Ripping out live rock

[philip.aasen]

Hey. Im wondering. Can i rip out all the live rock in My tank to clean and avoid a new cycle. My tank has been struggeling real bad, and now the rocks are just covered in buble alge. So What Im thinking is ripping them out, taking all the corals of, and clean the rocks one by one

 

[Sophie"s mom]

See what other more experienced people here have to say, but I believe that would make your tank go haywire, as the rocks are a BIG PART of your biological filtration. I think you can take them out one at a time, clean the algae off, then put it back and move on to the next one.

 

[philip.aasen]

See what other more experienced people here have to say, but I believe that would make your tank go haywire, as the rocks are a BIG PART of your biological filtration. I think you can take them out one at a time, clean the algae off, then put it back and move on to the next one.

Yes thats What i am afraid of

 

[brandon429]

Yes, you can do that.

Here’s nine years of it being done for you to copy:

Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

If you are reading this thread to cure a tank invasion from a link I sent you, we do not need to identify your type of invasion here we do not need you to test anything at anytime regarding nitrate, phosphate etc Above all, we do not need to see a microscope slide picture of your invasion at...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[brandon429]

Don’t begin until you’re well-studied there since your tank is on the line. We don’t just remove rocks and put back, we clean the sand too.

There is a careful order of ops we use to prevent all losses in that thread. It’s safer for your tank to handle invasions this way because you’re not changing parameters that grow corals into ones that starve algae, you’re physically removing the algae and the waste and keeping your parameters set to what grows corals

Ironic you’d post this thread as we’ve been debating rip clean efficacy a lot lately.

Hey can you post a pic of your reef tank? Want to see the pending job

 

[philip.aasen]

Don’t begin until you’re well-studied there since your tank is on the line. We don’t just remove rocks and put back, we clean the sand too.

There is a careful order of ops we use to prevent all losses in that thread. It’s safer for your tank to handle invasions this way because you’re not changing parameters that grow corals into ones that starve algae, you’re physically removing the algae and the waste and keeping your parameters set to what grows corals

Ironic you’d post this thread as we’ve been debating rip clean efficacy a lot lately.

Hey can you post a pic of your reef tank? Want to see the pending job

Yes. Thank u so much. Been so demotivated lately because of it. Will read in that thread for a couple of days. Thank you

 

[brandon429]

Let’s see your tank pic it’ll show helpful prep details and for valonia we will need some follow up action options it’s growback potential is highest among invasions


Treating your rocks in a side bucket of Vibrant or fluconazole (not added to your display) is warranted after the cleaning, can you get either of those valonia meds?

 

[brandon429]

That thread above shows you how to rinse the sand and deal with the rocks without recycling. There’s more sand works in there vs rock works so we better detail that portion

Rocks are set on the counter and a knife is used to detail scrape and dislodge bubbles at the base, dig with focused precision to dislodge them

A knife and two hours detailing makes your rocks free of the valonia initially

Then spray or dribble peroxide on the cleaned spots, after the bubbles are removed, to hopefully catch leftover anchor cells you can’t see. No peroxide is put directly on algae, it’s removed first with reef dentistry.

Work carefully around coralline and corals to hit only the targets, leave the good stuff still in place, a dentist avoids the gum line as they scrape tartar roughly using pointed steel. This is why we don’t dip the rocks, we hit only the bad areas with steel just like a dentist does

If growback is bad after round one we can step up against the rocks on round 2, this is why the sand is rinsed first go so that follow up actions don’t cloud up and crash the system.

 

[philip.aasen]

Yes, you can do that.

Here’s nine years of it being done for you to copy:

Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

If you are reading this thread to cure a tank invasion from a link I sent you, we do not need to identify your type of invasion here we do not need you to test anything at anytime regarding nitrate, phosphate etc Above all, we do not need to see a microscope slide picture of your invasion at...

www.reef2reef.com

Don’t begin until you’re well-studied there since your tank is on the line. We don’t just remove rocks and put back, we clean the sand too.

