32g rework...

[Jedi1199]

For further documentation purposes... This is the bucket and water I kept the "cleaned" rocks in while doing this...

As you can see clear, it is not as clean as you might expect... (wish I'd thought of the pressure washer idea.. lol)

Remember.. this was fresh NEW saltwater. Not old tankwater!!

 

[brandon429]

Yes that helps to see the sloughs and castings and organics associated with rocks agreed

 

[Jedi1199]

Its amazing the lysmata still kicking, very very sensitive organism there he’s a good water quality canary. I do believe the minor milky is sloughs from the rocks carried up and off in the currents

any type of filter crash is closed up corals tightly, very quick change to cloudy water, fish hovering or acting weird and dead shrimp

** feed lightly next two days much under norms then back to norm slowly towards end of week. Too much feed is something to consider as the tap rinsed surfaces rebound quickly in the tank by the hour.

I am already cutting back feedings on ALL of my tanks.. I believe a major reason for my problems has been overfeeding. I did a scaled back, but not drastically reduced feeding today because I did not feed at all yesterday.

 

[brandon429]

Hey did some older filter media go back into circulation or did we rip it all away can’t recall that minor detail

 

[Jedi1199]

I reused some of the rock rubble.. after a good scrub. ditched the bio-balls as they float and are kind of a pain after there is water in the tank.

This brings up another point... I am thinking.. Since the back panel of the tank is glass.. maybe I could turn the middle chamber into a small refugium? Remove the little plastic media rack thing and just float some chaeto below the stock type carbon/floss cartridge?

 

[Jedi1199]

I could even cut a piece of egg crate to fit the place where the stock cart fits and make my own reusable floss and carbon bag.

 

[brandon429]

Agreed fully it would be a nice pod zone

 

[brandon429]

if I’m not mistaken this rip clean you did sets the record in six years running for the most insult done to a biofilter in one pass

Above all prior rip cleans

weren’t most all rocks hit with straight untreated tap at the start

Amalee did it too but she put some sand back I think, your minus sand puts the entire bioload carry square on the rocks / amazing rare live test. No doubt some bacteria were killed *but* due to the rule of surface area amplification what was left in the crevices etc presents to the wastewater now even better with no blanket algae covering and given 36 hours coming up they’ll just all be reproduced right back anyway from any potential initial losses


the first night in low 02 settings was the risk, thats passed now


if tomorrow is slightly cloudy don’t dose anything do a nice follow up standard water change, add carbon in filter great move

 

[Jedi1199]

if I’m not mistaken this rip clean you did sets the record in six years running for the most insult done to a biofilter in one pass

Above all prior rip cleans

weren’t most all rocks hit with straight untreated tap at the start

Amalee did it too but she put some sand back I think, your minus sand puts the entire bioload carry square on the rocks / amazing rare live test. No doubt some bacteria were killed *but* due to the rule of surface area amplification what was left in the crevices etc presents to the wastewater now even better with no blanket algae covering and given 36 hours coming up they’ll just all be reproduced right back anyway from any potential initial losses


the first night in low 02 settings was the risk, thats passed now


if tomorrow is slightly cloudy don’t dose anything do a nice follow up standard water change, add carbon in filter great move

HAHAHA Thank you Brandon for validating my "Anti-reefer" status. I have always believed that the "rules" are garbage. Not to say that some things are not concrete and some are necessary, but that what the majority is taught to believe is simply.. how do I say this.. Not untrue, but variable based on individual circumstance?

You have explained that in countless threads I have read.. my own personal experience, beyond this discussion, also validifies that aspect.

 

[brandon429]

How’s water clarity here Jedi really was curious about your clean re assembly job

 

[brandon429]

I’ll admit, small concern

how’s this to the edge n back rip clean

 

[Jedi1199]

Good morning @brandon429 ,

Here is a pic I took this morning of the 32.. Everything looks great so far. ZERO losses of stock. I am going to be working on getting the sand back in later this afternoon.

Oh yes, I did not add carbon to the filter. This tank is exactly as it was in the reassembled picture above.

 

[brandon429]

Jedi, thank you tons


that completes the farthest I’ve seen surface area tested in reefing, your post is factored into crucial patterns now for future tank troubleshoots and it moves the boundaries out further not closer, in reef tank design and remedy. Thank you for this work I’ll link accordingly.


if the public was polled before you did this job with this question: if I contact tap water to my rocks and remove all sand and filtration instantly, will my reef die


the answer from every respondent, every lfs employee, every online cycle ump would be a resounding yes.


and then one simple work thread shows them the truth about filtration in the reef tank, stellar.

