All Live Everything, Tank Reboot

Apollo7235

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Hello all,

For those of you who don’t know, my 38-gallon-not-a-reef tank has been the object of my nightmares for the past 5 months. After 27 pages of troubleshooting, two ICP analysis, and countless hours of continuous headaches, we finally found the source of the deadly levels of copper, zinc, and other metals in the water: a brass fitting in the return line I didn’t realize was there (Hubby plumbed the tank and I didn’t even think twice about it).

That being said, here I am. 20lbs coralline base live rock, 20lbs premium deco live rock, and 50lbs live sand on order from Gulf Live Rocks (should be arriving Tuesday), and a complete rip clean reboot with 100% new water on my schedule for this weekend in preparation for the new rock and sand coming.

Thankfully, I have a 10-gallon coral/invert QT I can use to house my bullseye pistol, tiger pistol, and neon goby for the 2 days or so. I know I’m going to need to erect a barrier between the two pistols, but that’s to be determined tomorrow.

Anyway, wish me luck! This will be a photo-heavy rebuild thread

Thank you for following along!

The troubleshooting thread, thank you all again!!


The current swamp nightmare:

9E7172E0-9FBE-4698-80B3-61B10DDEBC80.jpeg
 
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Weasel1960

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You got this, lessons learned, lots of helpful info from the previous tank to keep in mind. Slow and easy. Depending on how your new rock is shipped might have some die off so read up on that in preparation.

Best Wishes Good Luck GIF
 
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Apollo7235

Apollo7235

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You got this, lessons learned, lots of helpful info from the previous tank to keep in mind. Slow and easy. Depending on how your new rock is shipped might have some die off so read up on that in preparation.

Best Wishes Good Luck GIF
The only rock is coming from Tampa which is about an hour from me, so the die off should be minimal, thankfully.

Thank you!!
 
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Apollo7235

Apollo7235

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Live rock is just plain more fun. So much more life to enjoy not just immediately, but over time as new things poke out from the crevices. Looking forward to the hitchhiker photos!
Me too! Funny because I was literally telling my husband just that a minute ago. Everyone has told me that the hitchhikers and pests are a pain, but I’m like
I Want Them All Paramount Network GIF by Yellowstone
 
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Apollo7235

Apollo7235

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Tank rip clean commenced yesterday. I am proud to say, I got it all done in about 4 hours, start to finish. Got the two pistols and the neon goby as well as all of the snails I could find moved into my coral QT (the larger, much more aggressive bullseye pistol is in the little temporary habitat).

7B7D2030-E437-4DA2-93C2-0515AFDF43E3.jpeg


Rinsed all of my equipment, hosed out both my display and sump tanks, scrubbed the salt creep from my skimmer break-in from the cabinet (managed to bust a door in the process), and ripped out the plumbing.

281EF51E-BB09-4876-B16E-9C4A8515DB45.jpeg

DDC2CD25-228E-445D-B1A8-C519C8B6871A.jpeg
2F01C71F-7C94-47C6-B5D3-6778B540A327.jpeg


Would you believe there was ANOTHER brass fitting hiding in there?!?

C9C2AC0D-32FA-4A3B-9049-82B6CA51B2C2.jpeg


Good God.

Well, the good news is, all is done. Now I just need to refill the tank today, replace the corroded hinges on the doors, hubby is going to replace the plumbing (100% PVC!!!!!), dump a bottle of Biospira in the water Tuesday morning once I have shipping confirmation for the live rock and live sand, and we will hopefully be rocking and rolling! I’ve been looking through posts and reviews on Gulf Live Rock and they look like they have some really beautiful rock. I seriously can’t wait!!
 
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BostonReefer300

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Tank rip clean commenced yesterday. I am proud to say, I got it all done in about 4 hours, start to finish. Got the two pistols and the neon goby as well as all of the snails I could find moved into my coral QT (the larger, much more aggressive bullseye pistol is in the little temporary habitat).

