Tank shutdown - a sad day :(

Willis19

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Hi all,

After months battling the dinoflagellates and cyanobacteria ( they go and come back) I have decided to let it go.

Fish were relocated, corals died (due the dinos and cyano) so there was nothing left, I turned off all equipment this morning. TOO SAD.

It is very depressing compared with what it used to be. Used all methods, but they always came back.

IF I decide to start from scratch, has anyone re-started a tank? I'm thinking in boil the sand and rocks and bleach all equipment or something similar, ideas? It's just a 20 gallon tank (but it was beautiful).
 

gbroadbridge

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Hi all,

After months battling the dinoflagellates and cyanobacteria ( they go and come back) I have decided to let it go.

Fish were relocated, corals died (due the dinos and cyano) so there was nothing left, I turned off all equipment this morning. TOO SAD.

It is very depressing compared with what it used to be. Used all methods, but they always came back.

IF I decide to start from scratch, has anyone re-started a tank? I'm thinking in boil the sand and rocks and bleach all equipment or something similar, ideas? It's just a 20 gallon tank (but it was beautiful).
I gave up a few years back due to out of control bryopsis and bubble algae, yet now these are easily treated.

The new scourge are Dino's but methods are becoming available to treat them.

Keep the expensive gadgets and bit's as I'm sure you will need them again.
 

fishface NJ

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NEVER boil rocks or sand. I would wash the sand or get new. Rocks: bleach bath for a few days followed by water rinses. Since it is summer, you can let the sun remove any trace of bleach after it was rinsed.

I had dinos. I bleached my rocks. I did get new sand. What I did differently the second time was that I ordered a small amount of live rock from KP aquatics shipped in water. That small order got the tank up and running quickly. No problems yet.
 

Rmckoy

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As said above .
never boil rocks or sand .

get rid of the sand as it’s cheap enough to replace. Soak the rocks in bleach or acid to kill everything .
rinse many times to assure its clean water .

cure in a tote with fresh salt water or even place in tank and let cure and cycle

Sad to hear but we have all had some challenges .
 

TnFishwater98

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I feel your sadness. Sorry you had to shutdown. Don’t know how you ran your tank but for the future I would suggest a bigger tank. A lot easier to run and keeping your water parameters in check. Also I would suggest using real LR from the Gulf if you didn’t before.
 

Yates273

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Give your rocks a muriatic acid bath that will kill anything. After having them soak for about a day take out and rinse in Rodi water for a few days then dry them out.
 

Gup

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Hi all,

After months battling the dinoflagellates and cyanobacteria ( they go and come back) I have decided to let it go.

Fish were relocated, corals died (due the dinos and cyano) so there was nothing left, I turned off all equipment this morning. TOO SAD.

It is very depressing compared with what it used to be. Used all methods, but they always came back.

IF I decide to start from scratch, has anyone re-started a tank? I'm thinking in boil the sand and rocks and bleach all equipment or something similar, ideas? It's just a 20 gallon tank (but it was beautiful).
I have to ask the obvious question. How long has your Reef been set up?

You're battling dinos and cynos at the same time, you're talkin about letting go of all your fish and corals, did you simply overload a 20-gallon in a couple of months? You can't put that much in a 20 gallon tank to begin with, imo.

Getting rid of dinos is easy, just by Dino X, follow the directions and your tank will be cleared in a week. I just had some red algae begin to develop in my 55 gallon oh, this is after seven months a placenta so I bought chemiclean for red algae, it was gone in 2 weeks. Chemiclean has a product for every color of cyno.

Please don't pack it in yes, it's frustrating, but both are extremely curable. I've done it myself.

You'll never forgive yourself if you quit without trying 2 simple products that I guarantee will help you
 

2Wheelsonly

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Every time I have had Dino's I just raised nutrients a bit and it all went away. I keep reading about people shutting their tanks down over it and wonder if I am missing something? It seems like the easiest thing to fix in this hobby...
 

ZoWhat

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If you would just brew your own phyto and dose it heavily.... you could turn things around in 45-60 days. But it takes committment to brew phyto like your making your own home brew beer
 

Tamberav

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Instead of using dry rock why don’t you use some ocean live rock?

That’s what I do and ya I need to catch some crabs and stuff but who cares, that’s easy. Tank was growing SPS after the cycle (from shipping die off) and the diversity is so high that Dino hardly has a place.
 

piranhaman00

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Every time I have had Dino's I just raised nutrients a bit and it all went away. I keep reading about people shutting their tanks down over it and wonder if I am missing something? It seems like the easiest thing to fix in this hobby...

Ya I don’t understand either, cheap UV and turkey Baster and they gone
 
OP
OP
Willis19

Willis19

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Used UV, chemiclean, redsea slime, DINO X, vibrant, and nothing improved. The corals are gone now and the tank looks like this now. I did not shutdown when I posted it this. However, I will shutdown today :( - thanks all for the help, I will rest the rocks and start again.
 

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