Need help restarting

[Epuerto]

Restarting

I have had my 50g corner for a year and a half but it faced a nitrate spike that it couldend revive it self from so i had nothing left but the 2 damsels i started with (toughest fish in the sea). SO today i was sick of only having 2 fish in my tank, because i was scared of the enevitable the levels just couldent be controlled. So i emptied out the tank bare.. nothing at all, gave it a nice scrubbing, cleaned around the stand, and put back the tank. so right now it is sitting there with 2 powerheads running, no sand, no lr, and i dont know what to do next. i am most likely going 2 get ls tommorow and a shrimp 2 restart the cycling process, it been a while since i cycled and i dont know if last time i did it wrong resulting in mass death later on so could some one tell me exactly what 2 do.( i do have the tank filled with 1.021 salinity water).

 

[carey]

What did you do with the damsels? Did you return them?

 

[Epuerto]

I got the damsels in a 3gallon

 

[carey]

It could take a couple weeks to fully cycle, are you planing on keeping them? nasty little fish imo lol

 

[Epuerto]

They are i do suspect them of killing my coral beauty and my hermits, i dont know if i should return them tho they are the hardest fish i have ever seen

 

[carey]

i would def return them. They cant live in that 3 gallon while you cycle and its so much faster to cycle with out fish. Do you have everything else you need: API or liquid test kit (amonia, nitrite and nitrate), pure ammonia or a fresh uncooked shrimp?

 

[Epuerto]

Im going 2 get a liquid test kit right now im only using a strip i am also going 2 get the shrimp is is smart 2 use the live rock from my dead tank in this new one?

 

[carey]

is the rock still wet? How long has it not been used for? How much do you got?

 

[Epuerto]

yea its still wet it wasnt used for only 5hrs it does have small colonies of purple coraline on it tho i dont know if is alive
and i got my skimmer running

 

[carey]

If its still looking ok I'd put it in. Youre not cycling with fish so if the rock recycles it wont do any harm. Thats why its so much easier without fish. If your stuck on the fish you have maybe your lfs can hold them for you? Worth a shot if you really like em.

 

[Epuerto]

i have my 50g wich is cycling and i have a 3g which is holding the damsels i think they are bad luck tho lol

 

[carey]

Yeah the 3g will prob kill the damsels. I would save them somehow, even just give them back to pet store. lol

 

[Epuerto]

how much ls u recommend?

 

[ronk]

If you are going to start your cycle all over again put all your rock in there. It will cure while the tank is cyclying. May take longer to cycle though. Good luck

 

[ronk]

Sorry didn't see page two. Lol

 

[carey]

I have a regular sand bed in my 29 gallon and I have 31 lbs. I'm not too sure on how that calculates out usually. I think its' like 1 to 1.5 lbs per gallon.

 

[Epuerto]

thanks. When i add my sand do i remove the ocks then add the liverock back into the tank?

 

[carey]

I was told to add my rocks first then the sand. I personally didnt like the idea after I tried it. had piles of sand around the rocks. But they say the rocks can shift so maybe it was good advice. You can probably do it better than I did, I filled my whole tank up then put the sand in. lol lots of mess

 

[DreD]

I'm sure some people will yell at me for this... But I would put the damsels back in the tank. It's a rather large tank and I expect a ton of the bacteria to still be there. I just did the same exact thing with my mother's 40G except I put everything back in the tank. The pebbles got sifted, but stayed wet, and the both of the filters were still wet when I filled the tank up back up so I know I didn't kill any bacteria colonies. The day after I cleaned out the tank one of the cichlids laid eggs-they'll only lay eggs if the conditions of the tank are kept well.

I'm not sure what you kept, but if you're using the same filter your tank will cycle probably less than a week.

 

[Epuerto]

what i did was remove the damsels from the tank, then the lr the i sipioned out all of the water, scooped out all the sand threw it away, carried the tank outside removed all the gunk in it put it back, then i filled it up with water then i mixed it with instant ocean salt, put my two powerheads in 2 mix it, when i became clear i added my lr back into the tank, now it is sitting there