having to reboot...again

pdiehm · Sep 25, 2018

I originally got 75lbs of Pukani rock. battled through all kinds of ugly. Eventually got fed up, and pulled it out, pulled the sand out. The amount of "yuck" was incredible. Not sure anyone could pay me to do sand again, as it's obvious I don't know how to clean it (if I should).

Bathed the rocks in acid, bleached, and rodi. That was in July 2017. Tank stabilized added corals, but I had an awful algae outbreak (brown, slimy crap, not dino's) on the rocks. Added waste away, 1/2 dose first 2 weeks. full dose the 3rd week. BOOM, every coral died.

I started seeing these thorny things on my rocks, and after pulling them out last night to re-arrange, i got confirmation they are vermetid snails. Not a few, but hundreds, if not thousands all over the pukani rock.

Pukani rock is gorgeous, but like the sand, holds an insane amount of crud. I don't have the time or energy to constantly blow out each rock. The vermetid snails gave me a reason to pull it all out and start anew.

I'll use a piece or 2 in the 40 gallon breeder for the time being while I re-set up my 120 with 120 lbs of ReefCleaners rock. The 5 fish will go into the 40 breeder for a few weeks, the snails I find will go into the 40 breeder for a few weeks, and the remaining coral survivor will go in there, which is powered by a 4x24 T5 light. I will hook up the AC70 to it, and probably do 10 gallon water changes weekly on it.

I'll fill the breeder with water from my 120, drain the rest, make new water....clean/dry the tank until the rock comes, then try to aquascape that...I'm really bad at that....and in a few weeks, hopefully move the fish back to the 120. I have 2 bags of biomedia from the aquaclear filters in my sump, add in some Dr. Tim's, and some ammonium chloride and get this thing cycled.

the next time I have to break it down....will be the last time. After that, it'll leave my house.

TheEngineer · Sep 25, 2018

That's frustrating! I just rebooted my tank after it crashed in October last year. Sometimes a reboot is a blessing in disguise.

Greybeard · Sep 25, 2018

Be Very careful not to move those vermetid snails to your new tank. They can move in very easily.

I'm using reefcleaner base rock. It's worked out well for me, but I'm fighting bubble algae now... came in on a frag plug. Luckily, I've got a rabbitfish that likes it. Problem is, it 's growing in the cracks and crevices of the reefcleaner rocks, where the fish can't get at it. I added a few emerald crabs... they're doing a good job, but not good enough for me.

Best of luck!

pdiehm · Sep 25, 2018

I used Marco rock in my biocube and it has been flawless. I don’t have many corals but I have a ton of coralline. Only algae I get is when I am lazy for a few weeks.

I cleaned out the 40 just now. Put 5 pieces of pukani that was bathed and dried for well over a year in there. I have 1 rock with 2 across on it. That will go in there. The rest of the rock will be removed, dried and acid washed. The trick is going to be removing my anemone who is DEEP within one of the pieces. I would hate to kill it. Will try to remove it but would have to destroy the rock. There are a couple montiporas that are dying, I may try to frag them. One is completely dead but I see a piece wishing the rock that looks like it has full color and polyps (mystic sunset).

I am starting to make 120 gallons of fresh rodi that is ready for salt when my reef cleaners rock comes.

When I start to cycle, will start the process of making another 120 gallons of water.

The good thing in all this is, I am destroying areas so maybe my yellow tang will leave the hippo alone. I doubt it but hey...such is my luck in this hobby

pdiehm · Sep 27, 2018

Welp, the 40 breeder is set up, the rock where my midas blenny is hiding and hosting the anemone is in the tank, and the rock that holds 2 growing pieces of a cliff's acropora is also in the tank. A bottle of biospira, some carbon, and a bag of media that's been seeded for 2 years is in the AC 70. The 4x24W T5's will be on for 6 hours, and should give enough light to the corals. I'm hoping the change will encourage the anemone to move, but I have zero expectations of that. He's been attached (stuck???) in in this rock for nearly 2 years.

I filled the 40 up with water from the 120, and I can give that a good cleaning, scraping the back wall...I'm hoping the coralline on the overflow will kickstart once it's full again (within a week). I need to trim a section off my return piping, just a smidge to fit the Sicce 5, and will use the time to power clean the skimmer. The algae scrubber will have to start up again, or I can make a ledge and put it on the 40 to keep working, but I'm leaning towards just starting it back up when I get the new rocks in and start cycling. I will give the mp40's a good cleaning, and if all goes well, by end of october have the fish back into the 120. The corals may have to wait til the tank starts to settle down....but I am planning on making the 40 a QT tank for inverts and corals to avoid any pests such as vermetid snails again. The good news is, Dino's cause the first reboot...the Vermetid snail epidemic caused this one, I'm pretty sure that I've been hit with the 2 most common causes.

This thread will be filled with pictures. So my apologies.