Tank crash after Hurricane Michael

[C Wyatt]

My 13.5 gal tank crashed due to Hurricane Michael leaving it without power for 4-5 days. During that time I did daily 20% water changes but it didn’t help. Everything died and despite continuing water changes I have incredibly fast growing, dark, slimy algae. I’m sure the algae was not helped by my having to use treated tap water at the end but it’s all I had. The rock and sand is filled with dead stuff (worms and all the other tiny things that lived there) and the water smells. I hoped that with time it would stabilize and I could start again. I can’t take it though and think it’s best to clean the tank and start fresh. My questions are:
Do I need to be worried about the algae coming back if I clean the tank well, maybe run it with a little bleach in it before cleaning it again?
What about the rocks? I’m thinking about “cooking” them as I’ve heard about doing and reusing some of them. I plan to get some fresh live rock too so that I can get biodiversity back.
I’ve done really well with this little tank by keeping it very simple, I don’t want to mess it up now in the redo. Thanks!

 

[vetteguy53081]

First and foremost- Glad to hear you and any Family have endured this monster called a storm. Also, great news is that your tank is intact.
With that, the not so good news....... After 30 years in the industry , I Highly recommend that you take tank down and start all over. Algae will be your nightmare if you don't and it will also assure you have fresh everything to sustain aquatic life rather than fork money out for new specimens to see them deteriorate and fall down to death.
It is now the time to access all your equipment and determine what is useable and what needs to be thoroughly cleaned or replaced.
Bleaching or vinegar cleaning would be great and rinse/flush repeatedly with cold water until there is no evidence of either as cold water is a neutralizer and safe for silicone.
It sounds like a hassle yes, but will be cheaper and worth it in the long run and will assure enjoyment of tank once again rather than a disappointment and discouragement of starting over.

 

[Hitman]

First off I’m sorry for your loss but thank god you and your family are ok.
I suggest soaking your rock in fresh rodi for a few days replacing the water daily then soak for a few days in saltwater, replace all substrate, clean tank with vinegar and rodi water mix. Then start your cycle again with your idea of adding new live rock to what you have.

 

[cracker]

Good you 7 family are ok. the tank is small enough to kinda start over. toos the nasty sand clen off the rock as best ya can & start over?
Sorry this happened to you !

 

[C Wyatt]

Thanks everyone! We were lucky, so many were not.
I will take it down immediately and start fresh. I really appreciate the advice.

 

[MnFish1]

Sympathies. I would consider just rinsing your rock well rather than bleaching. You may retain some beneficial bacteria. But either way good luck. What are you going to do with your filter

 

[MnFish1]

Btw cooking rocks is not a good idea.

 

[C Wyatt]

MnFish1, Thanks for your comments. I just finished cleaning the tank. I've got it running outside with weak bleach water using the filter so that any death can be cleaned out of all areas. I did rinse the rocks and amazingly some look pretty good. Lots of color and small growth stuff still looks healthy. I'm concerned about the deep parts of the rocks though. There were plenty of brittle stars and at least one sea cucumber living in them previously. There might be one turkey wing thingie still alive on one of the rocks, the others were very dead. I couldn't bear to do anything harmful to the rocks yet, I put them in a bucket with water with a air bubbler for now. Thinking I might try to keep them hanging on to see what might happen, if they look good in a few weeks, maybe add them back to the tank? Not sure, I really want to avoid setting myself up to fail. I know how great beneficial bacteria is but I'd rather add other sources of new beneficial bacteria than take a chance. What I'm hoping to achieve by trying to keep these old rocks alive is the unique (to me) growth and creatures. My biggest surprise in having reef tanks is how interesting I find the small and insignificant organisms. Thanks too about the cooking comment, I'll read further about that.

 

[MnFish1]

MnFish1, Thanks for your comments. I just finished cleaning the tank. I've got it running outside with weak bleach water using the filter so that any death can be cleaned out of all areas. I did rinse the rocks and amazingly some look pretty good. Lots of color and small growth stuff still looks healthy. I'm concerned about the deep parts of the rocks though. There were plenty of brittle stars and at least one sea cucumber living in them previously. There might be one turkey wing thingie still alive on one of the rocks, the others were very dead. I couldn't bear to do anything harmful to the rocks yet, I put them in a bucket with water with a air bubbler for now. Thinking I might try to keep them hanging on to see what might happen, if they look good in a few weeks, maybe add them back to the tank? Not sure, I really want to avoid setting myself up to fail. I know how great beneficial bacteria is but I'd rather add other sources of new beneficial bacteria than take a chance. What I'm hoping to achieve by trying to keep these old rocks alive is the unique (to me) growth and creatures. My biggest surprise in having reef tanks is how interesting I find the small and insignificant organisms. Thanks too about the cooking comment, I'll read further about that.

Just make sure that the water with the rock is heated and flowing and lit. If you are just putting it into a bucket it’s like curing new live rock on any case some stuff will likely grow back

 

[Crazeh]

Just make sure that the water with the rock is heated and flowing and lit. If you are just putting it into a bucket it’s like curing new live rock on any case some stuff will likely grow back

You can also test the water to check for ammonia etc