Starting Over

[StickyTuba]

Hey all,

It has been a long time since I have posted or been on AA. We had a little baby in the meantime and she has been taking up my time. However, my clownfish died after about 3.5 years and I want to start completely over. When "she" finally died the tank had become overrun by algae so I know that I need to be a little more diligent once I begin.

So this is what I have done so far.

I have removed all LR from the tank and I sat it outside over Memorial Day weekend to die off. I removed all the Live Sand and will start again.

Here are my questions:

How should I clean the tank in order to prepare it to start again?

Do I need to boil the LR to start over so that everything that was on it before is dead?

If I do how long does it take for Dead Rock to become Live Rock?
Should I buy a small piece of LR to re-inhabit what I have?

If I start over with Live Sand and eventually add the Dead Rock will it become live again?

Thanks for all your help and I do plan on being a little more involved.


OH - BTW I have a 12 gallon Nano that this is going to go into.
I think that I would like to keep it more fish, snails, crabs this time instead of adding corals.

 

[mr_X]

well, i woudn't have left the rock outside, but it is what it is.
put that rock back in your tank and let the tank cycle like you did in the very beginning.
what makes live rock live, is nothing more than bacteria. you will have re-colonized your rock by the time your tank is cycled.

i wouldn't add live sand or anything else. i think you have everything you need right at your fingertips.

 

[Devilishturtles]

I agree. I would perhaps keep some of the sand your currently have in your tank and use it to "seed" the new sand. Some of the microscopic critters in there will help in making your new sand "live". No need to buy live sand either... dry sand will accomplish the same thing at a much cheaper price.

About the liverock, you probably could have just scrubbed it. I don't see a reason either why you needed to leave it outside to dry unless you had a major sickness in the tank. When was the last time you had fish in there? Any sort of parasitic infection needs a host to survive (ie: fish) as do bacterial infections I believe. If the tank has been sitting with no fish for a while and it's all fine save for some algae, I'd simply scrub the rock and put it back in, get some new sand and use a cup of the old sand to seed it, and start a cycle.

HTH

 

[StickyTuba]

Just to clarify - I don't have any of the LS I did.
So should I get some sandbox sand and then seed that with some LS from the store?
Thanks and sorry for any confusion.

 

[mr_X]

i wouldn't use sandbox sand. i would use dry, sugar sized, aragonite based sand from the lfs.
a handfull of sand from a local reefer or the lfs is plenty to seed your sand bed.
i don't think they sell a bag of live sand small enough to seed a 12 gallon tank.

 

[cmor1701d]

A new bag of sandbox sand is fine to use too if you don't want to pay for aragonite at the lfs. You should still seed it with a cup of LS from the lfs or another reefer.

 

[StickyTuba]

Another Starting over question...

So I posted a couple of questions in my last post and I have gotten some great feedback, BUT I need help with one other thing.

How should I clean my old tank?

Does it need a scrub with a brush and warm water?
Does it need soapy water?
bleach?

Help!

Thanks

 

[pitt420dude]

Scrub brush and warm water ought to do it. I've also heard that some people use vinegar.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Ditto what cmor1701d said.

 

[melosu58]

How should I clean the tank in order to prepare it to start again?

To clean the tank I would get a bucket of water and add a cap or two of bleach to the water. Then wash your tank inside and out and then rinse very good. Then you must let it air dry completely. Then you can fill the tank with water and add some dechlorinator and let it run a few days. The dechlorinator is really not neccasary if you let it air dry but it`s a safe gaurd in case it did not completely dry.

 

[StickyTuba]

Thanks for all the great advice.
I will be cleaning up the tank tonight after my daughter goes to bed.
Feels good to be back.

 

[melosu58]

Feels good to be back.

 

[melosu58]

I merged both starting over threads by the same OP together.

 

[roka64]

I agree, you can go the bleach route (especially if you had an outbreak in the tank) or the vinegar. I like white vinegar myself.

 

[cmor1701d]

I also prefer the white vinegar but either will do. Just rinse, rinse, rinse and rinse again.

Glad to you have you back!