Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

[brandon429]

That is the exact sand I have bagged and ready for a rip clean in my little vase coming soon so I can start ‘22 all ruby clean no hassle


another year of vase life, cheated into position with rip cleans for 17 straight years

if I knew how to make a vase reef run legitimately I wouldn’t be rip cleaning. It’s the ultimate cheat until a better way is found, it causes mighty old corals to exist.

 

[brandon429]

Rip cleans from nano-reef.com

Sadies Biocube 16

www.nano-reef.com

watch Sadie above apply the resolve to never allow another invasion for the life of the tank…or, if she does, watch her not try and dodge responsibility but merely just fix it back. Anyone can go on vacation and come back to an invaded tank… You will see personal responsibility cause the ongoing win in Sadies tank it’s not going to be a matter of luck, chemistry or biology. We are one week out from the rip clean and all is perfect as of April 2022, watch her maintain total control over the coming months and/or guide the system back from any brink as needed. At sixteen gallons it’s a cakewalk


and this one:

90 gallon, not exactly tiny, look at this degree of skip cycle rinse control / perfect rip clean then contrasted with refusal to do any hand guiding whatsoever

this is internal locus of control responsibility being shifted back to external; something out of his command has taken back his investment and until that lucky factor is stumbled upon and self-resolved, invasion will be welcomed.

in case he’s able to correct the matter without direct intervention it’ll be helpful for large tank owners to see how that was done. And if the invasion wins, we will see that was the outcome pre selected for the tank in April of 2022.

murphs_reef 92G - retired, thanks guys

www.nano-reef.com

readers: when you drive down your city block and see perfectly manicured lawns, how many excuses are the homeowners applying to earn that condition? Did they luck into it? Did some have to work potentially several months before earning cruise control?

you see a perfect yard because that is the fruit of internal locus of control, for a lawn.

 

[brandon429]

This was the first time I’ve directly asked a rip cleaner to go to the hospital. Three times in fact

EMERGENCY - 265 reef

I need some help I have a 265 Reef that’s been up and running for 20 years About two months ago I decide to do some aqua scape with my old rocks. I took about a third of the rocks out broke them up glue them back together. Nothing was in the system it was done totally outside of the system. I...

www.reef2reef.com

look here, another new post on reef tank human irritations + Dr. relayed info on the matter.


I was genuinely concerned for his safety on the 265 reef post.


the first sentence in this thread is a safety warning to help the .01% allergic prepare

glad he's ok now, Rusty updated his post.

we have a new disclaimer for post #1 page 1 now.

 

[brandon429]

Stellar tank transfer and controlled skip cycle check this out + follow up:

Eric R hits a home run

we get a post rip clean update at three months post rip clean

EricR:

I was way too busy to take many pictures but here's a few along with the recap of how my tank transfer went (37g tall to 40B), about 1.5 weeks later...

Prep:
-- bought new sand (posted above) and rinsed with garden hose FOREVER ...pretty clear run off by the end, plus final rinsed with new saltwater (just because I had a ton of saltwater ready and not as much RO/DI)

Temporary containment vessels:
-- 2 smaller glass tanks (5g and 12g maybe?) for livestock, with air stones
-- BIG storage container from garage rafters for as much OLD tank water I could keep and everything else going into new tank
-- 5 gallon bucket for swishing/blasting/cleaning stuff and discard
-- cheapie Amazon pump to move water

Actual transfer:
(1. Pumped old water into temporary tanks and 5g bucket (to point of live rocks still being submerged in tank
(2. Moved rocks and live stock *swish/blast rocks in bucket during move
(3. Drained old tank (water into BIG garage container)
(4. Scooped out old sand and moved tank out
(5. Put new tank in and leveled
(6. New dry rock then sand -- kept most sand at edges because I decided to go with bottom of rocks on glass
(7. Started filling with old water from garage container
(8. Moved live rock in once water level high enough to cover
(9. Heated new tank until it matched (slightly falling) temperature in temporary tanks
(10. Moved livestock in then finished filling
*randomly started using NEW saltwater as needed during all filling, ended up using about 15 gallons of new water (only salinity matched to old water and first pH check matched old so didn't worry about that)
*monitored temperature in main tanks and one temporary tank -- there was a temperature swing of about 3 degrees

Deviations from the plan:
-- bicolor blenny would NOT come out of his hole in one live rock during this escapade so I did move one live rock (twice) without ever "swishing" it (with blenny inside, as mentioned in previous post). Hopefully the detritus in that one rock isn't an issue but we'll see.
-- didn't use all new water and, in fact, actually saved as much of my OLD water as possible (minus the stuff from the bottom or the bucket I used for swishing stuff). *this isn't a deviation from my intent but, now that I'm glancing back through stuff, is a deviation from the "Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer" thread.

