I have a 45 gal. JBJ all in one tank. It has been running for about 2 1/2 years. everything was going along well then i started having an algae issue. I did major water changes check all my numbers with no avale. now its out of control. I also have some unwanted soft coral that is taking over as well. I am new to hobby and learning every day. Here is my question. Can I remove all of my rock and install all new aquascape and not have tank cycle. I have corals and fish in this tank
New rock
- Thread starter nacifun
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Mikedawg
2500 Club Member
If you cycle the replacement rock in another tank/barrel, etc. and replace your existing rock with it gradually you can up your chances of avoiding a restart of the cycle. Are you trying to get rid of soft coral and algae (GHA maybe) with a new aquascape? Also, did you "inherent" an established tank and, if so, did you move it recently?
As always, posting parameters and a few pics will make it easier for members to help you.
Good luck
Thanks for input. No i started this tank from scratch. and yes trying to get rid of algae and not sure if it is GHA but its a coral i bought not knowing it would spread like a weed. I was thinking if I saved my water and reused it it may not cycle rock?
You will probably have a small cycle, but it should be fast. You are uncovering areas that once were anoxic and also covering up areas that are currently oxic.
Mikedawg
2500 Club Member
I think the bacteria you want to have/keep is living on the rock, not in the water. You'll probably want to identify the underlying cause of your algae problem and address that, otherwise the rock you add may become algae infested.
Thank you that makes sense. I plan on working on the algae issue. I have not been running a skimmer a have bought one and am going to install it with tank clean up.. I don't want to wait for a month to by rock and cycle it if possible.
Sorry I didn’t fully answer your question. A couple of things - you do have bacteria boosters out there to help push/accelerate your cycle. So if you replace all the rock and sand you could buy something like seachem stability or one of the other multitudes of options and dose a small amount each day for a couple of weeks. I’ve found that doing the daily small doses have worked better then single large doses.
When you use dry rock you will likely at some point go through the ugly algae stage. The first stage with diatoms etc snails work really well but Both times I’ve started new tanks I’ve had a stage like 6-8 months in where I get crazy hair algae. For my most recent tank I found Vibrant. Lots of info on it on the forum. Vibrant is a liquid additive. I used it for about 2-3 months 1 day a week and over that period it cleared up everything in my tank and none of it has come back after 3 months of not using it.
When you use dry rock you will likely at some point go through the ugly algae stage. The first stage with diatoms etc snails work really well but Both times I’ve started new tanks I’ve had a stage like 6-8 months in where I get crazy hair algae. For my most recent tank I found Vibrant. Lots of info on it on the forum. Vibrant is a liquid additive. I used it for about 2-3 months 1 day a week and over that period it cleared up everything in my tank and none of it has come back after 3 months of not using it.
Johniejumbo
Valuable Member
I have swapped out a large amount of rock in a tank before. It did cycle a bit. I didn’t have much for sensitive inhabitants though so waterchanges and the use of Prime kept almost everything alive through it. I lost a few inverts.
