Sad but it happened and looking for advice

[Ineedhelp]

I have a 90 gallon reef tank with three fish two clowns and a wrasse. I have neglected it... Dropped food everyone once in awhile but other than that not much. There is algae all over the rocks and many of my coral has dwindled to nothing (I didnt have much anyway, just some polyps) however, I have been awoken... I was working two jobs and wife and I just had a baby but everything has slowed down and I am only working one job now. So where do I go from here? I will be purchasing a new fish tank stand and will be moving it to the front room, it will be the first thing you see when you walk into the house. How do I get everything so that I can start from scratch with the rock and what not.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Oscar47f]

If you are looking to take the whole system down you can take the rocks out brush off all the algae and set it out to dry in the sun where it will turn white, you can also soak it in freshwater to completely rid it of any life and set it out to dry... that is if you're restarting the system from scratch

 

[MaiReef]

First look into automation items. Things like auto top off, protein skimmer, auto feeders, phosphate reactors and a refugium. An RO/DI system helps also. Then you can start curing dry rock as it is cheaper. Keep it out of direct sunlight. Those are some starters

 

[Ineedhelp]

I am glad you brought up the auto top off... I have one but it can never pump enough water before it shuts off and I purchased the pump it recommended... It is a hydor smart level.... I have never been able to get it to work properly. I have a skimmer that works well and a RODI and refugium...

 

[Ineedhelp]

If you are looking to take the whole system down you can take the rocks out brush off all the algae and set it out to dry in the sun where it will turn white, you can also soak it in freshwater to completely rid it of any life and set it out to dry... that is if you're restarting the system from scratch

I fi start the rock from scratch I will have to cycle the tank correct? I am willing to do that I have had so much failure in the past year or two I think thats what I should do... Start all over... What should I do with the sand?

 

[Oscar47f]

Yes you will have to recycle the tank... but there are other methods you can get rid of the algae and still keep your current tank set up.. and regarding the san you can rinse it very well ...

 

[justingraham]

Ok take it from me about the sand. I have rinsed sand to reuse and I will never do it again it was a pain in the buttocks it's worth buying new sand just from the perspective of not having to clean it.
With ur rocks I would just pull them out clean them with peroxide and put them back in.

 

[Brew12]

I have a 90 gallon reef tank with three fish two clowns and a wrasse. I have neglected it... Dropped food everyone once in awhile but other than that not much. There is algae all over the rocks and many of my coral has dwindled to nothing (I didnt have much anyway, just some polyps) however, I have been awoken... I was working two jobs and wife and I just had a baby but everything has slowed down and I am only working one job now. So where do I go from here? I will be purchasing a new fish tank stand and will be moving it to the front room, it will be the first thing you see when you walk into the house. How do I get everything so that I can start from scratch with the rock and what not.

Thanks for the advice.

If I understand your situation correctly, this is what I would do. I would buy a large plastic tub (think 100 gallon) to use as a temporary tank. They are fairly cheap. transfer around 1/2 your tank water into it and start moving your rock and fish into the tank. Drop a heater and some power heads and top off with as much extra water from your tank as it will hold. I would throw away the old sand, clean the tank, move it, and add the new sand. Add around 20 gallons of fresh salt water to make sure you have enough to top it off at the end.

Then I would take the rocks out of the tub, do a H2O2 dip on them, give them a quick scrub and rinse, and start putting them into the clean tank. When you have around 2/3rds of the rock moved over you can transfer a bunch more water out of the tub into the tank and move your fish. Dip and scrub the remaining rock as you have time to complete moving them over.

I would also check out this thread. I'm using this product right now and it has been pretty impressive.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/v...discussion-thread.271428/page-34#post-3300684

 

[MaiReef]

ATO. Try autotopoff.com. they just work and don't turn off until the level is up to where you set it.

 

[Ineedhelp]

Ok take it from me about the sand. I have rinsed sand to reuse and I will never do it again it was a pain in the buttocks it's worth buying new sand just from the perspective of not having to clean it.
With ur rocks I would just pull them out clean them with peroxide and put them back in.

I appreciate your input but I cant afford 200$ worth of sand, I have seen a video... It doesnt look fun but it looks like Something I am going to have to do... Any pointers?

I think I am going to do the scrub and H2O dips starting from scratch but keeping a majority of my water. Keep my fish in a Q tank until I know my parameters are solid. Thanks for the input from everyone. Any other pointers on my adventure? I will keep this forum going with Before/Afters and updates! Thanks!