 

[Jedi1199]

@brandon429

Thought I would post an update today. Due to a death in the family, I have been a bit preoccupied to attend to my tanks as I would normally. That said, this poor 32 was hit HARD by some other kind of algae/bacterial bloom. I didn't snap any pics unfortunately, but I can take a few of what I have left of the water. I basically did another rip-clean today. Drained it fully, cleaned everything, rehomed a couple fish (I needed to do that anyway), finished cleaning up the old sand and added it back. I removed about 2/3ds of the rocks.

Going to go with a minimalist setup this time.. 2 clowns, skunk cleaner shrimp and for now, no corals at all. I may add a few small hardy pieces in the future, but for now just the fish.

To continue the documentation of how severe this rip-clean is, The rocks I kept were treated exactly as I did before. Straight untreated tap water, scrubbed clean with a medium bristle brush, allowed to dry for a couple hours. I then soaked them for an hour or so in fresh SW and directly back in the tank.

The sand, is the same sand I removed in the original clean. I simply had no time to deal with it until now. 10-15 rinses with the hose, 10-15 rinses with fresh RODI and directly into the tank. (remember that it got probably 75 rinses on the date of the original cleaning... it sat in a bucket of TAP water since then until today)

I will take a few pictures in a couple hours. The glare from the windows is not letting me get any decent shots right now.

 

[brandon429]

I would have done our peroxide step with rasping it has longer sustain than no peroxide on cleaned surfaces, because it kills holdfasts that may be in the upper layers of the rock. for sure surrounding supports like quality of topoff water and not too much white light counts but this way is ok if you like it. At least it’s not a 180 gallon right


its more of a biofilter proofing run vs algae control thread, tap water rinsing for algae other than once has no precedent

still very beneficial thread log, shows extreme cleaning options

these types of challenges are why I’ll only use cured rock in reefs the dry rock bringups take too long

 

[Jedi1199]

I would have done our peroxide step with rasping it has longer sustain than no peroxide on cleaned surfaces, because it kills holdfasts that may be in the upper layers of the rock. for sure surrounding supports like quality of topoff water and not too much white light counts but this way is ok if you like it. At least it’s not a 180 gallon right


its more of a biofilter proofing run vs algae control thread, tap water rinsing for algae other than once has no precedent

still very beneficial thread log, shows extreme cleaning options

these types of challenges are why I’ll only use cured rock in reefs the dry rock bringups take too long

You did mention peroxide before once.. but I do not believe we discussed "Rasping"? Also, I have read that peroxide is toxic to shrimp? I may be "anti-rules" but I do not wish to risk such a beautiful shrimp to an avoidable death.

 

[Jedi1199]

Here are the promised pictures of the newly recleaned tank...

 

[Jedi1199]

In the morning I will attempt to frag a couple of the coral pieces that are currently infested with this algae or whatever it is... start fresh with clean pieces....

 

[brandon429]

The perx is added externally to rocks after the green areas are scraped off detailed with a knife tip. It won’t contact shrimp its directly on the green tinted areas to make them clean with less low level plant attachment then rinse off put rocks back. Can try next round

 

[CanuckReefer]

@brandon429

Thought I would post an update today. Due to a death in the family, I have been a bit preoccupied to attend to my tanks as I would normally. That said, this poor 32 was hit HARD by some other kind of algae/bacterial bloom. I didn't snap any pics unfortunately, but I can take a few of what I have left of the water. I basically did another rip-clean today. Drained it fully, cleaned everything, rehomed a couple fish (I needed to do that anyway), finished cleaning up the old sand and added it back. I removed about 2/3ds of the rocks.

Going to go with a minimalist setup this time.. 2 clowns, skunk cleaner shrimp and for now, no corals at all. I may add a few small hardy pieces in the future, but for now just the fish.

To continue the documentation of how severe this rip-clean is, The rocks I kept were treated exactly as I did before. Straight untreated tap water, scrubbed clean with a medium bristle brush, allowed to dry for a couple hours. I then soaked them for an hour or so in fresh SW and directly back in the tank.

The sand, is the same sand I removed in the original clean. I simply had no time to deal with it until now. 10-15 rinses with the hose, 10-15 rinses with fresh RODI and directly into the tank. (remember that it got probably 75 rinses on the date of the original cleaning... it sat in a bucket of TAP water since then until today)

I will take a few pictures in a couple hours. The glare from the windows is not letting me get any decent shots right now.

Well, I just linked up with this thread tonight. First sorry for your loss in the family @Jedi1199 its never easy on anyone, so be well. Congrats on having the fortitude to do these rips, it takes guts and faith, along with guidance. I see @brandon429 is helping a ton with this, so thanks Brandon. Stick with it, you miss a day or two and have to regroup a bit that's life. You know this already regardless based on your attitude, just reiterating it.
Will keep following along....it goes UP, and will keep going UP from here!