need help tank disaster

[reefstarter]

So,Basically I Had To Go To Camp For ThreeWeeks, So I Tried To Show My Dad How To Take Care Of My Tank. Obviously, That Failed. I Came HOne To Algae Everywhere, The Water Completely Cloudy, And Everything DYing Or Dead. So Far, I Have Put All The Rotting Rocks In One Tank With Water From TheDead Tank, The Remaining Living Fish IN Newly Made Water, And Have Cleaned Out All The Sand. My Question Is, Is There Any Way For Me To Clean The Rocks, But Preserve The Bacteria? All Of Them Smell Like RoT So I Think I Might Just Have To Clean Everything Off Them Which Would Kill Anything Remaining. What Is The Common Procedure for This? Do I Need To Just StArt Completely Over With My Tank? Thanks For The Help

 

[nivram]

It sounds like your tank crashed. You could probably reuse the rocks as is, but my guess is that you will experience a cycle once you drain the water and refill. I would recommend you closely monitor your water parameters (Ammonia, Nitrates and Phosphates) and be prepared to make additional water changes.

If you are going to start from scratch and want to clean your rocks. Search cooking liverock. This would involve bleaching your rocks and or pressure cleaning them. Then acid washing them (use caution) and then placing them in salt water and checking phosphates. Keep using Lanthanum Chloride until you get acceptable Phosphate readings.

I reread your post. My recommendation is to get a ammonia badge and place it in your aquarium with your fish. Monitor your water parameters and be ready to make water changes as needed. If your rocks still smell, rinse them in new water and place them in new water. Your old water may have had high levels of ammonia and killed off your bacteria. Let them cycle in this water unless you want to go thru the cooking process.

Good luck. I hope this helps you.