120 gallon rip clean

[CoralClasher]

I’m making progress on this rip clean. Is there any tips for cleaning the coralline algae off the plastic overflow boxes? I will be completely draining the tank and filling with RODI then mixing the salt in the tank so I’m sure it will all die. I’ve got plenty of time and want the tank to look new as possible.

 

[brandon429]

I’ve seen folks wet a paper towel w vinegar and lay across the area for a bit then it releases pretty well if water line allows direct air contact

LASER clear move there, no cloud in sight at all

go easy on them bright whites :) that pic really shows excellent detail in your move execution. This will buy you lots of extended clean runs on the reset tank for sure. Any sand used can now be pre stirred with a stick or something regularly to keep from impacting, that light feeding to the system in preventative stirring counts as marine snow feed, and it can go years without another rip since no more hands off sandbed. This job here will be our first read example for the thread due to size detail and determination so happy to see progress

 

[CoralClasher]

Yeah the move went good. That sand is new and rinsed very well. The light on the corals now is a coral life LED that I have had for years not being used. I’m not sure how strong the light is but I’m sure it’s less than the DT lights. Should I still turn them down?

 

[CoralClasher]

It took 30 minutes to rinse the old sand. How do I store the sand after I rinse? Depending on this clean up of DT it will probably be three days before the sand will go back in. Probably should rinse again right before I add it back?

 

[brandon429]

If it’s clear now it’ll hold, it’s ok if it dries somewhat while awaiting use. Maybe one more test cup before use, disturb a cup of sand and water and make sure cloudless

That light looks great as is and the corals are indeed happy and fully, completely extended how neat. If any appear to lighten you can reduce it more / raise it up if needed

That lysmata shrimp is uber sensitive he’s the coal mine canary and looking sharp too

 

[CoralClasher]

Vinegar on paper towel works pretty good. I did it three times and I’m going to settle on close to new look. Should I start filling with water or let it dry overnight?

 

[Cory]

Whats the bacteria method for dinos? Looking good! I found i had dinos with massive amounts of detritus too. Id get a gravel vac and suck that crushed coral substrate.

 

[CoralClasher]

Whats the bacteria method for dinos? Looking good! I found i had dinos with massive amounts of detritus too. Id get a gravel vac and suck that crushed coral substrate.

Bacteria rules the world!!

 

[CoralClasher]

I blasted the crushed coral as I was draining the tank and rinsed in the bathtub.

 

[brandon429]

It should take a good while to rinse and reuse the sand till it's clear, most important part coming up~ it isn't totally just for recycle protection, we rinse to total clarity so the new system won't have fresh nutrients turned over/ cyano fuel for new system, this is all very detailed cleaning work so very happy to see the documentation it'll be a perfect works example when finished

I'd let dry then fill up all new shiny system for that renewed start

 

[CoralClasher]

Ok I let the tank dry overnight and did a final wipe down this morning. By the end of the day I should have it filled.

 

[CoralClasher]

I blasted the crushed coral as I was draining the tank and rinsed in the bathtub.

This crushed coral was only in my tank for 5 months and was rinsed. Is it normal for a sand bed to fill up that fast? I was stirring it daily. I really hope this mess is Dino related and this rip clean will be the end of it.

 

[brandon429]

The only ones I haven't seen get that full are ones with smaller grains that reject incursion plus they had diamond gobies really working daily, they'll all get that bad as fast. Anyone doubting sandbed loading can just reach in to the bottom, grab handful, drop and await :)

The bed will fill up again just the same but I have to admit it wasn't hurting your system any, things looked sharp above it all. It's worth removing it though because it scoots back any tipping points

This is fully why people wind up going bare bottom. You're on the last step if surgery success here- inputting zero cloud sand that rinse w take a long time to get to snow globe clean but when it's that clean it will all reassemble perfectly

 

[CoralClasher]

The only ones I haven't seen get that full are ones with smaller grains that reject incursion plus they had diamond gobies really working daily, they'll all get that bad as fast. Anyone doubting sandbed loading can just reach in to the bottom, grab handful, drop and await :)

The bed will fill up again just the same but I have to admit it wasn't hurting your system any, things looked sharp above it all. It's worth removing it though because it scoots back any tipping points

This is fully why people wind up going bare bottom. You're on the last step if surgery success here- inputting zero cloud sand that rinse w take a long time to get to snow globe clean but when it's that clean it will all reassemble perfectly

I agree the cloud from this sand was harmless. I’ll consider this rip cleaning as really good maintenance and will insure me that I have no leftover Dino-x, Chemiclean or any other contaminants that could of happened in the last five years.

 

[brandon429]

Its my opinion we've (hobby) have established a very strong link between detritus either packed in sand or in rock pores as the supporting #1 substrate to fuel invasive cyano, this cleaning directly lowers your risk of cyano as your rocks and corals continue to age I'd testify to a reef grand jury.

I would testify in a reef court of law you just did the #1 thing required to stop/prevent and reverse old tank syndrome in reefing. What you did is the key to an infinite biological lifespan reef, extremely old micromodels indicate ~ either make a throughput system that doesnt store, or enjoy the looks zonation and benefit of storage zones (sand) but mimic a storm event every so often and blast that stuff out = infinite biological lifespan not having to buy anything from a retail store or pay for a tank measure.

if you do this off and on for good, the reef lives until a hardware issue kills it.

You intervened in old tank syndrome before it happened, is there any other better time :)

as soon as we get a cloudless re assemble Ill make this #1 read for sure in sr thread

 

[CoralClasher]

Corals and inverts seem to be fine today in the new 55. Most importantly for me the Dino didn’t bloom overnight!!

 

[CoralClasher]

I’m not having good luck with filling the 120. Little over half way full my RODI started to give me 1 tds. Cheap RO membranes from LFS was giving me 10tds. I put the old membranes back in and now ready to keep filling. I’m sure some tds made it to the DT. Second problem is the double wall of the overflow boxes did not get cleaned very well. I put some salt in the tank and it’s not mixing as clear as I hoped for and I can see worms and stuff coming out.

 

[CoralClasher]

Its my opinion we've (hobby) have established a very strong link between detritus either packed in sand or in rock pores as the supporting #1 substrate to fuel invasive cyano, this cleaning directly lowers your risk of cyano as your rocks and corals continue to age I'd testify to a reef grand jury.

I would testify in a reef court of law you just did the #1 thing required to stop/prevent and reverse old tank syndrome in reefing. What you did is the key to an infinite biological lifespan reef, extremely old micromodels indicate ~ either make a throughput system that doesnt store, or enjoy the looks zonation and benefit of storage zones (sand) but mimic a storm event every so often and blast that stuff out = infinite biological lifespan not having to buy anything from a retail store or pay for a tank measure.

if you do this off and on for good, the reef lives until a hardware issue kills it.

You intervened in old tank syndrome before it happened, is there any other better time :)

as soon as we get a cloudless re assemble Ill make this #1 read for sure in sr thread

A little bit of die off will be ok right? I’m about 3/4 way full and would suck to start over.

 

[brandon429]

Where is the die off located, which part or zone is dying off

 

[CoralClasher]

The overflow boxes have two layers of plastic. It wouldn’t take much to convince me to start over.