Calling all dinos tank restarters

[CookieRdReef]

When did you notice dinos? How far into owning the tank? Just the word gives me the heebie jeebies.

Maybe 4-5 months in. I'm 13 months in now. This is my first tank. I'm not ready to blow things up. I am tired to spending money and time trying to fix it.

 

[Reefnewb]

Lord have mercy! What's the plan for the new tank setup?! Maybe a good time to sell that tank and upgrade?

Cycle some rock for while before setup?

The tank in question is an 80g deep blue rimless so i really want to keep it. I’m going to clean it out and let it dry for a couple of weeks. Maybe fill it with freshwater and dump some bleach in to sterilize the whole setup. And i plan to cycle all the new rocks for a couple months, and add some bacteria along the way.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

The tank in question is an 80g deep blue rimless so i really want to keep it. I’m going to clean it out and let it dry for a couple of weeks. Maybe fill it with freshwater and dump some bleach in to sterilize the whole setup. And i plan to cycle all the new rocks for a couple months, and add some bacteria along the way.

Sounds like a plan!

1/2 ounce of bleach per 10 gallons would be more than enough to sanitize if you clean the glass well. Soak anything you want sanitized for like 10 minutes or so. Then rinse well. Let dry well. Run carbon with first water in it after that and there's no chance chlorine will remain.

 

[Ajayabb]

Super frustrating! When you restarted did you use dry or live rock? I want to use dry so i don’t have hitchhikers, but i know dry rock is apparently prone to dinos.

I replaced it with Walt Smith Reef rock and seeded with new bacteria. It’s dry rock that is colored through and through. Haven’t had an outbreak I just move all my stuff recently to a bigger tank Fingers crossed.

 

[D4jack]

I had good results by raising my water temperature to 83 for a week. I read about it on another site. I can't recall it was years ago. I haven't had a problem with it since then. I only had a bubble tip anenome and a pair of clowns at the time though.

 

[Shmollica]

Anecdotal, but, when I started my first tank in 2009 I used live rock. About 6 months in I had the bubble filled slime and I could never get rid of it. I couldn’t ID if it was cyanoeor dinos...I’ll check old picks to see if I have any. I had zero dry rock at start up, all cycled live rock from the lfs and Caribbean sea direct live sand.

 

[Shmollica]

I had good results by raising my water temperature to 83 for a week. I read about it on another site. I can't recall it was years ago. I haven't had a problem with it since then. I only had a bubble tip anenome and a pair of clowns at the time though.

Could adding fish/corals/cuc also be adding a good amount of biodiversity in bacteria? When I had the problem I had no coral, one peppermint shrimp and one firefish in a 60....and I was of the mind set “don’t feed everyday or you get algae. Haha! The three tanks I’ve done since then I’ve used that same rock and just had a lot more livestock to start with...haven’t seen that slime come back.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

I pulled my skimmer, no water changes and ignored my tank, other than feeding the fish for a few months. Sps packed 24 months later.

I kind of did this too; I skipped on water changes for about 2-3 weeks, go rid of my dinos and also my cyano. Now all i have it GHA everywhere. Which isnt too much better. I wish I could get a tang or smth for my 20g but thats not possible

 

[sfin52]

I really don't know why people do this. Dinos are in every system its the conditions that we create that makes them bloom out of control.

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

I kind of did this too; I skipped on water changes for about 2-3 weeks, go rid of my dinos and also my cyano. Now all i have it GHA everywhere. Which isnt too much better. I wish I could get a tang or smth for my 20g but thats not possible

Take out your rocks and scrub In A bucket of old salt water. Use a stiff brush. I did this also and it worked great. Also clean all the sand. you Won’t believe the color the water will turn. Then get an urchin or two. Good luck.

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

Reefnewb. I am fully understanding your level of frustration with the Dinos. As a last ditch effort reboot the tank. Pukani is great rock and unobtainable now. Have you done a full rip clean? All rocks out, scrubbed and replaced? All sand out and rinsed totally clean?

If you do restart, you can use your old rock. I would soak in bleach solution, rinse well. Then I would soak In a vinegar solution. This will kill then dissolve organic, and dissolve any calcified crap. I’m sorry you have battled this for five years. The deep blue 80 is a great size tank.

 

[Reefnewb]

Reefnewb. I am fully understanding your level of frustration with the Dinos. As a last ditch effort reboot the tank. Pukani is great rock and unobtainable now. Have you done a full rip clean? All rocks out, scrubbed and replaced? All sand out and rinsed totally clean?

If you do restart, you can use your old rock. I would soak in bleach solution, rinse well. Then I would soak In a vinegar solution. This will kill then dissolve organic, and dissolve any calcified crap. I’m sorry you have battled this for five years. The deep blue 80 is a great size tank.

I have about 200lbs of rocks that i already soaked in bleach solution for a week, and then put them in RODI and conditioned the water to remove chlorine. They’re sitting outside drying as we speak. My plan is to start them in the system let it cycle for a couple weeks, and add MB7 as a bacteria additive. If i can find a couple pieces of clean rock from a trusted tank i will add them too, but not many people around me, and i wouldn’t trust live rock from a reef store.

 

[Reefnewb]

I had good results by raising my water temperature to 83 for a week. I read about it on another site. I can't recall it was years ago. I haven't had a problem with it since then. I only had a bubble tip anenome and a pair of clowns at the time though.

My temp has been at 83 for the last 3 weeks.