Restarting Tank after a lull period

[msayani2]

Hey guys..

(Sorry for the long post... please read it fully)

Im NOT new to the hobby but have been taking it seriously the past year and a half.. I had a freshwater style tank that had been modded to saltwater use.. it caused a lot of issues due to the design (CPR overflow box that caused floods, an improperly put together sump that did the same sometimes, no space in the cabinet for equipment, no idea of phosphate, phosophate test kits etc due to unavailability of a lot of equipment in my area (middle east - UAE)

So after all that, in July 2014, I set up a 135G barebottom tank (reef style with all good tank features - overflow, good glass sump, custom cabinet with loads of room) that I initially would like to keep as a FOWLR & then upgrade to LPS/ softies. I want to avoid SPS totally as I want a decent success first.

I have been studying a lot about fishes and their behav. and compatibility.. so i know what will work.. which fish will kill another and the rest.. thanks to the RC forum. This helped me with introducing fish to the tank and what to keep etc.

Here is the thing:
The past 2 months i got busy due to my new significant other.. settling down with stuff etc.. so I left my tank past 3 weeks without the return pump running.. had the tunzes going and fed 3-4 times a week.. I have 80 lbs of LR and that was doing the filtration...

Now little did i realise that the tanks salinity as i was not adding water increased from 1.026 to 1.035.. Plus my temp dropped to 25.5C which is low. It took my fav and only 3 fishes with it..

So, i am devoting time now and working towards building up the population in my tank. There are only snails as of now as I had kept my population low in the tank as I didnt want to add fish till I got time in December since there was too much going on..

I have done a water change (25%) yesterday and will be using my full tank for filtration and get all my parameters in check (NO3, NO2, PO4, NH3, PH, salinity etc).. My question is :given the above, how quickly can i add fish to the tank considering it has been established since mid-Aug 2014 with 5-6 fish?

I was thinking start with a pair of clownfish (tank bred) as soon as param. are ok and then build up with 1-2 fish per 15-20 days. This will help my biological filtraion take care of the bioload in a progressive manner.

Any suggestions? Am I on the right track?

 

[melypr1985]

You might want to consider an ATO (auto top off system) so if you get busy again, all you have to worry about it keeping the ato container full and the fish fed for a bit. I assume you are able to get one there because you have Tunze powerheads. Tunze makes a great ATO. After you have all your parameters in check for a bit and can keep them that way, then start adding fish a little at a time.... like you plan to.

 

[brandon429]

The bacteria in the tank will not be wiped out by the changes mentioned, they'll persist. Regarding adding fish, it has the same ability as if it ran as a normal reef the whole time. That flux is simply within acceptable ranges for bacteria. the tank had lots of organic stores in the crevices, sand, recesses and this keeps the bacteria alive years even if you stop feeding. Taking white barren cured rock offline could slow the cycle drastically to the point you'd need ramp up time. but live rock that was once covered in coralline and animals, no, it will last years in a fallow condition due to internal stores, plus you've had life in there the whole time anyway, making more organic waste.

 

[msayani2]

Thanks for the information. It was an oversight from me that i dont need to top off if sump is not running. But yeah I have a top off system normally on my sump which in turn takes care of the system.

Ive restarted the tank with new RO/DI water and some salt (coz my SG was 1.035). Lets see what the SG turns out to be today after all the mixing. Im guessing itll be close to 1.025. Then I am going to check NH3, NO2, NO3, PO4, pH.

After a week of stable good parameters. Ill add a pair of clowns to start it off again.