Back after a long hiatus!

[Cooper32803]

Hey all! So after a long hiatus with my Biocube 29 that has been neglected forever, I am coming back to the hobby and trying to get this tank back in order. I had a huge tank crash that killed almost everything in it years ago and I severely neglected the tank. The only survivors of the Purge seem to be a clownfish (I call him Clark Kent cuz he has to be Superman with how long that tank went neglected) who is probably now around 9 years old and I have a Nassarius (Sp?) snail in there somewhere with some copepods that I see around the tank now and again. I have replaced all pumps (return and circulation) since they had died at some point during the neglect. Filtration media changed, upgraded to the new Coralife LED hood (even though my tank is an Oceanic it fits but not perfectly but I’m ok with that), replaces the refugium light, and have done a 20% water change Monday and then a 50% water change today to try and get Nitrates back down from being through the roof (pH, ammonia and Nitrite all look to be good now). I have dropped the nitrates down about halfway to around 60 and I know I have at least another water change to go to get them down more, but I was wondering if anyone could tell me how long after getting nitrates down should I work on getting a CUC back in the tank? I have some algae growth on the top of my rock formation that I am hoping won’t get out of hand now that I have a light back on the tank. I am slowly adding daylight so it doesn’t get crazy and I don’t shock my clown that’s been living in the dark for a while (5 hours yesterday, 6 hours today, 7 hours tomorrow Etc). Picture below to show the algae I am talking about. Also would adding chaeto to the refugium now help with the nitrates or should I wait until things level off?

Thanks in advance! I’m excited to get this tank back to what I want it to be and move it into a more visual area rather than my bedroom where I am the only one to enjoy it mostly

 

[flabryth]

welcome back...just in time to boost that economy.

 

[Mr_Knightley]

Welcome to Reef2Reef! That's one resistant clown my friend lol
As for the CUC, I would wait until you can get the NO3 down to around 15-20ppm, then I would go with a few more nassarius snails, an emerald crab and some astrea snails, maybe like 5. That should be sufficient for you tank until you increase the bioload.
I absolutely think adding chaeto would help exponentially, I would do that as soon as you can.
Good luck, welcome back to the hobby! God bless.

 

[Cooper32803]

welcome back...just in time to boost that economy.

I’m still furloughed from work but what better way to spend my days at home when I’m not sewing masks or playing video games

 

[Cooper32803]

Welcome to Reef2Reef! That's one resistant clown my friend lol
As for the CUC, I would wait until you can get the NO3 down to around 15-20ppm, then I would go with a few more nassarius snails, an emerald crab and some astrea snails, maybe like 5. That should be sufficient for you tank until you increase the bioload.
I absolutely think adding chaeto would help exponentially, I would do that as soon as you can.
Good luck, welcome back to the hobby! God bless.

Seriously, Clark is a trooper! He is out of shape since water flow hasn’t been there for a bit so he goes and plays in the water flow and then lays down in the spot in the sand he hosted for a little bit and then gets back up and plays in the water flow again. He is for sure resilient so I want to do everything in my power to keep him alive and well while getting the tank back and running.

 

[Cooper32803]

Also, another question that I am getting conflicting responses about at different LFS. My tank is about 9 years old and I have been told that since I want to build a new cabinet and move it into my dining room from my bedroom that I should take the sand bed out when moving it and replace the sand bed. Won’t this start a mini cycle which could compromise my clownfish?

 

[fishguy242]

hi welcome to the reef going to love it here!!
lots of fun/info/fun/help/fun....
try not to disturb sand bed in move ,two men can easy move that with sand and 3" water inside,..empty chambers for weight

 

[Cooper32803]

hi welcome to the reef going to love it here!!
lots of fun/info/fun/help/fun....
try not to disturb sand bed in move ,two men can easy move that with sand and 3" water inside,..empty chambers for weight

So the 9 year old sand bed isn’t a problem? I have seemingly forgot all my knowledge on the subject since I have been away from the hobby for so long. Is there a time where it is detrimental to change out the sand bed or can you keep the same sand for however long?

