Lazy tank syndrome

[miahpage]

What's the best way to rehab a tank suffering from old tank syndrome?

I have a biocube that I've had set up for about five years now. The first four years were great. I added a ton of gear and automation to the tank and the corals grew like gang busters. Then the hiccups with time and equipment began. The small tank with a decent number of stony corals made tech hiccups really hurt. These days I'm basically left with my fish and my ricordea and st thomas mushrooms.

What's the best way to soft restart a tank like this? I have a good amount of healthy live rock and there are no pests. The amount of sand has started to dwindle over the years due to being sucked up in the siphon. Should I treat it like a move and replace the sand?

I'm kind of stumped about how to approach this.

 

[Stephen Glover]

Your rocks should not be old after 5 years. You can replace one at a time from another healthy tank to add some bacterial diversity. Adding a new sand bed can give the tank a refreshed look.

 

[Spare time]

What do you mean by old tank syndrome? Why do you think something needs to be restarted?

 

[miahpage]

I guess I'm envisioning that everything needs a through cleaning. The sand is always really dirty and my bioload is really light these days with only three fish. I was thinking that I'd put the fish and rocks into buckets while I completely replace the sand.

 

[Spare time]

I guess I'm envisioning that everything needs a through cleaning. The sand is always really dirty and my bioload is really light these days with only three fish. I was thinking that I'd put the fish and rocks into buckets while I completely replace the sand.

You can swap out the sand. Next time, I'd add a bunch of sand stirring critters (nassarius, conch, etc.). You can also just rinse the sand but it might be easier to just swap it.

 

[Pistondog]

Get some sand sifting critters now, maybe a goby.

 

[Jekyl]

Vacuum 1/3 of the sand per water change, blow off rocks with a turkey baster in the process, bolster CuC. When it comes to rocks, the older the better.

 

[DanyL]

no offense but your tank isn’t old and doesn’t have old tank syndrome, in fact it should’ve been in its best years right now.

Old tank syndrome occurs usually at around 10 to 15 years, it usually doesn’t lead to coral death and it’s characteristics are more related to difficulty in nutrient control, algae issues and more rarely also some bacterial issues. The first 2 are easily treatable (though not necessarily need a treatment) and the later, for those who had a tank for this long shouldn’t be a problem to treat either.

It is more like that the source of your issues stem from improper automation (inaccurate test results, false triggers, etc), water chemistry (have you done ICP tests?) or pests (which you say you didn’t have, but some are difficult enough to spot to evade our eyes, like AEFW for example), another possibility is a virus infection like Vibrio.

It is important to exhaust all of the possibilities in the hope to find the root cause (if it still exists) and take care of it before restarting the system.

As far as your sand goes, as others already said - throw in a good amount of CuC like Strombus snails and they’ll clean it up in an day and maintain it. No need to replace the sand, if anything it could make it worse.

Good Luck!

 

[Paul B]

AS was said, your tank doesn't have OTS. You can add some more sand if you like but it sounds like the tank is fine. My tank is over 50 years old and most of the sand (I use gravel) is from the original start up in 1971.

Most of my rocks are also about 40 years old with no problems. As a tank gets older, it gets better with less problems.

I would just stir up that sand and siphon out some detritus if it bothers you.
Good Luck

 

[miahpage]

Thanks for the response everyone. I probably should have described it as lazy tank syndrome and not old tank syndrome.

 

[brandon429]

Old tank syndrome is vanquished in reefing now

the cause of old tank syndrome is compounding whole waste particles that blanket the interstitial sand grain zones and plug up the channels in live rocks- in some cases it's sheer overgrowth allowed from various invasions that plugs up the surface area on live rock combined with a thin veneer of...

www.reef2reef.com

A thread fixing ots

No chemical testing used, no dosers, nothing for sale. We have the tools already at home

 

[KrisReef]

I guess I'm envisioning that everything needs a through cleaning. The sand is always really dirty and my bioload is really light these days with only three fish. I was thinking that I'd put the fish and rocks into buckets while I completely replace the sand.

Excellent question and helpful reply. The tank is getting old because (it would seem that) you have grown tired of how it looks and what you are growing in it.

The responses from some of the most passionate and successful reef keepers have not probed deep enough imo because we know the age and status of the bio cube but we have no image to see what you are looking at.
How many gallons are you talking about?
Can you post a picture (without wiping it down before hand) and provide us with the image of the tank you are growing tired of.

Tell us briefly about the lighting, skimming, dosing, water change scheme, and how you are equipped to maintain water quality over time.

Most importantly, you had a dream about what the tank would look like and what was that supposed to be and what do you want now? It is impossible to know how to give really good advice without knowing what you want to do now.

It seems that you understand @brandon429 has described as the “Rip Clean” and that maybe all you need? It’s not that complicated and I believe you can do it in a few hours (unless your cube is massive) but if you want to get different results then you need to plan accordingly which may require changing the reassembly after the sand rinse is completed.

Sand rinsing is very easy and rewarding ime and it won’t hurt to do a ripclean first and you can figure out what to do next a week or two after the tank is treated and sparkling.

What concerns me is that I don’t know what your dream tank would look like. The mushrooms may be producing chemicals to eliminate competition from other reef organisms and that is one thing that you might have to address to get on with your reef tank make over. You might want a new tank, it is more common than we tell others especially if a significant other absolutely adores the cube we’re discussing.

