The Most Differentest Mess You've Never Heard of

[Gregory Thornock]

You could either buy the water pre made or mix it yourself. I personally use instant ocean reef crystals, but they also have stuff for fish only tanks https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Ocean-Sea-Salt-160-Gallon/dp/B000256EUS

Thank you for your recommendation. I will send for the salt.

 

[rockstarta78]

Only reason I suggested the 100% WC is because you have no live corals or fish or inverts in that tank. And doing 100% WC you are effectively getting rid of all the nasty from the tank in one go. If you have rock, I forgot to mention, scrub your rock as well before the WC. If there is a powerhead running, blow your rock with the powerhead to get all the gunk out in the water column. So essentially you are restarting the tank with whatever essential Bactria you have in the tank. For scrubbing, honestly nothing works better then some elbow grease. I'd take something like a window washing squeegee, some sort of scrapper to get into the nook and cranny, towels, whatever scrubber you can get your hands on. Even dish washing scrubber as long as none of these are contaminated. I'd go to a Dollar store and see what they have that would help you scrap all that stuff off your glass. Hope that helps.

 

[Kremis]

the part under the collection cup should be filled with bubbles

 

[rockstarta78]

Btw, can I also suggest, forget testing the water at this point? I think we can all agree that your tank's NO3 PO4 would be in bad shape. I think it'd be better to do a water test few hours after you have done your WC. In all honesty, this entire ordeal could be extremely rewarding but would require lot of work. Put those rugrats to work.

 

[Gregory Thornock]

Only reason I suggested the 100% WC is because you have no live corals or fish or inverts in that tank. And doing 100% WC you are effectively getting rid of all the nasty from the tank in one go. If you have rock, I forgot to mention, scrub your rock as well before the WC. If there is a powerhead running, blow your rock with the powerhead to get all the gunk out in the water column. So essentially you are restarting the tank with whatever essential Bactria you have in the tank. For scrubbing, honestly nothing works better then some elbow grease. I'd take something like a window washing squeegee, some sort of scrapper to get into the nook and cranny, towels, whatever scrubber you can get your hands on. Even dish washing scrubber as long as none of these are contaminated. I'd go to a Dollar store and see what they have that would help you scrap all that stuff off your glass. Hope that helps.

Is this safe, even if my rock is "live," Supposedly, it is anyway.

 

[Kremis]

Yes, you will still have a lot of the beneficial bacteria from the rocks.

 

[rockstarta78]

Is this safe, even if my rock is "live," Supposedly, it is anyway.

Yes you will be fine. When you do the WC your rock won't sit out in the open without water for more then an hour or so. You should be fine.

 

[Gregory Thornock]

Btw, can I also suggest, forget testing the water at this point? I think we can all agree that your tank's NO3 PO4 would be in bad shape. I think it'd be better to do a water test few hours after you have done your WC. In all honesty, this entire ordeal could be extremely rewarding but would require lot of work. Put those rugrats to work.

Thanks! Full water change it is!

 

[rockstarta78]

Keep us posted. I'd be interested to see the outcome. Reach out to your local reef club. If nothing else, you could end up with some free coral frags that are easy to maintain.

 

[Gregory Thornock]

Keep us posted. I'd be interested to see the outcome. Reach out to your local reef club. If nothing else, you could end up with some free coral frags that are easy to maintain.

OK, will do. I am going to have my entire class help me once the salts arrive. At least with the scrubbing part.

 

[NS Mike D]

While you are fixing the tank, perhaps the students would like to participate in this thread - understanding what and why we are suggesting to get the tank back on track and deciding what they want to keep in the the tank, all the while learning about coral reefs. There is no lack of expertise that would love to share with young minds.

The tank will eventually have beautiful fish and corals to catch their attention - and then the magic happens - when they start learning about all the life they cannot see and miracles of the symbiotic relationships and how billions of years of evolution created the equivalent of a desert oasis in the middle of the ocean.

maybe a teacher or two will get hooked along the way


edit: I should have posted this 9 minutes earlier lol

 

[O'l Salty]

How can I tell if the skimmer is working?

I wouldn't bother with the skimmer just yet. It's not a requirement. They can be a little fussy to set up right and you have bigger fish to fry right now.

 

[Carpathian]

I'll be watching this thread for sure. I love stories like this.

 

[Jesterrace]

"As mentioned in my post above no more than 8 hours per day. As for setting on the lights, only you can tell for sure since no two lights or setups are going to respond exactly the same. If you get the tank all cleaned up and it starts developing a bunch of algae again, you might want to dial down the intensity a bit."

We are reprogramming the lights to be on less. We think the remote is not functioning, which programs the lights, so I have ordered a fresh battery. Hopefully, that's all it is.

"Your canister filter is also a huge part of the problem as they will easily turn into nitrate factories in a saltwater tank if you don't clean them frequently (ie at least every week or two). Honestly I recommend an HOB (Hang on back filter) for your tank, it will be much easier to clean and maintain. A Fluval 70 or 110 will do the job nicely and you can pick them up relatively cheap from Petsmart or their website (and they frequently run sales on them on their website)."

OK, I have a few problems. We have never changed that canister filter. Not in a year! I went ahead and ordered a Fluval 110 from Amazon today.

"I would also recommend using something like a Chemipure Elite bag that you stick in the filter and it will help keep your water clean and break down phosphates, waste, etc. and they are good for about 2-3 months depending on how it is stocked and how much you feed the tank."

Would I get bags like these: https://www.amazon.com/Boyd-Enterpr...ags-Aquarium/dp/B00BUFTSV6/ref=cm_wl_huc_item

And fill it with this: https://www.amazon.com/Boyd-Enterpr...id=1517501519&sr=8-6&keywords=chemipure+elite

That would work.

 

[DeniseAndy]

It will be worth the work for the kids. Getting them involved is the fun part. Letting them see their effect goes a long way.

I agree with a full clean out of the tank. I would actually put the rock in another container of saltwater while you thoroughly clean the tank and sand. That way you can actually take your time and the rock will not have die off. Just put in a bucket with saltwater (can even be from the tank) with powerhead or pump and heater and let it be. Cover it completely and the algae will die off as you work on the main tank.

Getting rid of the canister filter is a good idea.

Leave lights off if you have no animals needing it. Just causes more algae issues. Until you get animals in, there is no need to use the light.

When tank is fully cleaned and ready to go, get some gloves on those kiddos (rock is sharp) and give them some toothbrushes, and let them scrub the rock in the tub, rinse in another clean tub of saltwater and begin aqua scaping. It is fun for them and takes some work off you.

Cannot wait to see pics.