 

[fishguy242]

hi ,from the looks appears to be clean,only inch or so deep ,my opinion keep

 

[Cooper32803]

hi ,from the looks appears to be clean,only inch or so deep ,my opinion keep

Ok so the sand bed wouldn’t contribute to my extremely high nitrates? It’s been a looooong time since regular water changes (hence the neglect) and I have done a 20% on Monday and then did a 50% yesterday and planning on another 50% tomorrow or the day after. I just added Cheato today in my refugium and I have filter floss, Denitrate, Reef-Spec Carbon and Chemipure Elite in the filter rack. Nitrates have come down considerably however one LFS (WWC) says to keep the sand and another says to get rid of it since it should be changed every 4-5 years (that’s not something I remember knowing about). I did some scraping when I did the water change yesterday and I pointed the return more towards the sand to keep water flow along the bottom. Here is a current pic of the tank to get a better idea..

 

[fishguy242]

wait for a few more opinions here

 

[Cooper32803]

So just an update (and a few questions lol)... My nitrates have stuck around the 40-60 mark for the past week so I did a 50% WC today. I am planning on changing the sand bed when I build the new cabinet and move the tank into my dining room (still trying to decide on sand, but I know I want something with a little more weight than the fine powder sand I have now but can still have sand sifters in my tank. Suggestions?) I have a diatom outbreak going on now (mini cycle maybe?) so the tank isn’t the prettiest. I can see it has long strands hanging on the rocks that are between my two Koralia 425s (Oh yeah I added another 425 on the other side of the tank so I can eventually get a wave maker lol) I’m wondering, if my nitrates ended up cutting in half with the water change I did today (they should be around 20-30 but I will test in the morning after the water has circulated some), can I add some CUC to help with the algae problem? Or do I need to wait for them to be lower? Also CUC recommendations welcome. I have one Nassarius and a bunch of super tiny baby Ceriths that hitch hiked in with some chaeto that I bought for the refugium.

On a side note, is plumbers tape reef safe? I have the rotating Hydor piece for my return pump but it keeps falling off with the pressure of the pump. I figured if it’s reed safe, I would slap some tape on that thing and get a better fit on it.

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[KrisReef]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

No need to change the sand, but you probably should rinse the fines out of it. If you do go with new heavier sand, rinse that before you add it to the tank. There is a great thread on here that explains why.

Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

If you are reading this thread to cure a tank invasion from a link I sent you, we do not need to identify your type of invasion here we do not need you to test anything at anytime regarding nitrate, phosphate etc Above all, we do not need to see a microscope slide picture of your invasion at...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[WIReefer]

Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[Cooper32803]

So I tested nitrates and I’m around 25ish? (I used API and Salifert but telling the color differences is not easy for me lol) I am going to get some CUC this weekend. Would adding corals that like the dirtier water (Xenia, ricordia, Zoas) helps reduce nitrates more to a stable level? I’m seeing these live sales from a couple LFS (I’m in Orlando, FL) and I want to get a couple, but if it’s too soon, then I won’t. I figure those corals would be more hardy for when I change the sand bed in a couple weeks as well..

 

[fishguy242]

hi kinda a loaded question,yes would help bringing nutrients down/is it worth the risk in tank move?? just my opinion

 

[Cooper32803]

I would be keeping them on a frag rack or on the sand bed until after the move. Think that’s a bad idea then I take it? Lol

 

[fishguy242]

i am honestly on fence with this one "adding new corals" also reconsidering previous post,about moving w 3"water and saving 9 yr sandbed,thinking save as much est water as poss ,new sand bed 1" deep,but still may go through cycles,also when moving rock,have a swish bucket to swish and remove debris in pores,holes in rock!
start a build thread get a badge will follow along i feel wait on corals,they will always be there

 

[Cooper32803]

That actually sounds like a good idea. I def need to swish out the rocks from any 9 year old debris. I was planning on redoing my rock scape anyways. I have a few big rocks in there and I think it’s time to split them up and (maybe?) take some out. I probably have 20-30 lbs of rock in there cuz that’s what I thought I needed when I started the tank. However it’s a tank of rocks without much area for the fish to swim through besides through the back and front. So I will do a 20% WC next week and then that will be the last of the WCs until I move it and it settles in its new location. I am thinking of building the new stand on locking casters to make the tank move as easy as possible. Also in case I upgrade to a larger tank in a few years, I could use that tank as a QT/Hospital tank should need arise and it would be easy to roll the stand to store it when not in use.