Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

[lanceinhuntsville]

How much water are you planning to save from your current system?

You could use a power head and blast all the holes in your current rock as you remove them from the 40B. Then a swish/rinse in clean water.

Good ideas like this are why I come here. I wasn’t planning on using any of the water - based on the threads I’ve read it seems like I can use 100% new water (someone please correct me if I misinterpreted this!). So yeah I was planning to fill my 44 gallon brute for the rinse, and I think nailing it with the powerhead while they’re still in the 40B would be perfect.

 

[brandon429]

Agreed it’s no prob using current water drawn off before it clouds nice call Aqua. It’s not coming from a dinos challenge tank/free to use agreed.

 

[lanceinhuntsville]

Should I do a water change and add some of the old tank water? I was planning to keep the 40 running as a QT with some minimal rock left, so the plan was to keep the substrate, a small rock pile, and existing water in there until after I stocked the 120.

editing: Or should I actually reset the 40B, since I’ll be stirring up all that detritus?

editing 2, stream of consciousness edition: I think I’m going to pull the sand out of the 40 and do a full clean and leave it BB then add a rock back in for QT. Don’t want to kill off my new fish with old nasty detritus water.

 

[Aqua Man]

based on the threads I’ve read it seems like I can use 100% new water (someone please correct me if I misinterpreted this!).

You can do 100% new water in the new tank. No problem, just match up salinity, temp and Alk to the old water.

think I’m going to pull the sand out of the 40 and do a full clean and leave it BB then add a rock back in for QT. Don’t want to kill off my new fish with old nasty detritus water.

Sounds like a good plan. 40B will make a nice QT !!

 

[brandon429]

Team if you can believe it, Jedi found a way to test rip cleaning even further and meaner than we did for the prior pages

32g rework...

My 32g tank has been a real problem for quite a while now. I just cant seem to get the algae under control. Today I decided it's time to do a full rework on this tank. Pried off all the coral frags and removed all of the rock. Scraping all of the algae off the back as possible and scrub the...

www.reef2reef.com

well done Jedi you have moved the bar of observation even higher

that is the most removal of surface area carrying the same initial bioload after reassembly Ive ever seen. It was to the point I was legit 20% concerned at a recycle

for 46 pages I had no concerns till that one

and it still did not recycle, because he did cloudless work. Our tanks are never in deficit of filter bacteria I’m now certain.

 

[Garf]

Team if you can believe it, Jedi found a way to test rip cleaning even further and meaner than we did for the prior pages

32g rework...

My 32g tank has been a real problem for quite a while now. I just cant seem to get the algae under control. Today I decided it's time to do a full rework on this tank. Pried off all the coral frags and removed all of the rock. Scraping all of the algae off the back as possible and scrub the...

www.reef2reef.com

well done Jedi you have moved the bar of observation even higher

that is the most removal of surface area carrying the same initial bioload after reassembly Ive ever seen. It was to the point I was legit 20% concerned at a recycle

for 46 pages I had no concerns till that one

and it still did not recycle, because he did cloudless work. Our tanks are never in deficit of filter bacteria I’m now certain.

Them rocks are gonna be covered in algae, soon, very soon. R.I.P. to any competition. Also, no grief about having a blue in a tiny tank?

 

[brandon429]

No, we deal with surface area dynamics here, predictions and outcome

the tang policing is elsewhere

all we care about here are biofiltration dynamics. Crash vs non crash access work.

