Input on my newest project

[JTN]

Hello all,

As I warned in one of my other posts, this is finally the post introducing the major project I am undergoing in the next couple of weeks.

First, take a look here at my tank. http://www.yoursaftnet.com/jimtank.htm

What are my plans?
I want first to (once again for about the 5th time)add substrate to the bottom of the tank. Aragonite is my choice. After that I am going to build a refugium and install it underneath the tank.

Now this is where I need the help.
I have:
Coral Beauty (1)
Sabae Clown (1)
Pseudochromis (1)
Green Chromis (6)
Scarlet Cleaner Shrimp (1)
Pink Tip Anemone (1)
Flame Scallop (2)
Hawaiian Feather Duster (2)
Blue Leg Hermit (about 25)
Corals (2)

I need to empty the whole tank (livestock, corals, and rock) clean the bottom real good,
add about 2 inches of aragonite and put the tank back together.
When I empty the fish out of the tank I will most likely put them in a small 5 gallon tank. The corals in the same tank. The anemone,hermits, scallops, and feather dusters in a 5 gallon bucket.

Now, how is the best way to rinse off the live rock when I have it out of the tank? Can I just rinse it off using tap water from the tub? Should I rinse it off in RO water? Or should I rinse it in the same salt water? I just want to get all of the loose crap off of it.

I am expecting this whole project to last about 4 - 5 hours. Will the live rock suffer ny kind of death while out of the water for that amount of time? Before adding the Aragonite, should I do anything to it to prepare it for the tank? Should I rinse it, or simply add it to the tank (very easily of course)?

I do plan to do a substantial water change before putting everything back into the tank. I will most likely do a 20%. After getting it all back together, I plan to do several water changes over the following 2 weeks (probably every 3 or 4 days). Is there anything I missed here?

Please I am only posting because I want input, and suggestions.

Thanks
Jim

 

[JohnS_323]

Here are a couple of things I would recommend:

The first thing I'd do is pull all of the water out of the system that you plan on keeping and store it somewhere. I'd do this before I moved any rock or anything because once you start that, the water goes bad quickly. Then I'd drain the rest of the water into a garbage can or something and use it for cleaning your rock.

I would put the corals in a separate tank from the fish. With the both of them being stressed it could cause problems.

I think you'd be OK storing the rock in a rubbermaid type container for a few hours if they were covered with wet paper towels or newspaper.

Just my suggestions. Good luck and let us know if you need anything.

 

[Absinthe]

I agree with John.

Use a coarse nylon brush and really scrub the rock well...dunking it in the saltwater to loosen everything up. Also make sure you have lots of newly made saltwater handy to add back into the tank.

Run through every step in your head and on paper...just to make sure you dont run into an unexpected step...or MISSING step!

 

[jazzsam]

I agree with John.

Use a coarse nylon brush and really scrub the rock well...dunking it in the saltwater to loosen everything up. Also make sure you have lots of newly made saltwater handy to add back into the tank.

Run through every step in your head and on paper...just to make sure you dont run into an unexpected step...or MISSING step!

I second that you should use salt water to wash the rocks becuase of the possible die off.

 

[JTN]

You guys would "scrub" the rock? I was thinking more on the lines of just shaking off the loose debris and gunk. Wouldn't scrubbing kill some of the good stuff on the rocks? Such as polyps, tube worms, sponge, etc.

I plan on changing 10 gallons of water. Good enough? Or would you guys change more or less. Remember, the last time I did this (5 years ago) it was a friggin train wreck! (to say the least)Ultimately, I changed too much water and sent my "well established tank" back into a cycle. I certainly do NOT want to do that now with all the livestock I have.

 

[Carlo]

During the cycle you don't want to change out any of the water. Part of the process of the cycle is establishing all the different bacteria. Changing the water removes some of the bacteria which you are trying to establish and it works against you. Plus you will probably want to record your different reading in a mini log (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) and the water change throws off your log.

You really don't care how high nitrates climb or anything else during the cycle because there shouldn't be anything in there to die.

Carlo

 

[albie611]

if your end result is to just have a sand bed then why no just syphen out the the bottom to remove dittrius(sp) and add the sand using a pvc tube.
if you do this you will be able to do a water change and you dont need to disassemble the entire tank.
you can remove about 10-15 gal of water, then use a 2 1/2 pvc pipe and spoon the sand into the tank down the tube. then top off whats left with fresh salt water.
then if you want....add some sand from an established reef and it will seed the new sand

if you use this method you should avoid #1 a sand storm ,#2 a mini cycle ,and #3 you dont have to worry about things dying off from being stressed because they were moved and rearanged

just remember to rinse the sand/aragonite first to remove the fine dust and particles

hope it helps......happy reefing ............al

 

[JTN]

I like that idea Albie, but how do I get behind all of the rock (90 lbs) to vacuum it out as well as get behind it to add in the new sand? This was my first thought, but could not figure out how to clean behind and under nor how to get the new sand behind and under. Also, I am going to be adding a new powerhead to the rear of the tank. If you looked at the pix, you will see I have a very unique tank in that it is a corner tank. Corner tanks are very hard to setup because they have limited space. I am going to add a powerhead to the bottom right side of the tank in the rear to keep the stagnated water behind the rocks moving as well as keeping some degree of stir in the sand bed. I am then going to have the 2 powerheads in the front part of the tank near the top.

I have now:
1 Koralia Pump1 top left shooting over to the right side of the tank.
1 Koralia Pump2 top right shooting down into the rocks for filtering.
***Addition*** Koralia Pump3 Bottom Right Rear of tank blowing into center thru rocks.
***Addition*** Koralia Pump3 Bottom Left Rear of tank blowing into center thru rocks.

Sound OK? Or does it sound like OVERKILL?

Thanks
Jim

 

[albie611]

jim , to clean the back of the tank and behind the rock use a length of rigid thin wall tubing attached to a hose. it will be easier to get behind the rock then soft tubing.
as far as adding the sand just use the bigest diameter pvc pipe that will fit behind the rock and spoon the cleaned sand down the tube .
as you add the sand it will spread out around the rocks and if you add any sand sifters(nasseris snails , sand goby ,etc.._) they will help spread it out too.
i would not set the rocks on top of the sand because they are more stable sitting on the glass and held snug by the sand around them.
it is not advised to stir the sand because as the anoxic zone is established you build up benificial bacteria that will help "clean" the water and aid in denitrification.
stirring the sand bed will prevent these bacteria from colonizing the sand .
besides i think a few sand cleaners will stir the sand enough to keep it clean and healthy.
as far as an added power head ...i think the more flow the better
just be shure it is a soft current and not directly aimed at the sand

 

[Jcurry@wesketch]

I second the PVC pipe method. Some of the bacteria on your rock will die immediately when exposed to the air and scrubbing it will ertainly kill other organisms causing a re-cycle. I would rinse the sand and then put it aside to dry because wet sand dosen't go down the pipe easily. I learned that the hard way.