Restarting

RWCrouch

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After running my 150 gallon successfully for six years (fish only except for two anemone) I had the much feared tank wipeout about a year ago. I just turned everything off and literally have a large box of water sitting in my living room a year later.

I am now emotionally ready to restart. I am now retired and don't especially care to spend money where labor will suffice. Is it a pipedream to just do a chlorine solution rinse followed by a 100 percent water change, use a dechlorinator for precaution, then add bacteria to start the cycle? I know this will probably take two months to accomplish but will also save me a fair amount of cash. Or do I really have to completely empty it and throw away 150 pounds of sand and 200 pounds of rock.
 
Welcome back! :)

The water will almost certainly need to be replaced; I'd not trust it to be ready to sustain life if it were me. New salt water will give you new nutrients, etc. that the tank will need.
The sand might be okay to keep, but it would be a risk. Again; were it me, I'd replace the sand. Or, if you want to reduce costs, remove what you have and go without sand entirely ("bare bottom"). This will limit your livestock selection somewhat, so that may not be an option depending upon what you want in the tank (can't really have a sand-sifting goby without sand, eh?).
The rock most certainly does not need to be thrown away. There are several options here;

1) Simplest - Deal with the water and sand, turn on a heater and a pump to move the water about. Add some ammonia (or just add a raw shrimp) - then wait. You'll very likely go through a new cycle as the bacteria in/on the rock comes back to active in the presence of food. Once the cycle finishes, you can move into re-adding livestock. While this is the easiest, it's also the most likely to have you dealing with challenges for the next year+ of the tank (undesired algae, bacteria blooms, nutrient imbalance, etc.)

2) Middle Ground - Take out the rock a piece at a time. Scrub it with a good brush to clean off any detritus, algae, etc. and set it out to dry for a week or so (it'll stink). Scrub it again to remove any dried stuff. At this point, you'll have "dry live rock" that you can use in the tank reboot. You could possibly use the rock without new bacteria, but it would take longer than if you were to use some bacteria-in-a-bottle, for sure. This method will reduce the problems you will likely face, but there will still very likely be some.

3) Most work - Remove the rock and put it into a bleach solution (BRS has a good video on this process) to "sanitize" it of all life. This will be a total reset of your tank - it would eliminate all bacteria, algae, critters, etc. Once the rock is cleaned, dechlorinated, and cured, you can re-add it to the tank. Add some bacteria-in-a-bottle and some ammonia (or shrimp) and you can re-cycle the tank. This will result in a totally clean tank, but is obviously the most work and time-consuming.

If you have the time and inclination (and feel comfortable with the bleach work), then I'd use option #3, myself. If you're going to restart a tank, may as well give yourself the best chance of success. And odds are slim that you have enough life in the rock to justify keeping it in a "live rock" state, I'd guess. My guess may be wrong, however, so really any of the options above could get your tank back online.
 
If it was sitting stagnant for a year, I'm prolly gonna be on the side of starting over to the full extent you can.

Sand would certainly go - replacement is optional depending on your plans for the tank.

Will it be a fish-only going forward? FOWLR? Full reef?

Can you post a pic of what's it's like today?
 
Curious - Why would the sand have to 'go' (as compared to being rinsed). If you can bleach rocks, you can also bleach sand. I mean - people collect beach sand and rinse it and put it in their tanks. BTW - Just wanting to make sure - did you have NO filtration or water movement at all? How did you prevent it from becoming a smelly swamp in your living room?
 
If you can bleach rocks, you can also bleach sand.
True; yes. This would involve removing the sand, soaking it in a bleach solution with a lot of stirring, dechlorinating it (again, with lots of stirring), and then drying it out (which takes a lot of space to do). That's a lot of effort for something that, in the end, isn't very expensive (~$60 for 40# or so).
But yeah - if you have the time, muscle, and space to clean sand, it's certainly possible; I agree.
 
As for how it didn't become a smelly mess, I was amazed too. But without lights, heater and movement, there is almost no evaporation. There hasnt been more than an inch evaporation in a year. So as long as all that smelly gunk stays covered by water, you don't smell a thing. Truly amazing. I never would have guessed.

I really was leaning towards what DLH suggested (option 3) but doing it all in tank. No need to remove anything if you are bleaching (excellent link and video by the way). Have to ventilate with fans but the living room literally isn't used except for company, no one is ever in there except back when we had a nice aquarium, then we'd sit in there for hours. Just remove some water, add some bleach. Stir and let it sit, stir and let it sit, stir and let it sit. Would have to move the rock all to one side to agitate the sand, then move it back to the opposite side and agitate the rest of the sand. Siphon off the water, add water back in. Dechlorinate for any bleach left behind. Measure phosphate levels. After 6 to 8 weeks, Do another 100% water change. Agitate to see if any phosphates come back or chlorine is leeching in. When it all looks good, start the filtration and circulation, start the cycle. Chemistry will tell me if there is a problem or the first two starter fish will. Worst that happens is I lost hours of labor and the cost of some chlorine. I know it sounds crazy, but if you really are starting over and you're bleaching, why take anything out?
 
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Forgot to mention, the plan otherwise is to take everything out and pitch it. Buy dry rock and live sand, add the ammonia/detris to start the cycle. Total cost only about $500.
 
Forgot to mention, the plan otherwise is to take everything out and pitch it. Buy dry rock and live sand, add the ammonia/detris to start the cycle. Total cost only about $500.

Decide your budget. The whole thing is science would say - bleach it and it's good.
 
No need to remove anything if you are bleaching
The only thing I would worry about is potentially damaging any seals that might be susceptible to damage from exposure to the bleach concentrations being used. For the cost of a brute trash can ($30 or so), I wouldn't risk an in-tank bleaching, myself.

Forgot to mention, the plan otherwise is to take everything out and pitch it.
I'd split the difference, myself. Buy new live sand, but I'd imagine that your current rock could work with one of the above options.
At some point, it comes down to whether the current rock your have is visually appealing enough to use in your new aquascape. If so, then you could save the cost of new rock for something else for/in the tank...
 
I woukd place the ricks in tubs with water and do a thorough vacuum of sand bed, wipe down sides of tank and run for several days.
Then do water change again, clean all prefilters and return rock to tank after agitating it in tub to remove any buildup or loose particles.
Then add bacteria supplement to seed rock.
 
Following Incase of this happening to me.. new to reefing but I’d like to know just incase
 
I woukd place the ricks in tubs with water and do a thorough vacuum of sand bed, wipe down sides of tank and run for several days.
Then do water change again, clean all prefilters and return rock to tank after agitating it in tub to remove any buildup or loose particles.
Then add bacteria supplement to seed rock.
actually, that sounds easier and costs the price of buying an extra trash can or two
 
The only thing I would worry about is potentially damaging any seals that might be susceptible to damage from exposure to the bleach concentrations being used. For the cost of a brute trash can ($30 or so), I wouldn't risk an in-tank bleaching, myself.


I'd split the difference, myself. Buy new live sand, but I'd imagine that your current rock could work with one of the above options.
At some point, it comes down to whether the current rock your have is visually appealing enough to use in your new aquascape. If so, then you could save the cost of new rock for something else for/in the tank...
Contacted the tank manufacturer adn was told that chlorine in the tank is not a problem; the chlorine wont really get anywhere else in the system until hugely diluted
 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

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