 

[brandon429]

Recent new tank guiding work from direct messages group

CoreyT355 has a new tank going through expected challenges. For nanos we absolutely do not have to allow the condition, or wrestle with phosphate worry for weeks, or let corals get overtaken, or chemical soup the setup with dosers


we can simply do this

changed to, no bottle bac rip clean

 

[brandon429]

It’s ideal to manage new tank uglies with rip cleans because we now have open pores, better systemic filtration than before, and we can feed the system better now vs withhold feed to try and starve algae.

the invasion algae wasnt killed off and left to become detritus loading, it was forcefully and surgically removed along with all the other stores of waste. An instant age reset cheat trick we use here



now we have a clean start and can try the ramp up other ways now, and if we need to rip clean it again should something go wrong, that’s ok its harmless to do. Rip cleans are safety parachutes anyone can use to break away from challenges.

the goal is to try and reef without needing them. And then if you can’t, that’s ok neither can I. At least we aren’t losing corals.


when rip cleans were first proposed after I’d been running them on my tank a long time, they we decried by the masses as harmful and upsetting and likely to cause dinos. Work threads turn anecdote into science by pattern, and then instill permanent change in reefing procedure once the patterns are verified.

____________________________________________________________________



Look what **Stansreef*** did!! Copied from the peroxide thread

shows sand rinsing mixed with direct rock prep and plant removal plus kill step:

Been battling dinos, cyano, green hair algae, etc. on my Fluval Evo13.5 for months now. Chasing nutrients, different chemical treatments, urchins, snails, etc. with no lasting results! Was at my wits end, came across this thread and thought why not rip and treat!

Read through the various posts and techniques for sand cleaning and hydrogen sprays and came up with a game plan.

Pulled all my coral frags first, scrubbed them with a toothbrush dipped in h2o2 (avoiding fleshy areas). Dipped in RO, then tank water, then placed in a 5 gallon bucket with tank water and a heater. Put fish in a separate 5 gallon bucket with heater.

Pulled all rocks, scrubbed down all areas hard with a toothbrush again being sure to avoid zoas. Rinsed/dunked the rocks numerous times in salt water to get rid of debris. Then sprayed the rocks with 3% h2o2 and let sit for 4 mins. Dipped in RO then salt water before placing back in tank (after sand treatment).

Kept the rocks moist with saltwater misting while I worked on the sand. Pulled all the sand and rinsed with cold tap water numerous times in another 5 gallon bucket in the sink. Kept tap rinsing until water was crystal clear (lost count of rinses). Rinsed with RO a final time before placing back in tank.

Placed the rocks back in, refilled with water, added the fish and corals back! Corals are still ticked off but I they'll pull through. 2 days after rinse and I'm very pleased! Just waiting for zoas to open up fully.

A couple before and after pics shows the story! Just need to rearrange rocks and some corals in the future. Thanks for the thread @brandon429

 

[brandon429]

This could be job #500 we have officially lost count on the laser clean setups

Livestock Transfer Risk Assessment

I plan to transfer all of my minimal livestock (FOWLR + inverts, NO corals) from current 37 gallon TALL tank into standard 40 gallon breeder. Current tank is about 5 months old (some of the livestock older, from smaller tanks). Just wondering how risky this really is. Reasoning: -- Current 37...

www.reef2reef.com

EricR documented his tank upgrade accurately and others can use his tank assembly as a factual roadmap for hazard free tank upgrades. His water looked so clean the tank looked empty. That’s a power rinse

 

[brandon429]

Effects of tap water on Nitrifying during Rip-Clean method: Experiment

@Garf @Jedi1199 @brandon429 @MnFish1 @Rmckoy @Obsessed with fish https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/i-have-found-the-secret-to-cycling-a-tank-intantly.869041/ The above posted thread prompted me to conduct an experiment to answer some questions about a couple of things. 1. Instant cycling a...

www.reef2reef.com

an experiment to prove rip cleans kill the biofilter. We want this study linked to page 46 of continuous rip cleans with follow up on file.

 

[DungSl1nger]

Well that took forever. I started a tank up grade from my 24 Aqua Top to a Red Sea Reefer 300XL a replacement for my cracked in moving 250.

After a Short talk with @brandon429 last night I prepped for a water change and had to find a way to rinse sand while living in an apartment without clogging my pipes. the solution came to me while at my local fish store.