7B7D2030-E437-4DA2-93C2-0515AFDF43E3.jpeg


Rinsed all of my equipment, hosed out both my display and sump tanks, scrubbed the salt creep from my skimmer break-in from the cabinet (managed to bust a door in the process), and ripped out the plumbing.

281EF51E-BB09-4876-B16E-9C4A8515DB45.jpeg

DDC2CD25-228E-445D-B1A8-C519C8B6871A.jpeg
2F01C71F-7C94-47C6-B5D3-6778B540A327.jpeg


Would you believe there was ANOTHER brass fitting hiding in there?!?

C9C2AC0D-32FA-4A3B-9049-82B6CA51B2C2.jpeg


Good God.

Well, the good news is, all is done. Now I just need to refill the tank today, replace the corroded hinges on the doors, hubby is going to replace the plumbing (100% PVC!!!!!), dump a bottle of Biospira in the water Tuesday morning once I have shipping confirmation for the live rock and live sand, and we will hopefully be rocking and rolling! I’ve been looking through posts and reviews on Gulf Live Rock and they look like they have some seriously beautiful rock. I seriously can’t wait!!
You weren’t kidding about doing a rip clean! Regarding adding biospira, you might want to wait until the rocks are in the tank so there’s more surface area for the bacteria to immediately colonize. Good luck!
 
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Apollo7235

Apollo7235

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You weren’t kidding about doing a rip clean! Regarding adding biospira, you might want to wait until the rocks are in the tank so there’s more surface area for the bacteria to immediately colonize. Good luck!
Good idea, I’ll just dump it in directly after I add the sand and rock. Thanks!

Haha, no, I certainly wasn’t. I’m determined to get every single bit of contaminated something out of this system. All new plumbing, no reused rock or sand. The only thing staying is the equipment. Otherwise, it’s all bye bye!!

I also removed my chaetomaxx grow light, cooling fan, and heater. We keep the house at 75 during the evening and night, then 77 during the day, and I haven’t had to run the fan or heater in forever. Tank stays between 76 and 78, usually, so I’m good with that.

Any advice on potentially running a cryptic refugium? I am super interested in getting one started with any live rock I either can’t fit or don’t want in my display, but I’m having trouble finding much info on how to get one started aside from removing light and adding rock.
 

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Thank you!! I can’t wait for it to come in!!! ;Nailbiting

If you want to see what a tank started with real liverock is all about then check out my build. Maybe you can find some helpful info there. Have a good one

 
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Apollo7235

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Good news, I received UPS notifications that two shipments, one 38 pounds and the other 42 pounds, will be arriving tomorrow evening. I am a little disappointed with the communication with Gulf Live Rock considering I was not notified of the shipment from them whatsoever. Fortunately, I have notifications through our delivery services turned on, which proves handy in situations such as these. I also have reached out to Gulf Live Rock 3 times, 2 emails and a phone conversation. I initially reached out asking about a custom mix of rocks, which they say on their website they will tailor to your tank if you reach out prior to ordering, and I never received a response. About 2 weeks later, I called and spoke with Dan briefly. I had a hard time understanding him, whether because of the poor phone connection or some other issue, but I explained what I needed and asked if I could email him with what I was looking for, twhich he said yes. I emailed, no response. I finally gave up on the communication aspect and, after reading as many reviews as I could find (all very positive aside from numerous complaints about the lack of communication), I decided to take the risk and place the order since I knew I would be PayPal protected anyway.

Hopefully everything works out and I will be posting happy photos and a great review tomorrow evening!!

My poor UPS guy is going to hate my guts after this, hahaha

1627340200071.gif
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

  • Ball valves.

    Votes: 46 47.9%
  • Gate valves.

    Votes: 51 53.1%
  • Check valves.

    Votes: 21 21.9%
  • None.

    Votes: 25 26.0%
  • Other.

    Votes: 9 9.4%
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