Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

[brandon429]

100% safe for them guaranteed no loss of filtration bacteria. Even if something on the internet says they won’t survive, they will, 100% continue on as if no stress. And they’ll quadruple load and stack up a little further off surfaces than current balance, over abundance due to sustained temps, then scale right back to match surface area curvature as temps/currents (water shear) and other mediating processes resume.

The heat will cause a temporary spike of filtration bacteria as they dine on the excesses of non filtration bac who spiked ninefold due to temps. Any tiny benthic pods smaller than visible that died created a boon feed for filtration bac, the colonies will spike for a while paradoxically.

 

[brandon429]

I actually have some real world work to back up the untended rocks in a garage bucket theory above/searching older works brb

 

[brandon429]

This is one of the most important microbiology threads in a reef forum

Nano Build - Might start a Nano... 15gal Column (Need advice)

Hello I have a 110gal mixed reef that's doing pretty good. It's 5 years old and i'm happy with it. I have a LARGE maroon clown that decided to knock down large rocks so i'm rescaping the right side of that tank. I have a snowflake clown that has lived in the sump for the past year because the...

www.reef2reef.com

It doesn’t appear that way to most, it’s a bucket of unfed live rocks for three years, no heater, like your experiment SkiJumper but taken extreme by happenstance.

the number of rules this single muse of a thread reinforces about things we already knew bacteria did makes it a true gold nugget for the hobby
what bacteria tolerate in aquariums is amazing ...DJ city’s thread is a cycle article authors gold nugget

 

[Daniel@R2R]

This is one of the most important microbiology threads in a reef forum

Nano Build - Might start a Nano... 15gal Column (Need advice)

Hello I have a 110gal mixed reef that's doing pretty good. It's 5 years old and i'm happy with it. I have a LARGE maroon clown that decided to knock down large rocks so i'm rescaping the right side of that tank. I have a snowflake clown that has lived in the sump for the past year because the...

www.reef2reef.com

It doesn’t appear that way to most, it’s a bucket of unfed live rocks for three years, no heater, like your experiment SkiJumper but taken extreme by happenstance.

the number of rules this single muse of a thread reinforces about things we already knew bacteria did makes it a true gold nugget for the hobby
what bacteria tolerate in aquariums is amazing ...DJ city’s thread is a cycle article authors gold nugget

Thanks for the link. Checking it out.

 

[brandon429]

And what I think is best about it is the repeatability.

Dr. Reef as we speak has a setup dedicated to the test, literally a small container of water, dry substrate that were only given bottle bac once, and no feed. I think we’re going on a year now unfed...it will pass light oxidation testing matched to its inherent surface area at any time and the prediction is forever- as long as he roughly tops off to keep the selection of marine filtration bacteria in place.

Each ammonia test isn’t enduring feed for the coming months, he’s testing then changing out all water for new/no feed. Wet bacteria cannot starve if they’re merely open to the room. The container is barely vented to account for required microbial exchange

The most shocked I could be is if someone could demonstrate ability to starve nitrifying bacteria on established reef surfaces, using the tests we have avail for oxidation, without using meds/temp extemes or drying. I can’t fathom any setting in which documentable starvation of filter bac can be attained in a home. Or garage

Presence of carpet alone or one single rug (items you’ll never see in a bac lab) guarantee unending feed we can’t see or test for.

 

[brandon429]

@Dr. Reef
Hey friend! Did you keep the container of enduring caloric restriction running lol

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Is there a step by step guide on how you rinse the sand in an existing tank. I was looking for it on the first page, but I may have missed it. What's the process you recommend for an existing tank?

 

[brandon429]

I’m going to go edit that later today for sure had been thinking more ordered procedural open /shorter intro

These are the running high points for existing tank sand rinsing:

1. We have never found a reef tank lacking live rock so severely that removal of a sandbed (to do whatever we like including rinse, replace or not put back) caused lack of surface area / verified accurate and true extended ammonia reading. There may be such a tank but not any here.
-Live rock is always rinsed in saltwater to dislodge detritus / cared for

But the sandbed, once separated from the sensitives, you can break every rule with it since those bacteria are incidental, in excess etc. it was a misnomer running in reef circles that sandbed removal requires time for live rock to take on more bacteria to make up for critical loss. Surface area on live rock doesn’t maintain empty spaces in between cells to take on more bac, after cycling all the surface area is set. The only place one can add more bac is on top of existing bac slicks.