So After fueling up on Whataburger I got to work. First I attached the water changer to my sink faucet with zero problems. The system came with multiple adapters then loaded the first bag of sand in the bucket and started running the water. I did not take pictures of this because we were having thunderstorms.

with the water changer the process was slower than when I did a rip clean on my 55 gallon reefers 60 pounds of sand.
After cleaning the first bag I dropped in in the tank and proceeded on to the 2nd bag. In total it took me 3 hours including the RODI rinse.

Next the tank water change, my dumb a** took 25 gallons out but only had 20 in the brute so I moved on to pulling the rock From the aqua top, placing it in to the XL and started the drip acclamation of the fish a the few corals I had while I made more water. One of the issues with the Aqua Top is the sponge filter in the clogs quickly and eventually (almost every day) starts filling the DT leading to instability of salinity, a problem I will be fixing with my sump and roller.

Next went in the fish and then moving the equipment from the Aqua top to the 300XL.

The messes I tend to make.

The 3/4 finished product. Overall I am happy with the job and hopefully I will have my stability back. In a few weeks I will probably redo my aquascape.

 

[brandon429]

I only give heart emojis to extremely clear rinse jobs of pure and real dedication or any memes that involve morgan fairchild from 1983 — thank you SO much for logging this work for us!


true rip cleaned tanks look completely empty when full, you need to add water to that thing

 

[DungSl1nger]

I only give heart emojis to extremely clear rinse jobs of pure and real dedication or any memes that involve morgan fairchild from 1983 — thank you SO much for logging this work for us!


true rip cleaned tanks look completely empty when full, you need to add water to that thing

Thank you for sharing the RIP clean with the community. I still remember my first tank where I just dumped everything in it and it took days to settle. I prefer this way better!

 

[brandon429]

Thank you for putting your time and money investment on the line to keep our pattern feedback going strong into ‘22 you have a natural skill for reef surgery

it’s truly completely clear above, a top job ~

 

[brandon429]

removed example. decided to allow remassing and add things into the water/not what we do.

 

[brandon429]

The entire point of a rip clean in a large tank like that is to attain cloudless surfaces so that when we for sure need to rework the rocks, they can be lifted and shifted without kicking up tons of waste. gardening, like dandelions in a lawn you want perfected, requires ongoing work

plus the eutrophic condition specifically plugs rock pores and prevents waste expression, that will now begin and this tank's nitrification abilities just went up/got better because surface area has been forcefully restored. everything is breathing and respiring better now, so new strands of algae will pop up because we went from 100% to zero overnite, that's the dandelions trying to regain. either using fluconazole as a preventative now can be done, or simply lift and kill manual control over rocks to prevent future eutrophication takeover.

 

[Logical_Plan]

Ok, I need clarification on Lazer clear. I have made many many rinse passes on my sand till the water runs clear. I can drop it in a clear glass with rodi water and it settles clear. I can pick some up and drop it and still clear. I can fill water on top of sand and still clear.

However, if I mix it like stir for 10 seconds, I get minor clouding. Clears in under a minute. Is that new silt from stirring or am I not done rinsing?

 

[brandon429]

I think that's legit. I would expect there are gradients of grain size large to small and if those medium ones rise and take a little bit to fall that's keeping your grain size diversity halfway decent vs all larger grains we'd cull to if it was rinsed long enough to be instantly cleared. I think given this effort above you're rinsed! can't wait to see your final assembly Im confident it'll be excellent.

totally unrinsed sand takes about 48 hours to clear, so anything within a few minutes is fine by us

 

[Logical_Plan]

I think that's legit. I would expect there are gradients of grain size large to small and if those medium ones rise and take a little bit to fall that's keeping your grain size diversity halfway decent vs all larger grains we'd cull to if it was rinsed long enough to be instantly cleared. I think given this effort above you're rinsed! can't wait to see your final assembly Im confident it'll be excellent.

totally unrinsed sand takes about 48 hours to clear, so anything within a few minutes is fine by us

It is Carib sea aragonite special grade sand.

Glad to hear that description sounds as it is rinsed. I might have gone mad trying to get it any more clear.

Stand arrives tomorrow. Tanks later this week. Should be plumbed and filled mid-jan.