rebooting 125 gal tank

[Susan Edwards]

Okay, this is my second time trying this reboot. Life intruded and I had to put my tank on hold. 2018 I lost my mom who lived with us. Had her room painted with a special primer for smoking, and it was so noxious, it wiped out half my fish in 2 tanks. 2019 my daughter decided to get married in Croatia-destination wedding (and it was a fairytale wedding and experience!) so I took down all but the 125 tank as we were going to be gone 3 weeks, and I didn't want a pet sitter overwhelmed. All money went for that trip! 2020 as we all know has been with its own challenges. Esp. in California where not everything is reopened, or safe to go out, like to fish stores. And summer here is too hot to order any live fish or corals. So now that fall is about here, now is the time!

I've lost most corals. But all fish seem to be doing good.

So now I'm ready to reboot and redo. And it will be a job. Here is my plan:

1- get the 45 gal RS Max 170 repaired (bulkhead seals leak) to hold rock and keep it live.
2- Remove a lot of the rock and save until I figure out what I want. This will also help deal with algae on some rocks. Will use no lights in the 45 gal
3- Remove a lot of sand and replace. I have very fine sand that blows around. What I want is a med. 1-2mm size. I'll devise a way to dump sand where I want it, down a pvc pipe maybe.
4- Soak all powerheads and determine how many no longer work. I'll use vinegar in pitchers hanging from the tank so I don't have to undo all wiring.
5- scrape the heck out of the tank. Can barely see thru...
6- rescape the rock. Maybe a bit less, more floor room
7- research new lights. The marine orbits just don't seem to do for the corals
8- use old sand to fill one overflow to get the trapped clown fish out.... If he is still alive. I put food there every day.... Then vacuum out sand
9- rejoin partner member here <g>

I'll start by scraping and cleaning glass and going over the powerheads. And removing sand and rocks.

Debating whether to start a new build thread? Might be too embarassed to do a before and after picture lol's

Also, will a 1-2mm sand do for a sand sifter? And not blow all around?

 

[fishguy242]

hi ,sounds like a plan,1st,yes start a build so we can help along the way ,no judgement here !! or they swim w the fishes would change out all of old sand,keep all rock wet and alive ,just scrub clean ,until final scape is complete,clean glass while still full of water much easier assuming you are starting over with all new water,add sand use dinner plate/platter not to stir up too much sand ,yes sand would be fine for sifters ,but not right away no nutrients yet, your rock is plenty mature to basically skip cycle long as kept alive and just cleaned in old tank water /sw,nope on the orbits,your choice and research,recommend 3 165 watt viperspectra led boxes ,nice to meet cha,following along,here to help you get this baby back to beauty...build thread from here

 

[Susan Edwards]

Thanks @fishguy242. I'm actually not tearing the tank apart as I don't want to overly stress the fish. Plus, I have a pistol shrimp and tiny barber shop goby living under 1 rock. The last time I had to move t hem, I thought I lost the shrimp (he must have been in the rocks as I moved them. I was shocked and surprised to find they had found each other again in the larger tank.

As I remove sand, that will also remove water, so by time I'm done, I'll have done a huge water change over several days. Using the old water in other tank with rock will keep it alive. Using no lights should kill any algae. I'll also clean glass in stages to allow skimmer to remove as much of it as possible.

It's good to be back and thinking of all this. I do find being here helps keep the focus. Will start a new thread and yeah, post them awful before pics...