Finding Sauce (a lot of tanks in a little time) RSR 250 Nem tank

[fishguy242]

yes sorry i'm 52 just discovered emojis yes serious

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Way better than me lol. I was the *worst* with canister maintenance. I think once you get everything where you want it you can probably space that out to biweekly or monthly - just test regularly initially to verify. And yes, add that nitrate absorbing media and see where it gets you.

That's the plan. I'm currently doing weekly because I feel that I have to. With all the rock cleaning and rearranging that happened in the first weeks, I didn't want the crap to just settle in the can. Trying to remove a much as possible.

 

[heybae]

Amonia is reading between 0 and .25, nitrates still read coolaid

I’ve had the same reading before I used the nitrophos minus aqua forest and it took like a week but deff worked

 

[fishguy242]

yes you can with a small shop vac ,but only small portions at a time.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

yes sorry i'm 52 just discovered emojis yes serious

Ooh boy that could make for some very funny conversations.

In case nobody has told you yet. Don't use the eggplant, rocket, peach, or water droplets.. they Don't mean what you think

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

I’ve had the same reading before I used the nitrophos minus aqua forest and it took like a week but deff worked

When I get tested today and grab some yummy pods for toothless the dragonette, I'm going to pick some Nitrate absorbing media as well.

 

[fishguy242]

Ooh boy that could make for some very funny conversations.

In case nobody has told you yet. Don't use the eggplant, rocket, peach, or water droplets.. they Don't mean what you think

pm me i need to know

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

yes you can with a small shop vac ,but only small portions at a time.

Shop vac?

Was planning to gravel vac maybe a quarter of the tank at a time.

 

[fishguy242]

Shop vac?

Was planning to gravel vac maybe a quarter of the tank at a time.

that is just going to stir up nitrates,takes out w shop vac, 8x8" area at a time

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

that is just going to stir up nitrates,takes out w shop vac, 8x8" area at a time

So you are recommending to REMOVE the sand a bit at a time?

Forgive my idiocy, but aren't we WANTING to stir up the nitrates trapped in there plus all the crap and waste and remove it with the water and filter? In my brain, if you let it loose, you can get it out rather than being trapped down there and leeching into the water.

 

[heybae]

When I get tested today and grab some yummy pods for toothless the dragonette, I'm going to pick some Nitrate absorbing media as well.

Just keep in mind if you use the product you must turn on skimmer bc it removes oxygen in water watch there video on the product on YouTube. And I think you have to remove carbon medias double check.love my dragonet just posted him on my thread! He’s a baby

 

[fishguy242]

no could raise levels to deadly, yes remove ,clean in swater store with flow to return later ,no deeper than 1 1/2 rubber maid tub will work for this

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Just keep in mind if you use the product you must turn on skimmer bc it removes oxygen in water watch there video on the product on YouTube. And I think you have to remove carbon medias double check.love my dragonet just posted him on my thread! He’s a baby

I don't run a p skimmer. Fluval fx4 can and a ST of live rock.

I absolutely LOVE the mandarins. They have such a sweet temperament. Mine LOVES my daughter. It will move around the tank with her. He also sleeps under my Duncan which is OMG cute..

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

no could raise levels to deadly, yes remove ,clean in swater store with flow to return later ,no deeper than 1 1/2 rubber maid tub will work for this

As I don't have rodi yet, I'm dependant on s-water from the lfs. Watched a few YouTube videos on cleaning sand. They were all filling 1/3 of a bucket then using the house hose to blast all the crap out, constantly churning it until the runoff is pretty clear. Add a gallon of salt water to clean again and dump the water. Strain at much water out as possible then reintroduce the sand. Is that a viable option?

I was thinking that it may kill off some beneficial bacteria but would really get all the junk gone.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

no could raise levels to deadly, yes remove ,clean in swater store with flow to return later ,no deeper than 1 1/2 rubber maid tub will work for this

Secondarily, is there any wisdom of just shop vaccing the sand out and replacing it rather than cleaning it all?

When all the corals get here, I don't see myself wanting to make these major changes to the tank. Is it better to do now?

 

[heybae]

I don't run a p skimmer. Fluval fx4 can and a ST of live rock.

I absolutely LOVE the mandarins. They have such a sweet temperament. Mine LOVES my daughter. It will move around the tank with her. He also sleeps under my Duncan which is OMG cute..

Oh umm not sure if that would create enough. I have a slim pro also but it doesn’t stir things up enough. I would ask the lfs I’m no expert Or maybe someone on here would kno better also if dosing monitor you’re phosphates if they are on the lower Side you don’t want 0 I’ve seen bad things happen to other people not paying attention. But deff brought those high nitrates down.

mandarin love

 

[fishguy242]

As I don't have rodi yet, I'm dependant on s-water from the lfs. Watched a few YouTube videos on cleaning sand. They were all filling 1/3 of a bucket then using the house hose to blast all the crap out, constantly churning it until the runoff is pretty clear. Add a gallon of salt water to clean again and dump the water. Strain at much water out as possible then reintroduce the sand. Is that a viable option?

I was thinking that it may kill off some beneficial bacteria but would really get all the junk gone.

exactly, do not recommend at that point just buy new sand,just rinse clean in couple 1/2 filled buckets of sw,then store w flow ,for time being do not put back in tank yet

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Oh umm not sure if that would create enough. I have a slim pro also but it doesn’t stir things up enough. I would ask the lfs I’m no expert Or maybe someone on here would kno better also if dosing monitor you’re phosphates if they are on the lower Side you don’t want 0 I’ve seen bad things happen to other people not paying attention. But deff brought those high nitrates down.

mandarin love

Thanks. I'm not dosing anything at this point. Really trying to get into a healthy baseline water chemistry before I level up.

This tank was neglected for far too long. I'm enjoying putting in the work to bring it back round. I know it won't happen overnight as nothing good does. Just trying to do all that I can now that will make the biggest difference down the road.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

exactly, do not recommend at that point just buy new sand,just rinse clean in couple 1/2 filled buckets of sw,then store w flow ,for time being do not put back in tank yet

So if I'm understanding right, you are saying not to clean it with fresh water, not to just remove and replace sand with new. Just clean existing sand and store w flow..

What may I ask is the downside to removing say 80% of the existing sand a square at a time over many sessions? I'm not tearing down the rock again so there would be OG sand still left in there too seed the new.

When do you reintroduce the sand to the tank that was stored?

With a bunch of nass snails, I'm not sure how I can even shop vac out the sand without picking up those little buggers.

 

[fishguy242]

yes sounds about right 80% is fine in course of a few days,can replace with new ,live sand,or cleaned sand,
clean with fine net by hand in series of sw wash buckets ,should get snails that way