Getting live rock alive again

[jasonrusso]

Last April I had a nasty velvet outbreak in my 210 fowler. I did a lot of research and decided to try to treat the DT with CP. You don't realize how much life there is in a 4 year old aquarium until it all starts dying and spiking ammonia. After 4 days I pulled the plug and turned the carbon and skimmer back on. I did the QT thing and left the tank fallow for 72 days.

Now, the fish are all back in, the CP DID cure my aiptasia problem, but it also killed all the little feather dusters, cool algae, etc.

The tank is healthy (good biofilter) and coraline is growing, but the rock looks kind of blah. All the feather tubes in my sump are still empty (I do have pineapple sponges, don't know where those came from). How can I get all this back? Will it all come back in time? Hopefully there are remaining spores or eggs left, I know some bristle worms made it even though ALOT died.

I'm a bit uneasy buying a live rock for fear of recontaminating the tank with a parasite or more pests.

 

[cracker]

I "think" once you put CP in the tank, it would be very difficult to get all the copper out. I'm not sure if any critters other than the fish would n't be hard pressed. I'd like to hear what others say so here is a bump for You !

 

[Instigate]

I "think" once you put CP in the tank, it would be very difficult to get all the copper out. I'm not sure if any critters other than the fish would n't be hard pressed. I'd like to hear what others say so here is a bump for You !

I think he means chloroquine phosphate maybe?

 

[jasonrusso]

I think he means chloroquine phosphate maybe?

Yes

 

[cracker]

So Cp not a form of copper. Learn something every day !

 

[jasonrusso]

So Cp not a form of copper. Learn something every day !

Chloroquine Phosphate is far superior to copper. It is easier to dose, easier on the fish, and works better.

The drawback is that it is harder to get.

 

[cracker]

That's right, I remember now. You need a script from a vet or such. Thanks !

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I’m not seeing anything on how long the effect on a DT is or how to get it out. It looks like it degrades or is broken down by natural processes.

You’ll have to rebuild the microfauna population. ISP , Garf reefcleaners , algae barn etc.

 

[Rick Krejci]

I'm in a similar spot. Started a new tank in Sept. While it was still FOWLR, I had an ich breakout and used CP, which worked well with no ammonia spike since I had 0 algae or pods or CUC! Got rid of my dinos as well Also killed my Coralline which had just started to take off Interestingly, my Chaeto made it through...didn't grow but didn't die. Tank has recovered, hair algae took off with the skyrocketed Phosphates from the CP (4+ppm!). Used Rowaphos to take it down and worked like a champ after just several days, changing once due to media exhaustion. Adding the CUC now and things are getting back under control.

Anyway, I've used real live rock for many years previously and found I really don't like the dry live rock thing, so last week I ordered 10 lbs uncured aquacultured live rock from KP aquatics. Arrived overnight and was very fresh and had all kinds or stuff on it. Smelled like the ocean rather than death. I'm curing it now (day 4), has some smelly die-off of sponges and stuff after a few days as expected, but I'm trying to preserve as much life as possible with lots of water changes and removing smelly stuff. Should be ready for the DT in a few days (about a week). Lots of coralline and brittle stars and a tiny pistol shrimp (which I decided not to keep). I'll use that to seed my tank to bring it to life. It was a little expensive, but it will bring a lot more diversity than buying pod packs, which aren't cheap themselves. I just love to watch critters once the lights go off. Using a mantis trap nightly to try to head that off at the pass. No sign yet.

Like that there is an eco-friendly option for Live Rock, between KP and Tampa Bay Saltwater. Have to deal with hitchhikers, but you get rock that was just in the ocean the day before. To me that's one of the coolest parts of the hobby and I missed it.

 

[jasonrusso]

I'm in a similar spot. Started a new tank in Sept. While it was still FOWLR, I had an ich breakout and used CP, which worked well with no ammonia spike since I had 0 algae or pods or CUC! Got rid of my dinos as well Also killed my Coralline which had just started to take off Interestingly, my Chaeto made it through...didn't grow but didn't die. Tank has recovered, hair algae took off with the skyrocketed Phosphates from the CP (4+ppm!). Used Rowaphos to take it down and worked like a champ after just several days, changing once due to media exhaustion. Adding the CUC now and things are getting back under control.

Anyway, I've used real live rock for many years previously and found I really don't like the dry live rock thing, so last week I ordered 10 lbs uncured aquacultured live rock from KP aquatics. Arrived overnight and was very fresh and had all kinds or stuff on it. Smelled like the ocean rather than death. I'm curing it now (day 4), has some smelly die-off of sponges and stuff after a few days as expected, but I'm trying to preserve as much life as possible with lots of water changes and removing smelly stuff. Should be ready for the DT in a few days (about a week). Lots of coralline and brittle stars and a tiny pistol shrimp (which I decided not to keep). I'll use that to seed my tank to bring it to life. It was a little expensive, but it will bring a lot more diversity than buying pod packs, which aren't cheap themselves. I just love to watch critters once the lights go off. Using a mantis trap nightly to try to head that off at the pass. No sign yet.

Like that there is an eco-friendly option for Live Rock, between KP and Tampa Bay Saltwater. Have to deal with hitchhikers, but you get rock that was just in the ocean the day before. To me that's one of the coolest parts of the hobby and I missed it.

I'll have to look into that. So you aren't afraid of adding a parasite or pest back into the tank?

Why the curing process if it was just in the ocean?

 

[Rick Krejci]

I'll have to look into that. So you aren't afraid of adding a parasite or pest back into the tank?

Why the curing process if it was just in the ocean?

Sure, there's always a chance, and I may regret it. The only other alternative would be to get some rock from a friend with no known pests. My LFS has rock either mostly dead base rock or live that's full of aiptasia. KP had good feedback. I've put a mantis trap in during curing to hope I don't introduce one of those.

The sponges died during transport. It's sent in wet newspaper, so sponges will die back. I could have used a stiff brush when I got it, but I wanted to save what I could. After a few days, it was obvious the sponges weren't going to make it...smelled bad. I purposely got uncured rock knowing this since it was most recently in the ocean.