If you were to try to bring a reef tank back in line, how would you do it?

[Daniel@R2R]

If you were given the responsibility of bringing a reef tank that had been neglected for several months to a year back in line and healthy? How would you go about it? What steps would you take and in what order? How quickly do you think you can take an unhealthy reef back to health?

 

[andrewey]

Depends on what animals are inside and what the problems are. I've done it a few times for others or when I've bought neglected setups- some, I've turned around in a week, but most take a few months.

The largest "time sinks" are dealing with high phosphates in the rock/substrate, hair algae, AEFWs and other coral pests, bleached corals, or extremely high parameters (e.g. phosphate >10, nitrate >300). Usually, you can only go as fast as the most sensitive animal in the tank, so that's the biggest consideration and can prevent you from doing a "deep clean" on certain tanks.

 

[blasterman]

Depends on inhabitants and state of the tank. If it's over run with algae and has stressed but salvageable corals it's a whole different ball game than a fish only tank in the same state.

In the later state you just do a surface gravel vac and scrubbing of all contact surfaces. Then a couple of big water changes a week apart and typically you are ready to go.

With corals you want to save its trickier. Big water changes will smash nutrients and might put neglected corals over the point of no return.

Live rock is also a consideration. If it's over run with aiptasia, bubble algae or dinos it might not be worth saving the worst pieces. Or, if a quick wire brushing cleans it you are good to go.

 

[brandon429]

Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) in reef tanks?

Due to corona my school was shut down and aquarium care was at a minimum. At the time I was an unpaid volunteer and just came by to feed the fish a couple times a week and refill a sump with DI water so it didn’t dry up. Turns out the facility manager was not doing water changes for an...

www.reef2reef.com

the time it takes to make the tank fixed can be chosen by the reefer. That above is all at once. Slower methods exist, but they’re not nearly as good as fixed in one day + skip cycle reassembly.

the complete clean out method doesnt hurt any reef, even a perfectly running not invaded one (Jon Malkerson rip cleans his 120 occasionally as preventative) so whether or not we rip clean depends on how much fix we want in place, it’s never destabilizing or harmful. That’s why I didn’t ask to see pics of the reef you have in mind Daniel, same means tank to tank.

nobody wants to rip clean 500 gallon tanks, large tank owners likely choose slower coaxing methods no actual physical diving in the tank

*some worms have died in the sandbed as we force cleaned. bye / had to get to the filth, and they’re in the way. dont think keeping sandbed fauna is all that important in tank restoration. It’s not.

 

[andrewey]

My timeframe is usually something like this:
Alk: No more than 0.5dkh per day, if moving more than 2-3dkh, add an extra few days.
Magnesium: No more than 100ppm in a day
Nitrate: Depends on starting level, can bring down relatively quickly, go slowly if dealing with ULNS.
Phosphate: The most important to drop slowly. REALLY slowly!
pH: I deal with last. Always add extra oxygenation.

Hair algae, cyanobacteria, bryopsis, bubble algae, etc. removal on day #1. Get as much as I can. If Aiptasia/mojanos, I break coral off the live rock and don't even bother trying to treat in tank if there are more than a few. Replace the live rock and bleach/acid wash the old rock and recycle.

If AEFW, red bugs, etc- everything goes in QT, tank gets completely gutted and sterilized. Rock is QTd or recycled, depending on organism.

Kicking up organics/detritus/sand is the same concerns as with any move of a tank.

If this is mostly a fish only tank with few corals (or they are extremely hardy), you can just deep clean, do massive water changes, and call it a day

 

[Daniel@R2R]

What are some of the tank situations you guys have had to work on?

 

[Jimmyneptune]

My timeframe is usually something like this:
Alk: No more than 0.5dkh per day, if moving more than 2-3dkh, add an extra few days.
Magnesium: No more than 100ppm in a day
Nitrate: Depends on starting level, can bring down relatively quickly, go slowly if dealing with ULNS.
Phosphate: The most important to drop slowly. REALLY slowly!
pH: I deal with last. Always add extra oxygenation.

