Starting over...first steps?

[samrggzy]

I have had my 32 gallon biocube running since October of 2020 and have gone through both periods of great success and tough failures. This is my first reef tank and understand that the hobby is mostly trial and error and that thing wont always go as planned. I have battles dinos a few times and tried what seems like every method under the sun to get rid of them with some success until my most recent battle which became unmanageable to deal with after trying multiple methods. I have been messaging with Fish of Hex and he has told me based on the condition of my tank after showing him pictures that I should consider a reset and start over with all new rock and sand. I think this is the best option for me right now given that I have no fish currently and am sick and tired of looking at an empty disgusting tank. So my question is, where do I even start? Do I have to drain the entire tank or can I replace the rock and sand but keep the water and just re-cycle the tank. Please let me know whatever suggestions you have.

 

[Reefdiculous22]

I have had my 32 gallon biocube running since October of 2020 and have gone through both periods of great success and tough failures. This is my first reef tank and understand that the hobby is mostly trial and error and that thing wont always go as planned. I have battles dinos a few times and tried what seems like every method under the sun to get rid of them with some success until my most recent battle which became unmanageable to deal with after trying multiple methods. I have been messaging with Fish of Hex and he has told me based on the condition of my tank after showing him pictures that I should consider a reset and start over with all new rock and sand. I think this is the best option for me right now given that I have no fish currently and am sick and tired of looking at an empty disgusting tank. So my question is, where do I even start? Do I have to drain the entire tank or can I replace the rock and sand but keep the water and just re-cycle the tank. Please let me know whatever suggestions you have.

I’m new to the hobby , so my advice is probably not worth a grain of salt , but I believe the rock should be salvageable, I heard that fresh water dips will kill Dino’s on the rock. Not sure if that a myth or factual. I would definitely get new sand and add bacteria and copepods. This is coming from the articles I’ve read on forums and brstv vids. I’m actually going thru a very bad phase of Dino’s and cyano at this point. It is also my first tank. Hope this helps. Also you can try hydrogen peroxide on the rocks. I don’t know if it kills Dino but is affective against bryopsis and hair algae.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I have had my 32 gallon biocube running since October of 2020 and have gone through both periods of great success and tough failures. This is my first reef tank and understand that the hobby is mostly trial and error and that thing wont always go as planned. I have battles dinos a few times and tried what seems like every method under the sun to get rid of them with some success until my most recent battle which became unmanageable to deal with after trying multiple methods. I have been messaging with Fish of Hex and he has told me based on the condition of my tank after showing him pictures that I should consider a reset and start over with all new rock and sand. I think this is the best option for me right now given that I have no fish currently and am sick and tired of looking at an empty disgusting tank. So my question is, where do I even start? Do I have to drain the entire tank or can I replace the rock and sand but keep the water and just re-cycle the tank. Please let me know whatever suggestions you have.

Lets start with the basics.

What are your parameters (Alk, calcium, NO3 and PO4 for example)?
Show us a full tank shot if you can
What are you using for filtration?
What additives have you used (if any)?
Is the light still the stock one?
Do you have an ATO?
What is your end goal for the tank?

In short, give us a full rundown of what it going on, so we can try to help.

 

[Rick's Reviews]

Two years of trouble if you started in 2020 I guess, maybe think why this happened, did you neglect general maintenance, did you forget or maybe skip a week or two of cleaning, or maybe life got to busy to maintain an aquarium, it happens to us all so don't worry. If you want to start again that's great. If you decide to start again then make it more manageable with your lifestyle, don't put to much pressure on yourself, a clean aquarium with two clownfish is easy to manage/maintain

 

[samrggzy]

Two years of trouble if you started in 2020 I guess, maybe think why this happened, did you neglect general maintenance, did you forget or maybe skip a week or two of cleaning, or maybe life got to busy to maintain an aquarium, it happens to us all so don't worry. If you want to start again that's great. If you decide to start again then make it more manageable with your lifestyle, don't put to much pressure on yourself, a clean aquarium with two clownfish is easy to manage/maintain

Honestly i think what happened was i was so fixated on keeping the tank as clean as possible that i was running so much filtration and i ended up stripping the tank of all its nutrients which led to the first case of dinos. I had tried dosing phos and nitrates to get the levels back up but ever since the first dinos the tank was never the same again. Thats just my hypothesis tho, I was very diligent about maintenance and everything so it wasn’t a negligence I dont think.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Honestly i think what happened was i was so fixated on keeping the tank as clean as possible that i was running so much filtration and i ended up stripping the tank of all its nutrients which led to the first case of dinos. I had tried dosing phos and nitrates to get the levels back up but ever since the first dinos the tank was never the same again. Thats just my hypothesis tho, I was very diligent about maintenance and everything so it wasn’t a negligence I dont think.

If that was the case, you just need to dose some microbater7 or biospira, keep nutrients up and give the bacteria time to outcompete the dinos. Removing a well established dino population takes time and sometime you have to add some competition back into the mix to get it going.

I will say, a good rip clean (not really a fan of this except when really needed) may be in order. Take the rocks out, scrub them real good and dip in some rodi to flush the pores out and kill the dinos. Put the rocks back in the tank, add some bottled back, maybe a piece of live rock from a local reefer and keep nutrients up a little. Should bounce back and be OK>

 

[Reefdiculous22]

If that was the case, you just need to dose some microbater7 or biospira, keep nutrients up and give the bacteria time to outcompete the dinos. Removing a well established dino population takes time and sometime you have to add some competition back into the mix to get it going.

I will say, a good rip clean (not really a fan of this except when really needed) may be in order. Take the rocks out, scrub them real good and dip in some rodi to flush the pores out and kill the dinos. Put the rocks back in the tank, add some bottled back, maybe a piece of live rock from a local reefer and keep nutrients up a little. Should bounce back and be OK>

Does microbacter clean work as well. That’s what I have been dosing in my tank. Sorry I’m not trying to take over your thread but we seem to have the same problem going on.

 

[Reefdiculous22]

@samrggzy not trying to take over your thread

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Does microbacter clean work as well. That’s what I have been dosing in my tank. Sorry I’m not trying to take over your thread but we seem to have the same problem going on.

Clean is more of a "get rid of gunk" kind of thing. While it is bacteria, it is proably not a mix of what one would use to "seed" a tank. It could work though, but I have not used it to aid in eliminating dinos.

If you want to get more into detail about it, just tag me in your build thread and I will be happy to offer some things that have work for me and a few others. If needed, I can call some others in to get their view of things.