and rock out
3 Put fish in quarantine tank
4 Remove sand rents properly
5 Put sand rock and corals back in tank
6 Put the fish back in tank
I will take all advice

 

[Rmckoy]

OK here is my plan
1 Set up a quarantine tank
2 Pull all corals and rock out
3 Put fish in quarantine tank
4 Remove sand rents properly
5 Put sand rock and corals back in tank
6 Put the fish back in tank
I will take all advice

Brandon has good advice for properly rinsing the sand. .

it’s not a easy or fast job .

 

[brandon429]

Agreed it’s horrible work, so bad Id recommend all new sand
Which is still pre rinsed but in half the time.

I estimate it will take six hours of rinsing in sections to get this much old sand cleared, then you glass test each sub section to make sure it’s clear- verification assessments are in each linked thread to ensure there isn’t an excuse for incomplete rinsing which can kill the whole reef, all at once, opposite of our collection of wins


why do I get the impression that literally only a ten second cursory reading of the threads has been done
It’s worth the time to study to catch all the small details this is a huge job, not like a nano rip clean

 

[rusty dowell]

OK I’m going to document everything is a go

 

[rusty dowell]

Setting up the quarantine tank

 

[BoneDoc]

Have you tried running carbon to get those “unknown” out?

 

[rusty dowell]

I do and carbon
The problem is the sand it’s been there for 20 years that’s never been touched
I recently replaced my refuge which also had 20 year old sand in there. (Totally disconnected from the main tank at the time)
It was almost like pure mud

 

[rusty dowell]

Mixing water

 

[DeniseAndy]

Sounds like a plan. I would use new sand too. Then if you want to add more in future or use it elsewhere, rinse it as time permits.

 

[rusty dowell]

Polyps on the back glass
What should I do with them

 

[rusty dowell]

Polyps on the back glass
What should I do with them

 

[JGT]

Agreed it’s horrible work, so bad Id recommend all new sand
Which is still pre rinsed but in half the time.

I estimate it will take six hours of rinsing in sections to get this much old sand cleared, then you glass test each sub section to make sure it’s clear- verification assessments are in each linked thread to ensure there isn’t an excuse for incomplete rinsing which can kill the whole reef, all at once, opposite of our collection of wins


why do I get the impression that literally only a ten second cursory reading of the threads has been done
It’s worth the time to study to catch all the small details this is a huge job, not like a nano rip clean

See, I knew you were the right guy for the job . You love this stuff, and only you.

 

[brandon429]

He’s at a decision point for sure, if there wasn’t any new additions of clean up crews or corals or new fish to bring in disease then the losses are tied to the sandbed works in tank


even though I sit here yapping from a chair in Lubbock owning only a one gallon ree/ fraction of that size tank for the Op I really care about repeatable science we can use in the heat of the moment to save this two decades effort.

It’s too sad to lose it all. plus jumanji 4 is on and this is the right time to be empowered and empower others, it’s exactly at the part welcome to the jungle comes on this is power up time. If we just fix that sand with a huge ten hour effort we can go till 2049 before messing with it again

***getting the new water will be the hardest part, the sand rinse is merely a matter of personal resolve to rinse that __________ into perfection


the water in the tank as of now isn’t totally bad or it’d all be dead, so, a trip to Home Depot to buy four brute trash cans/ rinse them out before storage / allows him to catch potentially half this current water as it drains down for reuse. But you cant use the last half it’ll be too cloudy from removals so at least score 50% all new water for the re setup

do the axl snake dance and command this tank into compliance

 

[Rmckoy]

Polyps on the back glass
What should I do with them

I would leave them .
essentially … all you’re doing is removing the sand .

as mentioned before by someone else .
to wash all your current sand would take awhile and the choice to wash old sand , or add new sand and rinse …

 

[rusty dowell]

OK setting up the quarantine tank should say use old tank water because the fish are so sick right now

 

[Rmckoy]

OK setting up the quarantine tank should say use old tank water because the fish are so sick right now

Even if you had new water .
using the rocks will minimize ammonia spikes .
Providing nitrifying bacteria .
New water will be needed when you setup the display tank again

 

[rusty dowell]

OK I’ve lost several fish remaining fish look very bad do I treat the quarantine tank with anything