****stacking bacteria on themselves doesn’t increase surface area it maintains or decreases it*** therefore the best filtration surfaces are unclogged, low hydrodynamic profile biological slicks and to make filtration more efficient, one can’t add more bac. One must increase surface area in order to increase bioload support. This wordy example is why we can get away with anything we want to sandbeds

2. Partiality is the risk and thorough deliberate action is why we don’t use ammonia testers or bottle bac here. If one will account for detritus in the rock and sand, anywhere, one guy had a sump full- then we know where the locus of ammonia exists so why test for it...separate from it.

3. Drain the tank water into a brute for large jobs, handle the sand, then reuse that water over sand that passes a drop test=trick for large tank rinsing. The bacteria will never be killed or rendered ineffective on the non-sand surfaces rinsed in saltwater, even if you are rinsing crud out of the rocks.

Aquarists tend to see exporting waste/rinse products/mud etc and feel all their critical bacteria are missing now...not so. What’s left behind is now 10x more active because it’s been backflushed of waste and is oxygenated, increased surface area/now at maximum again



**we cannot rinse bacteria off rocks in a home, they’re as good as stuck if your best armaments are tap water or salt water. Tap water delivers bacteria to anything it hydrates, it’s doesnt sterilize (tap water is our friend here, it’s unending rinse avail. Do the final rinse in saltwater for the sand, but we work it with tap as long as it takes to emerge clean before final rinse in saltwater and then tank use. the tap water is the middle portion, it can take up to two hours rinsing in separated buckets thread work shows)

Rinsing is good in every way, we are doing aquarium backflushing just like a large zoo or aquarium must backflush their filters from time to time. Knowing where tap water is crucial is key in being a successful rinser. It allows one to rinse thoroughly and leave no cloud.


Brainstorming before the action ways to never let detritus clouds contact sensitives is ideal, with detritus comes the mix of proteins in various states of decay etc

4. After the rinse has important factors:

Re ramp your light don’t hit a fresh rinsed tank with full production, ramp back like new.

Handle reef surfaces carefully palytoxin and microbial considerations as we are accessing the sewer of a reef tank in what we do.

All processes here are designed to take a eutrophic zone in an aquarium and make it oligotrophic quickly, all at once never in partial steps, using microbiology and a deliberate nature. The patterns that result I find to be reliable and are a method of handling sandbeds successfully.

This is the prep approach whether we move tanks, remedy an invasion, or do preventative care.

We do one set of actions for any type of unanchored invader or sandbed rinse reasoning. Moving homes means dealing with detritus, so we run this method in between homes.

Even a tank not under distress is benefited by rinsing, it’s the direct cure for old tank syndrome. We kill old tank syndrome here, it doesn’t exist for us.

#5

buy recharging packs for animals/microorganisms and put back in the rinsed bed if you like/biodiversity quickly. gammarid packs, micro brittle stars, other various pods, don't hesitate about rinsing considering the goodies are easily replaceable and come back down from the rocks above anyway.

 

[Dr. Reef]

@brandon429
yes sir I still have it, was planning on keeping it for 10 years like we decided.

 

[brandon429]

So so happy to hear

 

[fishhead8]

What do you mean by handle the sand? just stir it up a few times and keep reusing the water? I have recently got a tank from someone who was moving and didn't have space for there tank anymore and the tank has had a bad algae outbreak and couldn't figure out why till I found this thread.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

So, if I'm reading the above correctly, steps would be...

1) remove all sand from tank (don't do it in parts)
2) rinse sand in water (tap water is fine ...I'll probably still use RODI though) until it's cloudless

I'd kind of like to know HOW you guys find it easiest to rinse. Do you just swish it around in buckets? Pour water through the sand somehow?​

3) Last rinse with saltwater before adding back to tank.

