Power head fell and now everything is covered in substrate

[skyedale]

My powerhead suction cups let go last night. The result is I have drifts of substrate that are 7” high in some areas and bare tank in other areas.

My questions is how to go about levelling the substrate. Should I drain a lot of the existing tank water into a bucket and lift out the live rock & coral, putting them in the bucket? Should I try to level the substrate without taking anything out? How do I get the layer of substrate and crud off my coral in a gentle way? The other issue is my star fish lives in a piece of rock and I will need to get himout of the rock before I put it in the bucket.

What a mess.

 

[mfinn]

Oh yeah, the suction cup fail. I remember things like that ( time to get a new powerhead with magnets)

I would just use your hand or anything to swish water over the rock and corals to clean them off.
You might even be able to use that powerhead to do that if it's not too powerfull.
Just use your hand or a plastic kitchen utensil to move the sand back in place.

 

[pondman]

I've had the same thing happen a few times with suction cup failing.What I do is where it goes over the tank edge make a loop with power cord And fasten with a rubber band.that way if cup fails it won't fall to the sand bed.i hope this makes sense.