Key planning brainstorms for your setup:
Before initiation I think you should rasp clean 2-3 rocks for practice that way the greater system is running normal with no rush
It's tricky to get in the crevices since we don't use brushes: brushes crush up invader bits and smash them into the rock- a thin knife tip is precision and takes longer but all those jobs are knifed not brushed its worth the detail time
Rinse rocks in saltwater along the way
Sand gets the tap rinse we don't care about its bacteria
You could do that part last, the sand
Don't forget during the sand rinse in tap water that you're verifying sections in a clear glass of water to ensure absolute perfection rinse not one iota of clouding left
When it's all done prepped and proofed, then the final rinse should be saltwater here on the sand: have extra saltwater on hand
Then the final step is 100% new water back in, no old
No handful of old sand goes back in we do 100% rinses for safety of your fish reasons, that old sand has nothing you need in the new iteration
Match temp and salinity to the old water, no other params matter
Cover your fish so they don't jump when in holding
That's only one of my rip clean threads its my best of the best
Don't forget to take the empty tank and take it outside and wash it out, dry it back to sterile clean glass so there's no scum no spots - it's worth it I promise
The cleaning is the hard part
Once the rocks are done, and the sand, and the tank glass 100% clean the reassembly goes fast
Sand in first then rocks then pour in water slowly over top of rocks, refilled laser clean
Install heater and pumps, add fish back in
No testing for anything but temp and salinity (cheap ammonia tests misread, make people dump in lots of remediation chemicals we don't want)
Trust the process: clean no cloud will skip cycle
No bottle bac is used, we preserved the bacteria on the rocks even with the peroxide application that came after the surgical cleaning
Before initiation I think you should rasp clean 2-3 rocks for practice that way the greater system is running normal with no rush
It's tricky to get in the crevices since we don't use brushes: brushes crush up invader bits and smash them into the rock- a thin knife tip is precision and takes longer but all those jobs are knifed not brushed its worth the detail time
Rinse rocks in saltwater along the way
Sand gets the tap rinse we don't care about its bacteria
You could do that part last, the sand
Don't forget during the sand rinse in tap water that you're verifying sections in a clear glass of water to ensure absolute perfection rinse not one iota of clouding left
When it's all done prepped and proofed, then the final rinse should be saltwater here on the sand: have extra saltwater on hand
Then the final step is 100% new water back in, no old
No handful of old sand goes back in we do 100% rinses for safety of your fish reasons, that old sand has nothing you need in the new iteration
Match temp and salinity to the old water, no other params matter
Cover your fish so they don't jump when in holding
That's only one of my rip clean threads its my best of the best
Don't forget to take the empty tank and take it outside and wash it out, dry it back to sterile clean glass so there's no scum no spots - it's worth it I promise
The cleaning is the hard part
Once the rocks are done, and the sand, and the tank glass 100% clean the reassembly goes fast
Sand in first then rocks then pour in water slowly over top of rocks, refilled laser clean
Install heater and pumps, add fish back in
No testing for anything but temp and salinity (cheap ammonia tests misread, make people dump in lots of remediation chemicals we don't want)
Trust the process: clean no cloud will skip cycle
No bottle bac is used, we preserved the bacteria on the rocks even with the peroxide application that came after the surgical cleaning