Hth

 

[brandon429]

old tank syndrome can be intercepted easily at any point along the continuum, all relative to the will of the tank owner

I've seen 9 month old tanks that looked like a total wreck. dead fish, algae covering 100% of surfaces, sand that clouds up if we reach in and grab a handful and drop it down. in the work thread we reverse those conditions / no testing required. only need willing entrants, ready to take the system back vs allow any downslide. age of tank is no factor

 

[miahpage]

@KrisReef I think you've hit the nail on the head that I grew tired of the tank and let my regular maintenance slip. This caused the tank to deteriorate faster and was a downward spiral. Before I had hiccups I was running pretty automated system including dosing that was trident controlled, two AI primes, chaeto in the sump, and really regular water changes. It worked really well even though the tank was only 30 gallons and it grew like crazy.

I'm currently on a "maintenance program" where I only run one AI prime and the chaeto is still in the fuge. My future dream tank would be something a bit lower maintenance (no dosing). I'd love to do an anemone tank, but I have a feeling people might not describe that as low maintenance. I'm also wondering if I should be looking at something a little larger. The biocube is only 30 gallons but I've always heard that things are a bit more stable with more water volume. I'm not sure I'd want something as involved as having a sump but maybe one of the larger IM AIO tanks would fit the bill.

Is there any way to change the title of the post to lazy tank syndrome?

 

[KrisReef]

@KrisReef I think you've hit the nail on the head that I grew tired of the tank and let my regular maintenance slip. This caused the tank to deteriorate faster and was a downward spiral. Before I had hiccups I was running pretty automated system including dosing that was trident controlled, two AI primes, chaeto in the sump, and really regular water changes. It worked really well even though the tank was only 30 gallons and it grew like crazy.

I'm currently on a "maintenance program" where I only run one AI prime and the chaeto is still in the fuge. My future dream tank would be something a bit lower maintenance (no dosing). I'd love to do an anemone tank, but I have a feeling people might not describe that as low maintenance. I'm also wondering if I should be looking at something a little larger. The biocube is only 30 gallons but I've always heard that things are a bit more stable with more water volume. I'm not sure I'd want something as involved as having a sump but maybe one of the larger IM AIO tanks would fit the bill.

Is there any way to change the title of the post to lazy tank syndrome?

I put in a request for a title change.

Do you live near a city where other people may be getting out of the hobby? I noticed just today that there are a lot of people selling complete set ups, and often these are priced and -%50 or greater than original prices. It is a great way to acquire sweet, already assembled set ups that other folk have grown tire of. At a savings you can pick up an upgrade and make a quantum leap into something new. Also, if there is club in town go visit other folks and see what they have (even if it is not for sale) so you can begin moving forward with a design in mind for the end product.

The other place to get ideas is to cruise the build threads on here. Learn from others mistakes and avoid making those yourself. (THis method has never worked for me, but it sounds like a good idea. ) Starting a new build thread yourself can also be a good way to manage your expectations and goals with folks providing encouragement and help that we all need sometimes.

Also, you need to decide how much time you are willing to commit each week/month to manage your dream and try to assemble a new set up that allows you to minimize needed inputs other than watching the tank.

Myself, I am trying to follow a similar path as I manage my steps into retirement and a foggy brained old age with an equally unreliable spouce who helps me each week by reminding me that the fish tank needs wiping. Some times I think about getting rid of the tanks but if I did what else would I have?

I've got to BBQ soon. I hope the mods will change the title?

 

[fish farmer]

@KrisReef I think you've hit the nail on the head that I grew tired of the tank and let my regular maintenance slip. This caused the tank to deteriorate faster and was a downward spiral. Before I had hiccups I was running pretty automated system including dosing that was trident controlled, two AI primes, chaeto in the sump, and really regular water changes. It worked really well even though the tank was only 30 gallons and it grew like crazy.

I'm currently on a "maintenance program" where I only run one AI prime and the chaeto is still in the fuge. My future dream tank would be something a bit lower maintenance (no dosing). I'd love to do an anemone tank, but I have a feeling people might not describe that as low maintenance. I'm also wondering if I should be looking at something a little larger. The biocube is only 30 gallons but I've always heard that things are a bit more stable with more water volume. I'm not sure I'd want something as involved as having a sump but maybe one of the larger IM AIO tanks would fit the bill.

Is there any way to change the title of the post to lazy tank syndrome?

I feel if you went bigger without a sump you will end up in the same place. Having a setup with gear whether sumped or not will allow more slippage in maintenance....but you still need to do maintenance. My sumped 29 turned into a hairy mess, but with better skimming, chaeto and routine WC's I turned it around. I'm starting to relax again, but not too much.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I put in a request for a title change.....

And that changes has been made.

 

[miahpage]

And that changes has been made.

Thanks for the title change!

 

[brandon429]

Hey can we see updates here pic of the tank

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

I concur with what's already been said here. It sounds like you need to get back on a regular maintenance routine and stick with it and the tank should come back better than ever. You could do a good cleaning to get things moving in the right direction, but the main thing will be sticking with regular maintenance to keep the tank stable.