There is a careful order of ops we use to prevent all losses in that thread. It’s safer for your tank to handle invasions this way because you’re not changing parameters that grow corals into ones that starve algae, you’re physically removing the algae and the waste and keeping your parameters set to what grows corals

Ironic you’d post this thread as we’ve been debating rip clean efficacy a lot lately.

Hey can you post a pic of your reef tank? Want to see the pending job

Here is the before. Used to be beutifull. Been up for 16 months
Second picture is now. Im actually embarrased of How bad it is

 

[brandon429]

No dont be troubled by the status


That’s a perfect challenge to test updated tank handling systems I’m so thankful to get the opportunity here

Since seeing that pic I want to insert just one more thread on eutrophication reversal/old tank syndrome reversal these will be the only two threads needed for guiding that system into what you want

How many gallons is that system?

 

[philip.aasen]

No dont be troubled by the status


That’s a perfect challenge to test updated tank handling systems I’m so thankful to get the opportunity here

Since seeing that pic I want to insert just one more thread on eutrophication reversal/old tank syndrome reversal these will be the only two threads needed for guiding that system into what you want

How many gallons is that system?

Its a 25 gallon tank. Waterbox peninsula mini 25. but probably more like 20 gallons

 

[brandon429]

Old tank syndrome is vanquished in reefing now

the cause of old tank syndrome is compounding whole waste particles that blanket the interstitial sand grain zones and plug up the channels in live rocks- in some cases it's sheer overgrowth allowed from various invasions that plugs up the surface area on live rock combined with a thin veneer of...

www.reef2reef.com

There is simply no better method known to fix your tank beyond that one above. It describes how the tanks get to the eutrophic state, and it shows how they shine when we export them correctly. Your tank is perfect for this system and no other threads exist to cover correction in similar systems. I’m very very happy to see this job in a nano, if you’ll plan with me here we will knock this out of the park.

Read that above and the before and after links, lemme know what questions you have for preps

 

[philip.aasen]

Let’s see your tank pic it’ll show helpful prep details and for valonia we will need some follow up action options it’s growback potential is highest among invasions


Treating your rocks in a side bucket of Vibrant or fluconazole (not added to your display) is warranted after the cleaning, can you get either of those valonia med

Old tank syndrome is vanquished in reefing now

the cause of old tank syndrome is compounding whole waste particles that blanket the interstitial sand grain zones and plug up the channels in live rocks- in some cases it's sheer overgrowth allowed from various invasions that plugs up the surface area on live rock combined with a thin veneer of...

www.reef2reef.com

There is simply no better method known to fix your tank beyond that one above. It describes how the tanks get to the eutrophic state, and it shows how they shine when we export them correctly. Your tank is perfect for this system and no other threads exist to cover correction in similar systems. I’m very very happy to see this job in a nano, if you’ll plan with me here we will knock this out of the park.

Read that above and the before and after links, lemme know what questions you have for preps

Unfortunately the medication you are referring to are prescription drugs in Norway. Would flux rx be an alternative?

 

[brandon429]

Yes for sure. That’s our backup plan do get some

It won’t likely go into the tank, it’s for mixing up into a bucket and sitting rocks in it for a sec then moving them back into the tank as a worst case scenario because we know from prior valonia jobs the growback rate is high.

I can really use your reef tank as a focus works job across several large work threads, I’d move your works into top position for readers to see if we can plan an excellent tank surgery here. That lysmata shrimp is the weakest organism of all we keep, he’ll be a great indicator of aseptic handling techniques we aim to pull off here.

 

[philip.aasen]

Yes for sure. That’s our backup plan do get some

It won’t likely go into the tank, it’s for mixing up into a bucket and sitting rocks in it for a sec then moving them back into the tank as a worst case scenario because we know from prior valonia jobs the growback rate is high.