 

[Pole04]

To clean the sand, get a 5 gallon bucket, coil the hose a few times around in the bottom and then pour in sand until the bucket is half filled or a lil more.

Turn on the hose and begin stirring the sand with you hand. Hold the bucket at and angle and allow the trash and water to drain out.

Dump the floating trash off the top when the bucket gets too full. Keep doing this until the water has run completely clear for 1+ mins and you should be good. A bucket should take 5-10 mins to clean this way.

 

[Ineedhelp]

Is it possible to change the name of a post I already submitted?

 

[Rick.45cal]

I'd give that product Brew12 mentioned a shot, if anything, a couple doses will make scrubbing the algae off of the rocks WAY easier. After4 doses most of my bryopsis just wiped right off of the rock it was attached to. It would also be good to use to hopefully prevent anything remaining from coming back.

Pole04's bucket trick for the sand sounds like a winner too me.

 

[justingraham]

Well it was 85 dollars for new sand for my 90 gallon. I bought a large bag of live sand and then just a regular bag of the same sand not live.
Ur tech making ur sand unlive by cleaning it anyway.
The way I cleaned mine was similar to the above post except I used a colander(the spaghetti drainer thingy) and rinsed the sand till the water came out clear as well.
I wish u luck not because it's hard but because it's a pita it took me about three hours inside and a very dirty bath tub that I also had to clean. I have no idea where u live but for most people in the USA it is starting to get cold and water and cold does not sound fun to me.
And if it's strictly a money thing ur prolly going to use about 15 dollars in water three hours of ur life and a messy back yard or sink or bathtub.
To me 85 dollars was worth it. And it could have been around 50 if I choose not to get live sand and way cheaper if I didn't buy it at my lfs.
Now for ur rocks I recommend going to tractor supply and getting a fifty gallon Rubbermaid pond. It's 80 dollars well 80.24 with tax. U can then drain some of ur water out of the tank put ur rocks in it.(use a power head and heater to keep ur rocks alive) while it's in the container u can remove ur live rock piece by piece and clean it with a half peroxide half water solution. Then when u are all done u now have a water mixing station or a sump or a pond for the back yard.
That's just what I would do and have done. I just moved and I had a 90 gallon tank so tech the same thing except my rocks did not have any algae on it.
I threw away my sand and started fresh because 85 dollars to cut open a bag seemed way worth it to me.
If u need anymore help let us know good luck.
And if ur anywhere near nj I am more then willing to give a helping hand

 

[Ineedhelp]

I live in Florida (Just updated my Profile) and 85$ I could do but most of our LFS are gone or rip you off and I looked on line and it recommends at least one pound per gallon and I couldn't find anything under that price. How many lbs did you use for your 90?

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Some of the sand I use is still stuff I bought 20 years ago. I rinse, dry and reuse all the time.

 

[justingraham]

I used 80 but not all of it was "live". I used 40 pound bag of this

and then two 20 pound bag of this

That's also not what I paid I got the 40 lbs for about 30 and then the live for about 25.
These prices are high but if u search the web there are cheaper out there. Might be around a hundred with shipping but they say a pound a gallon and I found for my liking that I like a little less.
Plus it's not ur money they are spending so of course they want u to have more sand.
Also if u keep ur rocks "live" u can use just regular sand from Home Depot make sure it is silicate free tho and after a couple months ur rocks will seed the sand and make them "live"

 

[Debramb]

Great advice for you above! We replaced carpet with wood floors this spring, took down our Berlin acrylic tank with drip trays up since 1989. Used 2 buckets for rocks and fish, Texas is warm, even in garage! Funny thing happened, with low lighting, Every bit of Aptasia completely disappeared!! Of course all construction takes awhile, even DIY so those 55 gallon buckets were home for almost 2 months while we set up new 100gal with new 20 g sump.(and like you, was somewhat neglected) we did go with new Carib sand, since ours was so old. The LR looked great, just rinsed in the water and we added in June. Once we added the current LEDs, the palys and mushrooms went from dormant to exploding and the pods are everywhere. Fish are great, everyone made it but our Naso. If you need more time, the buckets will suffice for as long as You need, we feed live brine during that time. Good Luck and congrates on you're new baby!

 

[Ineedhelp]

I think I am going to drain the tank and move it, and dose with the vibrant and see how that goes. Start regular water changes again and hope for the best... Ive seen pictures of this vibrant stuff totally cleaning all the sand and everything and thinking maybe I should let it do the work instead of myself... Thoughts?