Transfer was about 10 days ago and everything seems to be doing fine.
My only concern is that now the tank is too clean for my small inverts to find food so have been feeding a bit extra (qty) and some target feeding.

PICS BELOW

Old 37 gallon tall tank:

Temporary transfer pics:

New 40 gallon breeder tank:

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[IMG alt="EricR"]https://www.reef2reef.com/data/avatars/m/177/177420.jpg?1623242896[/IMG]

EricR​

Active Member​

Build Thread Contributor
JoinedJun 9, 2021Messages216Reaction score217Review score+0 /0 /-0LocationCalifornia USA
2022 Status Update:

• 3 months since tank transfer
• White dry rock (new during tank transfer) is now fully “colored” - even the urchin’s attempts to carve it back to bald aren’t keeping up
• Got an AI Nero 5 + iSea Live Anemone Guard for Christmas
• First ever coral (small zoas off the cheapie rack at LFS), only in the tank for 1 week so far

FTS — rock on right was new/dry/white 3 months ago

Coral still on rack — no idea what I’m doing with lighting, flow, or placement yet so keeping it mobile for the time-being. (I'm aware that chocolate chip starfish are not considered reef safe so just keeping an eye on it for now)

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

 

[Matt Miller]

I've been battling dinos and am planning on using this rip clean for my upgrade.

Next weekend I'm picking up the new tank which will almost triple my water volume plus add a sump. I want to add a refugium with chaeto, I'm hoping this will help prevent the dinos from coming back.

I've got an aio 20g with one rock structure that will be moving to the new.

My biggest concern is my BTA is on the rock I need to clean it off thoroughly. There's so much info here and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with the process.

 

[olonmv]

Hello all!

Very soon in the near future I plan on changing my sand from a fine sand (caribsea live sand) when I started the tank to a bigger grain caribsea aragonite dry sand. I do not wish to do anything else as I’m happy with where the tank sits. My tank is a little over a year old with sand that is constantly sifted with a pistol shrimp a yellow watchman and 4 nassarius snails in a 13.5 evo. I just want to change sand for maintenance purposes like sand bed vacuuming.

I completely understand the rinse process of the new substrate and plan on following it to a tee.


As for removal of old substrate, I plan on using a traditional siphon and siphoning old substrate into a bucket. From that bucket I have a small pump pumping water through a 1 micron filter in a filter canister back into tank. It absolutely pumps clear water back into the tank, ive tried it on a small part.

After removing the old substrate and cleaning the tank, is all that I have to do is put in the new clean substrate in the tank? Am I getting that right? Do you guys think there’s a risk of bacterial blooms or anything with my process? Are parameters in danger of goin haywire or am I over thinking it and it sounds bulletproof?

 

[Paston1]

Can we expand a little here.
Why wouldn’t we rinse our sand then add to a brute or container with heater, pump, and bacteria to help seed it?

 

[Matt Miller]

Can we expand a little here.
Why wouldn’t we rinse our sand then add to a brute or container with heater, pump, and bacteria to help seed it?

I'm pretty sure on the first page it says all the bacteria we need is on the rocks.

 

[Garf]

Can we expand a little here.
Why wouldn’t we rinse our sand then add to a brute or container with heater, pump, and bacteria to help seed it?

It’s ok just to wash sand, folks have been doing it for donkeys years.

 

[Paston1]

It’s ok just to wash sand, folks have been doing it for donkeys years.

Correct, it’s the seeding after that I was curious about. It’s a new build and dry rock. Cycling rock now.

 

[olonmv]

Correct, it’s the seeding after that I was curious about. It’s a new build and dry rock. Cycling rock now.

New sand and dry rock. You’re in for the long haul. That’s how I started my tank also. I went the prawn method. A lot of peeps do the bacteria in a bottle. Either is good.

I didn’t cycle rock. Went straight into salt water after a rinse. Probably a bad idea but it worked out just fine. Good luck!!!

 

[Paston1]

New sand and dry rock. You’re in for the long haul. That’s how I started my tank also. I went the prawn method. A lot of peeps do the bacteria in a bottle. Either is good.

I didn’t cycle rock. Went straight into salt water after a rinse. Probably a bad idea but it worked out just fine. Good luck!!!