I can really use your reef tank as a focus works job across several large work threads, I’d move your works into top position for readers to see if we can plan an excellent tank surgery here. That lysmata shrimp is the weakest organism of all we keep, he’ll be a great indicator of aseptic handling techniques we aim to pull off here.

Yes that would be great :). I have some flux rx from a while ago thankfully

 

[brandon429]

The #1 thing we will change from the clean condition is lowering your light levels they’re too high. The corals don’t need that much light and the invasions capitalize on it.

We won’t dose the flux for a while it’s only backup after a few manual follow up guides we’d apply a few weeks after your rip clean is done.

This is the kind of work job and willing demeanor I have to wait months and years to find :) so happy to see this new work challenge. I’m completely confident you’ll be happy with the results because this isn’t new work for us, it’s a continuance on works already logged.


The animals have to be netted out before we begin disassembly and held in some clean water elsewhere, covered with lid to avoid jumps.


You’ll need all new water prepped and ready, matching temp and salinity from the current tank water.

**look how long the sand rinse portion takes* make sure you can rinse the sand in sections in tap water for hours until clean.


*each rinsed section of sand is given a final rinse in saltwater so that when you set ten pounds of rinsed sand back into the tank it’s not freshwater among the grains.

The sand rinse and the absolute cloudless reassembly is the most important part of the whole job.

 

[brandon429]

These are bainstorms that help in detail planning that come from those collected works:

During final disassembly when everything is parted out and being cleaned, even the empty tank is taken outside and hosed or washed clean like it’s brand new

We do this so invader cells aren’t still lining the glass and tubing and up under the rims of the tank/ hiding places. Every surface in the tank except for the live rocks will be blasted back to compliance :) it’s so fun to run reef tanks through boot camp.

 

[philip.aasen]

These are bainstorms that help in detail planning that come from those collected works:

During final disassembly when everything is parted out and being cleaned, even the empty tank is taken outside and hosed or washed clean like it’s brand new

We do this so invader cells aren’t still lining the glass and tubing and up under the rims of the tank/ hiding places. Every surface in the tank except for the live rocks will be blasted back to compliance :) it’s so fun to run reef tanks through boot camp.

Hahaha yes. I will make a step by step for my self so I don’t forget anything. Or you can

 

[brandon429]

Ways rip cleans can fail to be mindful of:

-#1 under rinsing sand and or leaving sand and dried gunk stuck to the walls of the tank, then upon refill the water is cloudy


What makes for a learning example we can put as #1 read in work threads is after pics so shockingly clear they don’t even look like there’s water in the tank. Like this:




Changed overnite into:





-not having enough saltwater handy. You’ll use some new water matching temp and salinity of the old system to hold animals in side totes, for the final rinse of the sand sections, and for all new water in the system when done. Have more than 20 gallons handy for the job somehow.


-not covering held animals and they jump out on the floor

-taking time to rinse the sand in sections but not verify them and still getting a cloudy refill. Each rinsed section has a small sample of sand dropped into a clean glass of water to see if it clouds, know for sure your sand is rinsed clean.


-moving unclean rocks into holding systems with fish or inverts in place. The attached waste rides over and can crash the holding system, so only fully cleaned substrates should be housed with delicate animals.


WVU did all that rock work above with a knife, and peroxide after, don’t use brushes. Brushes don’t dislodge and remove algae they smash plant bits into smaller bits and press them deep into rock surfaces, a dentist uses a rasp not a brush to remove target plaque and that’s what we do to attain the shocking after pics.

 

[brandon429]

Ways we can get your lighting aligned after the restoration:

If it’s adjustable we remove the whites and run only lower blue and uv combos a while, the classic windex mode

If it’s a non adjustable hood lamp, we’d use black tape strips over the lid to make physical light blocks until the intensity is tuned down opposite and lower power vs your opening tank pic above.

We work on verifying source water and tank params and nutrient balances long long after the rip clean is ran. Sometimes a rip clean just fixes it and those things don’t matter. They’re for long term tuning assessment, they have nothing to do with producing those shocking after pics above.