Kessil

Restarting - any tips?

borker

borker

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Hi everyone -

2 months ago, my house underwent renovations and my 40 AIO tank crashed (go see tank thread for details). https://bareefers.org/forum/threads/ryan’s-new-40g-setup-mixed-reef.26568/

My equipment works fine - I'm wondering what is good vs. not good in restarting...

Specific questions:
1) Sand and Rock - should I ditch it since it could have been contaminated? Bleach and reuse? Something else?
2) Tank cleaning - what do folks recommend for cleaning out the tank and related parts?
3) Restarting a cycle - do you suggest starting from scratch with salt you plan to use, or getting water from a live tank? Buying LR from someone in the club?
4) Any items I should consider replacing at this point - feel free to look at my equipment list.

Open to any and all help!

Ryan
 
How have you kept the stuff?

Eg has it been sitting in water? Maintained water? Stagnant cold water? Dry

It looks like you said it crashed because of construction dust and no power.

Could you elaborate?

Like. Were they scraping asbestos laden popcorn ceiling and lead paint into your tank?

Was power out for a week or an hour?

If it was just some drywall dust I'd just wash it off and cycle it again.

I'd also buy some nice live rock to help jump start things -- personally.

If it was filled with toxic debris.. then that's different.
 
I agree, you do need to root cause what went wrong last time, so you don't repeat the issue.

1: I don't like bleaching as it kills anything that was good in there. If it is dead, it isn't getting more dead. Dead rock will leech lots of phosphates, not terrible, just a known issue that you can remedy with gfo or other solutions as it leeches out.

2: Citric acid is my favorite cleaner, others like vinegar.

3: Hit up a local club member to kick your tank into gear with live rock and starter corals. Water can be made or bought.

4: Start simple, with only the basics, then slowly add one thing at a time so you understand what the one thing you did changed. (very common in cars for people do mod everything, then not like the outcome, but they don't know why they don't like the way the car drives)
 
xCry0x said:
How have you kept the stuff?

Eg has it been sitting in water? Maintained water? Stagnant cold water? Dry

It looks like you said it crashed because of construction dust and no power.

Could you elaborate?

Like. Were they scraping asbestos laden popcorn ceiling and lead paint into your tank?

Was power out for a week or an hour?

If it was just some drywall dust I'd just wash it off and cycle it again.

I'd also buy some nice live rock to help jump start things -- personally.

If it was filled with toxic debris.. then that's different.
Click to expand...
1) I drained all the water I could, though by the time I was able to the sand had turned black; rock was taken out and dried in the sun and is now in the garage. Sand is still wet (hasn't fully evaporated)
2) Because we have 1 bathroom, I wasn't home during the crash - one night it looked bad (according to my GC) I had planned to come the next day to fix and did 20G water change, but it was too late. Power had been off for large parts of the day (electricians were rewiring), and saw dust and drywall dust was pretty much everywhere. No asbestos that I'm aware of.

My best guess it that a mixture of the dust, less maintenance (I let water changes go 2 weeks instead of weekly during that period) and lack of power caused the issues.

Given what you've said - I should jumpstart with some water/LR from the club.
 
I can tell you what not to do: Spread your wet sand out in the sun to dry. Every cat in the neighborhood...
I am also restarting my tank which was "fallow" (ignored) for 18 months after a PG&E issue took out the Apex and the MH ballasts while I was not around. My plan was to do a minimum reboot, just cleaning the sand (in the tank) and a 100% water change. Halfway through that, I considered what might happen down the road with all my shortcuts, so opted for a complete tear down, peroxide for the "vintage" rocks and sand replacement. That started six weeks ago and I'm about to start my cycle Monday.

BTW- sheet rock and mud often contain fungicides, so if you elect to wash,wash it good.
 
Sand is cheap. Not worth cleaning in my opinion.

Carib Sea ACS00940 Ocean Direct Natural Live Sand for Aquarium, 40-Pound https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000YJMYPG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_K638AM56JVC2WKZFHWMQ


www.bulkreefsupply.com

Aragonite Special Grade Dry Sand 40lbs

Natural Perfection with CaribSea's Special Grade Reef Sand Ideal for both new setups and additions to existing tanks, this 40lb bag offers a cost-effective alternative to live sand. The dry nature of CaribSea's sand allows for pre-rinsing to remove dust, ensuring a clear view in your aquarium...
www.bulkreefsupply.com www.bulkreefsupply.com
 
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I'd do a peroxide or even an acid bath just to fully clean the rocks and start over with those.

The sand.. Idk I'm cheap so I'd probably rinse it well and reuse it. I figure I'd need to rinse the heck out of new sand anyway so why not save the money and rinse the heck out of the existing sand.

Either way though, it's effectively a new tank. Needs to recycle and most importantly re establish biology.
 
My only tips is cycle the rock outside the tank. You don’t have to deal with high nitrate after the cycle! Works well for me. It’s a pain to aqua scale with wet rock, so there is a downside.
 
Do new sand.

Fishless cycle works very well for me.

If you cycle the rock inside the tank, you can start your nutrient export (chaeto, ats etc etc) once your ammonia drops to 0. This will reduce your nitrate/phosphate levels before you add coral. And don't keep adding ammonia, once maybe twice up to 2ppm is all you need as long as you keep fish additions slow for a few weeks. You can keep adding bacteria for a few weeks, a little at a time to boost their levels. I've purchased different brands just so I can hopefully get different strains.
 
Opinion:
Buy new sand.
Spray wash rock (power wash if possible), then mild acid bath, then let it sit in a barrel/bucket for a month or two, replacing water weekly.
Clean tank with vinegar.
 
Yeah - looks like I should definitely buy new sand. Let's see if I can find some existing rock to jump start a cycle - going to track in buy / sell / trade :)
 
borker said:
Yeah - looks like I should definitely buy new sand. Let's see if I can find some existing rock to jump start a cycle - going to track in buy / sell / trade :)
Click to expand...
I can help with some free rubble from my sump/tank to kick start things if you don't mind coming to Sunnyvale
 
rygh said:
Opinion:
Buy new sand.
Spray wash rock (power wash if possible), then mild acid bath, then let it sit in a barrel/bucket for a month or two, replacing water weekly.
Clean tank with vinegar.
Click to expand...
Cleaned all the rock soaking in dilute bleach solution; just rinsed it twice - now letting it sit in the sun. Cleaned tank with citric acid, the 'sump' back was disgusting :p.

Getting new media, and sand... planning to cycle the rock in the tank and get new sand ASAP.

Any recommendations for sand besides the 40lb Randy suggested? That's the one I'll get otherwise.

Similarly, any additives to start a cycle?
 
I would still really recommend soaking rock in a bucket, not in your tank.
There is a ton of dead stuff in those rocks. It will fill your tank with Nitrates and Phosphates,
much of which will end up in your nice clean sand.

Dr Tim's is good for restarting and cycling.
 
There might be mixed sentiment here, but I feel like this is the one place that a damsel fish can be useful, to help the cycle, and to have something moving in the tank to make it interesting. My caveat would be to have a plan for getting the damsel out and returned to the LFS when it is time for everything else. I was lucky with an acrylic fish trap in catching mine, but if you are early, you may be able to move rock scape around and use a net.
 
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