Clown in a brute with some of the rock. Have some live rock from current tank to pull also. Just bored sitting idle waiting for delivery lol.

 

[Gort]

OY VEY! I've gone thru at least ten 5-gallon buckets of water to rinse about half a 40-lb bag of CaribSea Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand, and the water still runs very milky. I'm agitating with a drill-mounted paint stirring paddle, so I know I'm getting all of it. There are so VERY many fines ...

 

[Garf]

OY VEY! I've gone thru at least ten 5-gallon buckets of water to rinse about half a 40-lb bag of CaribSea Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand, and the water still runs very milky. I'm agitating with a drill-mounted paint stirring paddle, so I know I'm getting all of it. There are so VERY many fines ...

Your probably grinding the sand into dust, lol

 

[Gort]

Your probably grinding the sand into dust, lol

Who knew?

 

[flagg37]

Somehow we’ve been seven years without having to remind palythoa owners that their elective purchases can be dangerous when handling, for 2022 Id like to post that reminder.


I wonder if people who buy and own cobras, or fang-in rattlesnakes are continually reminded in herp forums not to get bit during cage cleans


or tiger owners, be washed free of steak smell before entering the cage to show buddies the trained tricks


or how about owners of fifteen-foot / 130lb pythons


somehow people in our reef circles buy the single most dangerous species of coral you could possibly own per wikipedia and then handle it as if it’s nothing.

please don’t do that in reefing.

The problem is that unlike all your examples, we don’t know which kind of zoa/paly that is dangerous. Clearly not all are dangerous. Even the method of exposure seems to be unclear.

 

[Devaji]

I need to to a tank swap out here in the next few weeks. same tank size just a full replacement. red sea 650P around 180ish gallons

I have 2" of carib sea special grade my fav. sand.
I plan to put the fish corals and LR in to a tank with HOB filter, flow heater and light for maybe ( hopefully 1-2 days ) while I do the tank swap.

where i am debating is new sand VS rip clean the sand I have....I have have Dinos for 9 months now due the fact I cant get my N&P up under stocked covid and winter was hard shipping in fish.

anyway setting here thinking about it. either way i go new or used sand I will have to rinse the crap out of it. so I might as well use what I got eh?

only advantage of new I see is, I can prep. it for for hand.

thoughts?

 

[Crimsonphoenix]

The problem is that unlike all your examples, we don’t know which kind of zoa/paly that is dangerous. Clearly not all are dangerous. Even the method of exposure seems to be unclear.

I upgraded my 5 year old mixed reef to a larger tank. I had some coolie dino flagella in my old tank. I used new carob sea live sand and moved my old live rock. After a week I got some distoms but had a Bad breakout of dinoflagellates that covered all my new sand. My nirates and phosphates were low. I started feeding heavier and Dave from Brightwell said to dose every other day with microbacter 7 and once a week with microbacter clean. I am finally dino free!!

 

[EricR]

I need to to a tank swap out here in the next few weeks. same tank size just a full replacement. red sea 650P around 180ish gallons

I have 2" of carib sea special grade my fav. sand.
I plan to put the fish corals and LR in to a tank with HOB filter, flow heater and light for maybe ( hopefully 1-2 days ) while I do the tank swap.

where i am debating is new sand VS rip clean the sand I have....I have have Dinos for 9 months now due the fact I cant get my N&P up under stocked covid and winter was hard shipping in fish.

anyway setting here thinking about it. either way i go new or used sand I will have to rinse the crap out of it. so I might as well use what I got eh?

only advantage of new I see is, I can prep. it for for hand.

thoughts?

I went through the same "new vs old sand" decision about 6 months ago but on a smaller scale -- just 40 gallons.

As you said, either way, you're going to rinse the h$!! out of it.
In my case, I went for new and happy I did but that was less than 1/4 cost of what you're looking at.

If you go for new, consider CaribSea "special grade" -- nice grain size and only about 50 cents / pound (((perpetually "on sale" at PetSmart website))):

CaribSea Special Grade Aragonite Sand

 

[Nick Steele]

I went through the same "new vs old sand" decision about 6 months ago but on a smaller scale -- just 40 gallons.

As you said, either way, you're going to rinse the h$!! out of it.
In my case, I went for new and happy I did but that was less than 1/4 cost of what you're looking at.

If you go for new, consider CaribSea "special grade" -- nice grain size and only about 50 cents / pound (((perpetually "on sale" at PetSmart website))):

CaribSea Special Grade Aragonite Sand

Is that always on sale like that?