Hair algae, cyanobacteria, bryopsis, bubble algae, etc. removal on day #1. Get as much as I can. If Aiptasia/mojanos, I break coral off the live rock and don't even bother trying to treat in tank if there are more than a few. Replace the live rock and bleach/acid wash the old rock and recycle.

If AEFW, red bugs, etc- everything goes in QT, tank gets completely gutted and sterilized. Rock is QTd or recycled, depending on organism.

Kicking up organics/detritus/sand is the same concerns as with any move of a tank.

If this is mostly a fish only tank with few corals (or they are extremely hardy), you can just deep clean, do massive water changes, and call it a day

why drop phosphate slowly?

 

[andrewey]

why drop phosphate slowly?

Certain animals, such as SPS, can be harmed by large fluctuations of phosphate levels. Like alkalinity, they seem to adapt to the concentration of phosphate present in the water (hence why some successful reefs are run at extremely low levels of phosphate and others at extremely high levels of phosphate). The effect of these rapid fluctuations can manifest in a number of ways, but most commonly hobbyists will report bleaching or STN/RTN events. This is probably most common when people will attempt to rapidly lower their phosphate levels (e.g. GFO or lanthum chloride) and why it's important to slowly taper those dosages as to not harm their corals.

In my personal experience, the timeline to lower phosphate is one of the slowest in comparison to other parameters and possibly only secondary to changes lighting intensity to reduce the incidence of negative outcomes.

 

[Jimmyneptune]

Certain animals, such as SPS, can be harmed by large fluctuations of phosphate levels. Like alkalinity, they seem to adapt to the concentration of phosphate present in the water (hence why some successful reefs are run at extremely low levels of phosphate and others at extremely high levels of phosphate). The effect of these rapid fluctuations can manifest in a number of ways, but most commonly hobbyists will report bleaching or STN/RTN events. This is probably most common when people will attempt to rapidly lower their phosphate levels (e.g. GFO or lanthum chloride) and why it's important to slowly taper those dosages as to not harm their corals.

In my personal experience, the timeline to lower phosphate is one of the slowest in comparison to other parameters and possibly only secondary to changes lighting intensity to reduce the incidence of negative outcomes.

I ask because I have really high p04. My phosphate is 1.28; my nitrate is 40-80 ppm. I have dropped my po4 to .75 by dosing Phosban-L, lanthum chloride. I never dropped it down lower because my nitrate has been floating at 50 ppm range for a while and I have only wanted to use matrix or algae to lower N03. My tank is mostly algae free with only a little nuisance algae in my sump. I would like to shift to a 20-30 ppm for nitrate and a .4 to .6 for my p04.

 

[andrewey]

I think those are all reasonable levels. Since you're not currently battling any nuisance algae and you have the benefit of time, I would simply drop your levels pretty slowly, allowing your corals to acclimate to the shift.

 

[ReefLab]

Bleach the rocks, trash the sand, quarantine the fish, and clean the heck out of all the equipment.

 

[Kryptonian]

A stern talking to and definitely take away some priveledges. Gotta keep these little tanks in order these days with all the disrespect flying around.

I wouldn't have posted something this useless if you didn't already have help!

 

[Bill Bolton]

First is to do a good, general cleaning and LARGE water change and clean all equipment and assure function.
Next, make sure lights are fresh and times set ..... LED fans can usually skip this
Once water clears up and I can take a good look at the critters in the tank, and evaluate what algae, how many aptasia or other pest anemones, etc, I will add a HUGE clean up crew to mow down the grass, clean the rock, turn over the sand bed. Then, if overrun with aptasia.... and I mean bad, covering all the rock.... I'll order from 2 to 10 Berghia Nudibrach and let them feast. I have always had perfect results with Berghia..... I seldom have luck with Copperband or shrimp or crabs..... Berghia eat aptasia as the main part of their diet..... the others don't.
I will never be so lazy as to toss rock due to a pest.... especially something so easy to get rid of!
Once its clean, all equipment working, and critters happy..... I just do water changes. I usually see large scale improvement within a couple days..... tank back "in line" usually 1 or 2 months. I never hurry things. Nothing good happens fast in a reef.