Newbie questions and help

[Shawaiz_106]

Hello, I'm 15 right now and at a lost
So, this is my tank right now


And it's gone through quite a lot and I just can't find a way of success.
This tank was set up around July 2021 and cycled. With live rock and everything. I got a yellowtail damsel and 2 hermits, 2 atrea snails and 1 nass snail.

Sold my ps5 to start this tank.

It was going well until my damsel passed on Nov 19th 2021 due to underfeeding. I was trying to keep the algea under control. ( big mistake and lesson learned )

That hurt and kinda took me away from the hobbie and I left the tank as it is. The cleaner crew numbers slowly dropped till 1 hermit was left a year later on July 2022 after I came back from a holiday. The tank had been running for a year without any fish.

Also by now it's kinda crowded by aptaisia but zero algea. Just coraline algea which I took as a positive. So I got the water tested and got 2 bumble bee snail, a nass snail. And then a week later 2 Juvi clowns.

Everything was going perfect until 2 weeks later one of the clowns started to look unwell( stopped eating and staying in one place ) a bit l8r the other clown started eating less. I didn't want them to die so I gave them back to my lfs as they have a better budget, more experience and better medications.

I also took out all the live rock in my tank like 10 mins ago with the aptaisia and removed any aptaisia that was on the sand.

There is still 1 hermit, 2 bumble bee snails and 1 nass snails in the tank which I wanna keep so the tank is still running with the sand.

I just want to know what's my best way of success going forward?
And how long can aptaisia and it's eggs survive out of water ?
I want an easy to keep tank with little stress as I'm in my final year of school and need to focus on that.
I'm in no hurry to get fish, I just want to do it right

Thankyou

 

[Rmckoy]

First .
I’d clean the rocks and add them back to the tank .
the purpose of live rock is to also process any ammonia in the system but this requires beneficial bacteria on every surface inside the system

perhaps not having any livestock in the system the biological filter wasn’t able to process from the new additions ?
Or the fish were not healthy to begin with

I wouldn’t give up but take a step back and research .
Do a large water change with water mixed to proper salinity ( 1.026 using a calibrated refractometer.

 

[Shawaiz_106]

First .
I’d clean the rocks and add them back to the tank .
the purpose of live rock is to also process any ammonia in the system but this requires beneficial bacteria on every surface inside the system

perhaps not having any livestock in the system the biological filter wasn’t able to process from the new additions ?
Or the fish were not healthy to begin with

I wouldn’t give up but take a step back and research .
Do a large water change with water mixed to proper salinity ( 1.026 using a calibrated refractometer.

i took the rocks out so the aptasia just " dries out " and dies. or is that not a good idea ?. will add them back and wait for a full cycle.

on the fish side, i dont know what happened but i dont plan on buying juvinile fish anymore, better luck with adults probably. the sand in the tank sould have enough benefical bacteria to process any imonia from the cleaner crew

 

[Yates273]

The sand alone will not house the amount of Beneficial Bacteria you need. Get yourself a few test kits and test your water. Right now you will need an ammonia test kit nitrite test kit a nitrate test kit. Read up on the nitrogen cycle. This is what you are aiming for. Once you can confirm your tank is cycled then you can begin adding a couple clowns. Ammonia is what you don’t want in the tank. This will kill fish. Nitrite not so much to worry about. Once you see nitrates your cycle is nearing the end. The ammonia breaks down into nitrite which is then consumed by nitrate the final step. Your live rock not live sand is what you need to keep your nitrates down. You can skip this cycle by adding live rock from an established tank or buy it. A cycle can take time so be patient. As d did as as aptasia KILL IT. Since you are at the beginning not worth adding it back to your tank it has the ability to take over your tank. You can also buy a peppermint shrimp to eat the aptasia this way you can keep Your live rock alive. It’s up to you. Hope this helps

 

[Shawaiz_106]

The sand alone will not house the amount of Beneficial Bacteria you need. Get yourself a few test kits and test your water. Right now you will need an ammonia test kit nitrite test kit a nitrate test kit. Read up on the nitrogen cycle. This is what you are aiming for. Once you can confirm your tank is cycled then you can begin adding a couple clowns. Ammonia is what you don’t want in the tank. This will kill fish. Nitrite not so much to worry about. Once you see nitrates your cycle is nearing the end. The ammonia breaks down into nitrite which is then consumed by nitrate the final step. Your live rock not live sand is what you need to keep your nitrates down. You can skip this cycle by adding live rock from an established tank or buy it. A cycle can take time so be patient. As d did as as aptasia KILL IT. Since you are at the beginning not worth adding it back to your tank it has the ability to take over your tank. You can also buy a peppermint shrimp to eat the aptasia this way you can keep Your live rock alive. It’s up to you. Hope this helps

i only have 1 hermit and 3 snails in my tank rn, i took the rocks out to kill the aptasia ( idk how long out of the water aptasia live ). after that i plan on adding the rock back into my tank. waiting a month and then adding fish. Does this sound like a good plan ?

 

[Yates273]

Unfortunately if it dries out you will most likely kill your live rock. I have never had to deal with it luckily but there are several methods you can try to kill it. Or just buy new live rock and start over. I guess it depends on how much live rock you have that is infested. You can always go the natural Route and buy a peppermint shrimp. They are known to eat aptasia. You can also try the chemical route but I am against chemicals in my tank. There are diy methods to. Lemon juice boiling water super glue. You have options depending on how many aptasia you have.

 

[Yates273]

Also I would not add fish until you have confirmed your tank is cycled or you risk killing your fish

 

[Shawaiz_106]

Unfortunately if it dries out you will most likely kill your live rock. I have never had to deal with it luckily but there are several methods you can try to kill it. Or just buy new live rock and start over. I guess it depends on how much live rock you have that is infested. You can always go the natural Route and buy a peppermint shrimp. They are known to eat aptasia. You can also try the chemical route but I am against chemicals in my tank. There are diy methods to. Lemon juice boiling water super glue. You have options depending on how many aptasia you have.

yes im are, ill do the cycle with what will be dry rock then. i tried lemon juice which didnt do much except stress my clowns out and cause one to stop eating

 

[Yates273]

Try boiling water with a Syringe directly on the aptasia. Cheap and easy

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Your rocks sound like they are done, if they are covered in aptaisia and out of the tank. Its too late now, you have to start over, unless you can find some completely live rock from a mature tank, or better yet from the ocean. I would toss the rocks in a bucket of bleach water for a few days, then rinse them out over the next few days then add them to your tank, and wait for your tank to cycle again.

 

[Jo P White]

i only have 1 hermit and 3 snails in my tank rn, i took the rocks out to kill the aptasia ( idk how long out of the water aptasia live ). after that i plan on adding the rock back into my tank. waiting a month and then adding fish. Does this sound like a good plan ?

By taking the rocks out and leaving them out of water an extended period of time you’ll be killing the main portion of your beneficial bacteria and cause a new cycle when you put them back in

 

[Rmckoy]

After reading about the rocks being out of water .

you could 1) scrub , soak in bleach and place outside in the sun to dry .

for only a few aptasia a simple fox that’s always worked for me is mixing a paste with kalk
Covering the anemone with it . They are instantly dead .
With no corals or livestock for that matter there would be no risk
Remove the sand and rinse it with freshwater to assure no detritus has collected
Put the rocks and sand in your tank with fresh saltwater
Add your ammonia source to start the cycle and sit back and wait .
while you’re waiting it’s a perfect time to research

read as much as possible to help yourself understand how everything works and how to properly care for and maintain it