Moved tank without changing sand-- everything is dying!!

[Tamberav]

I would suck out all the sand or drain and remove it and do a large water change in an attempt to preserve life and avoid the uglies it may bring after from being disterbed. Run carbon after.

 

[kamakazian]

I added the air stones right before taking these pictures...

 

[Hemmdog]

I added the air stones right before taking these pictures...

Looks a lot better to me.

 

[kamakazian]

I would suck out all the sand or drain and remove it and do a large water change in an attempt to preserve life and avoid the uglies it may bring after from being disterbed. Run carbon after.

I'm all for it... But how does one suck out sand? Lol

 

[kamakazian]

Looks a lot better to me.

It is! But my poor anemone it's still responsive, but looking more dead than alive. I almost tossed it, but it's moving...

 

[Tamberav]

I'm all for it... But how does one suck out sand? Lol

A hose... Like vinyl hose...get the water draining and then suck it right out and all the crap in it. It shouldn't release much muck as the muck will be sucked right out quickly with the sand.

I do it to rip clean my sand bed every 6 months.

A deep sand bed will be more problematic to remove but if it's only a few inches it should be doable.

 

[kamakazian]

A hose... Like vinyl hose...get the water draining and then suck it right out and all the crap in it. It shouldn't release much muck as the muck will be sucked right out quickly with the sand.

I do it to rip clean my sand bed every 6 months.

A deep sand bed will be more problematic to remove but if it's only a few inches it should be doable.

I'm curious how you prime your siphon... I use a pump attached to a garden hose. Don't want sand going through my pump lol

 

[Tamberav]

I'm curious how you prime your siphon... I use a pump attached to a garden hose. Don't want sand going through my pump lol

You can use a bulb end they make which you squeeze to get it started or just suck on it. I just use gravity to keep it going.

 

[jsvand5]

Personally, I would remove all of the sand and replace all of the water. The system is destabilized anyway.

Bare bottom isn’t the prettiest initially but it certainly saves a headache later like what is happening to you now.

Hope it all works out for you.

Agreed. I’d pull all the rock and inverts. Then siphon out all of the water and sand. Then replace sand if you want sand and all the rock and new water. Should immediately make a massive difference. The rock should have plenty of bacteria to avoid a cycle. I’d leave the fish in qt for a week or so to make sure everything is looking better. Feed lightly for a few weeks.

 

[brandon429]

Pre rinse new sand 100% clear not 90% avoid headaches

Does not strip the bac, strips the cloud

 

[Marklugo23]

best advice:::: find an lfs or friends tnk to temp house what u can salvage....and start from scratch..sounds like you crashed your tank due to either too large of a water change, nitrate eruption due to sand moving...or any other disturbance w your bio media.., ie. live rocks. start fresh..new cycle..

 

[kamakazian]

Thanks everyone for your help! I put the two fish back in the display and they're doing well. My rabbitfish is only eating sparingly, but still enjoys when I scrape algae off the glass (who would've thought diatoms would be a good thing?!). Obviously not enough for him, but at least he has an appetite. I had to dump the anemone that I posted a pic of; luckily its clone survived! Fortunately, most of my corals are LPS and they all weathered the storm! I'm trying to siphon the sand out (I'm getting more water than sand, so it's gonna take me a few days), but hopefully that'll save me from another total crash further down the road.

My birds nest is pretty much toast and I'm not sure what to do with my monti... it's slowly dying off, but definitely parts are still alive. Any thoughts on whether I should leave it be or try to break off what still looks alive?

 

[Fiesty]

I'm curious how you prime your siphon... I use a pump attached to a garden hose. Don't want sand going through my pump lol

If u can run a garden hose from tank to outside u can hook hose to a water faucet. Turn on till water backfills hose to tank. Turn off with end held under tank water. Unhook hose from faucet and then u will have siphon started and water draining to outside your house.

 

[MnFish1]

Thanks everyone for your help! I put the two fish back in the display and they're doing well. My rabbitfish is only eating sparingly, but still enjoys when I scrape algae off the glass (who would've thought diatoms would be a good thing?!). Obviously not enough for him, but at least he has an appetite. I had to dump the anemone that I posted a pic of; luckily its clone survived! Fortunately, most of my corals are LPS and they all weathered the storm! I'm trying to siphon the sand out (I'm getting more water than sand, so it's gonna take me a few days), but hopefully that'll save me from another total crash further down the road.

My birds nest is pretty much toast and I'm not sure what to do with my monti... it's slowly dying off, but definitely parts are still alive. Any thoughts on whether I should leave it be or try to break off what still looks alive?

I would break off the healthy pieces....

 

[kamakazian]

If u can run a garden hose from tank to outside u can hook hose to a water faucet. Turn on till water backfills hose to tank. Turn off with end held under tank water. Unhook hose from faucet and then u will have siphon started and water draining to outside your house.

I've heard about these, but never used it. Can you send me a link to the spigot/faucet attachment I would need to do this? This would save me from so much headache during water changes!!

 

[Fiesty]

I've heard about these, but never used it. Can you send me a link to the spigot/faucet attachment I would need to do this? This would save me from so much headache during water changes!!

Im talking about using a normal garden hose. Just like u would purchase to use to water the lawn, etc. And then hook to the normal outside faucet that u would normally attach to. Then just turn on enough to backfill the hose to the tank / almost to the tank and then unhook while end inside house under tank water and u should have a good siphon started with a large diameter hose that should be able to suck up lots of sand / etc.

 

[BeejReef]

if you're really running downhill, like out a window that isn't higher than the tank, I can usually get a siphon started by holding the face of the hose or tubing in front of a powerhead or jammed into the return. Once water starts flowing, cut power and continue to siphon.

 

[vetteguy53081]

A lot of suggestions.
Vacuum sand and add bacteria such as Dr. Tims or Fritz turbo start 900. Additionally, what type of water are you using?
I would also suggest water change, addition of carbon and prior to all this, pull a sample of water and take to a trusted LFS and have them test water to compare with your readings and assure accuracy.
Check also your temperature, for stray voltage and filters running properly

 

[slapshot]

I've been considering this... any thoughts as to how I might go about this without pulling all of the rocks/coral out of the water?

Shop vac!

 

[Amboss72]

A shop vac is definitely the easiest, fastest way to remove even a deep sand bed! I’ve tried all of the other methods mentioned and they simply don’t work as quickly and easily. Another plus is there’s less likelihood of scratching your tank.
On the matter of moving a tank and cleaning the sand bed before putting it back in the tank; I’ve moved many, many clients tanks and have never cleaned the sand bed before returning it to the tank. I will run several micron filters to clear the water and make sure the water is heavily aerated and I may add some Prime but that’s it. I haven’t lost fish or corals moving tanks this way and I’ve been maintaining reef tanks for 12yrs.