Is that kind of the process?

 

[brandon429]

yes agreed, we collect any customizations here on the process and if the final result is cloudless, can't be disturbed into any cloud, then all routes there are ok for the sand.

for sure everyone w large tanks is breaking up the sand into five gallon buckets, 1/3rd ~ full tap rinsing outside since we're talking 1-2 hours per bucket, order of 40+fills and dumps/multi buckets

when each bucket is cloudless/combine and ready.

 

[brandon429]

this was my tap rinse on a 3 yr old bed, back to white cloudlessness and demo'ing a passed drop test (cant be disturbed into cloud/snowglobe effect clean)

after rinsing, all these corals go back on top. I'm due for another one soon, not that my bowl is messing up but just bc nice sand looks so fresh. I will be skip cycle full bed replacing, rinsed new caribsea sand before use. itll go another 36 mos before touchups



Ready for update cleaning after that one above a while back

Though I blast rinsed above, no life left in bed other than adhered filtration bac on sand grains, in a couple years it's back to worm and pod inclusion, just naturally off rocks. Cyclic... rinsing imparts unending biological lifespan to any tank running it/reverses old tank syndrome.

 

[skijumpersc]

Tank upgrade is complete! Thoroughly rinsed the sand from my tank and the tank I bought and it looks great. All my corals and anemones seem to be happy and the fish are adjusting to their new home. The only casualty seems to be my serpent star, he's disintegrating and I think I'm going to have to put him down. I liked him alot, but if he's the only thing I lose in this upgrade im going to consider it a success.

Old tank

New tank

I've got some work to do on the aquascape still, but I'm really happy with how its coming along

 

[fishhead8]

Would just taking a hose to a bucket of sand work?

 

[brandon429]

Fish hey! Edited this back in

Yes I'd do it that way, final rinse in ro

And if you didn't rinse in ro, left as tap final, still no harm

I insert that extra mile post rinse in sw to avoid sheer revolt. we're already way past norms with the rip cleaning lol

thats so great thank you tons for documenting for us Skijumper
The rocks are the hardest part to get totally clear, they sponge up detritus so much, that is a safe skip cycle transfer and what a huge amnt of detail you had to take care of/that was a lot on the line!

we consider a lysmata shrimp among the most delicate for peroxide work/skip cycle moves, there appears to be said whiskers in the before shot ha

did he complete the move ok/the cleaner shrimp

 

[Daniel@R2R]

this was my tap rinse on a 3 yr old bed, back to white cloudlessness and demo'ing a passed drop test (cant be disturbed into cloud/snowglobe effect clean)

after rinsing, all these corals go back on top. I'm due for another one soon, not that my bowl is messing up but just bc nice sand looks so fresh. I will be skip cycle full bed replacing, rinsed new caribsea sand before use. itll go another 36 mos before touchups



Ready for update cleaning after that one above a while back

Though I blast rinsed above, no life left in bed other than adhered filtration bac on sand grains, in a couple years it's back to worm and pod inclusion, just naturally off rocks. Cyclic... rinsing imparts unending biological lifespan to any tank running it/reverses old tank syndrome.

Ok. I'm giving it a shot. I'm going to rinse my sand bed.

 

[xiholdtruex]

A year a month and 4 days after rip cleaning and The tank is still prospering even after almost crashing it with h202 I am a firm believer of rip cleaning after this a promote it to all the local reefers when the have issues! @brandon429 advice is solid! #305reefclubsquad

here is the tank as it stands today

 

[brandon429]

Sir you have Indiana Jones whipped that into compliance it looks great and the red/purple reefy color palette is back and there's no invader at all. Corals are well fed looking sharp!

Todays available digital ammonia testers are amazingly accurate and are now being used to verify our sand-does-not-matter attitude regarding critical surface area changes in the reef tank. People using seneye and other monitors are verifying that removal and cleaning of sand isn't revealing lack of surface area / free ammonia even while bioload remains constant in the aquarium. There is freedom to rip clean sandbeds to make them ageless and good looking if such a guiding is needed