Author Topic: Hello From Wapakoneta, Ohio (Read 3426 times)

Scarletlace · « **on:** October 29, 2012, 10:02:53 »

My name is Brenda and I have a 220g tank with 50+gallon Refugium. It has been up and running about 4 years but its now and bad shape and I need ideas on how to clean it up or,..the husband is replacing it with a Fireplace. Please help me save me tank

Apitasia is taking over,. and I have several types of algae. I keep adding crabs, snails, shrimp and Copepods and they are over whelmed. I'm at the point of striping it all down and starting over but want ideas how how to go about it.

Boonjob · « **Reply #1 on:** October 29, 2012, 10:21:00 »

Hello Brenda, First; Welcome to Ohio Reef!, Glad to have you on the board.

Can you post your perimeters?(Ammonia,Nitrites,Nitrates,Phosphate,Ph, Salinity, Temp, Etc)

The aiptasia is going to be a battle, depending on how bad it truly is, pulling your rock and giving them an acid bath may just be the best method... If the aiptasia is in controlable numbers you can go about controlling it several ways, without having to pull the rock.

Any pics would help, to allow us to get an idea of the shape of the tank.

What are the inhabitants in the tank?

Scarletlace · « **Reply #2 on:** October 29, 2012, 11:48:16 »

Ok I ran chemistry checks, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, PH 8.2, Ammonia 2.5, Alk 1.6-1.8,

Boonjob · « **Reply #3 on:** October 29, 2012, 11:52:25 »

Ammonia 2.5

Do you have fish in this tank? Is this an accurate reading, What test are you using?

Scarletlace · « **Reply #4 on:** October 29, 2012, 12:00:34 »

Pair of clowns, 1 6 line wrasse, engineer goby, 3 chromis,..all been in tank over 3 years. Testing kit is Marine Lab by RedSea also did stick quick tests with same results.

Scarletlace · « **Reply #5 on:** October 29, 2012, 12:03:15 »

Its not letting me post photo,..

Scarletlace · « **Reply #6 on:** October 29, 2012, 12:08:52 »

Scarletlace · « **Reply #7 on:** October 29, 2012, 12:10:41 »

Scarletlace · « **Reply #8 on:** October 29, 2012, 12:13:40 »

volcano · « **Reply #9 on:** October 29, 2012, 13:20:18 »

Hello, and welcome to the club. You have come to the right place for help.

Twizted1 · « **Reply #10 on:** October 29, 2012, 13:54:29 »

Ollo & Welcome to Ohio Reef. I think Boonjob nailed. The easiest way is in my oppinion, is to strip it. I would 1st get the fish in some water with lower ammonia. Then start with the rock. I would ditch the substrate, it is easier to replace than to clean. This is just my opinion.

Now the facts. You have a nice setup, with 4 years invetsed. Would be a shame to just give up on it now.

Scarletlace · « **Reply #11 on:** October 29, 2012, 14:56:57 »

Where can I buy Muratic acid? I do have a large mixing tank and I store fish and coral in while I scrub down the rocks and remove sand. I really would like to talk to someone,.. I have question about UV sterilizer vs Refugium, and other methods of setting this back up. Currently I have the 220 gallon display tank 72x24x30 in living room, it drains into refugium in the basement. I have a RO system. 2 protein skimmers, Refugium with live rock and Cheato. with plant light,..then it pours over into area with 2 pumps that pump it back upstair to tank. Main tank has 3- 150 w metal halide lights,and 2 wave makers.Everything has been custom made and I have over 5k invested.

Twizted1 · « **Reply #12 on:** October 29, 2012, 15:03:04 »

Lowes sells it. I'm sure other home improvement stores sell it.

Boonjob · « **Reply #13 on:** October 29, 2012, 15:18:55 »

If you keep your fish in the mixing tank, where are you going to mix the wate for their water change? They will need weekely changes as there will be no filtration on this tub, unless you add it...

You can get muratic acid from any hardware store. It is acid so be extremely careful with it, Be sure to read up on it, and follow the precautions.... You will want to dilute it with water.

Most will suggest 10:1 - 20:1 Solution of Water to Acid.... The more water you use(20:1) The less damaging the Acid will be on your rocks over the same period of time. Alot of people use a strong mixture(10:1) and let them soak waaaay to long and they find out they don't have much rock left lol....

I would suggest 15:1 @ 30 min soak.... But the soak duration really should just be eyed by you.... The heavier/ denser the rock the longer the soak time, a light pourous rock will recieve less soak... Remember you can soak it multiple times if needed, but if you soak it too long at too strong you won't get your lost rock back lol.

Hose em off first to remove as much surface debri as you can, but don't make it an effort to remove everything(just what easily removes), let the acid do the hard "scrubbing" for you.

Set em out in the sun on a tarp to continue drying after their acid bath.

Scarletlace · « **Reply #14 on:** October 29, 2012, 16:20:37 »

OK I have several extra tanks,.. I will get one set up and transfer what I can save to it. Husband has the Acid in the shed,. need to barrow a power washer. Then I will go to Reef Systems and buy new sand,..and start the cycle again. Anyone want to help scrub 300+lb of rock LOL

rayviv · « **Reply #15 on:** October 30, 2012, 15:25:44 »

No on the scrubbing rock; But once you have the experience I let you do mine

. You have too much tied up in equipment NOT to get it set right again.

Be sure to keep us posted w/pics as there is a lot of good knowledge here on this site.

And last but not least:

chromiumlux · « **Reply #16 on:** October 30, 2012, 18:59:28 »

Welcome to Ohio Reef!! As frustrating as it seems, making the decision to tear down your tank and start over is never easy. I have done this many times while fighting Bryopsis penata algae. I finally won....two years later after several re-starts. Darn those pesky aptasia! You have a veritable smorgasbord for a hungry copperband. Where is Rich when we need him? I think it would be wise before you tear down your tank to find out what went wrong...like Neo said,get to the source now before doing all the work of a teardown. Feeding heavy, lack of water changes, watersource, and lighting plays a big factor as well. How old are the bulbs? Skimmer?

METZCOOL · « **Reply #17 on:** October 30, 2012, 19:28:52 »

Im in Wapak if ya need some help?

Scarletlace · « **Reply #18 on:** November 04, 2012, 18:19:40 »

After lots of advise from this site and others I have started my clean up. First step was getting good reading on the water condition. I redid my testing kit, Marine Lab by RedSea,..Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, PH 8.2, Ammonia 0.25 then I did Salifert tests for Calcium and got 460 (high) and Kh in Dkh 6.4 / Alk 2.29 (low). Did 25% water change. Cleaned out refugium,..emptied out the sand and live rock and scrubbed everything down. Left just a handful of Chaeto. Added 100+ snails, crabs and shrimp. Ordered new filters for my RO system. Waiting a few days. Going to recheck the water condition then start pulling live rock from main tank,..power washing and soaking in Muratic acid. Will post more info as I go. Wish me luck!

Scarletlace · « **Reply #19 on:** November 10, 2012, 21:35:38 »

It was such a nice day out we started the live rock wash. I have done several partial water changes in the last 2 weeks. We pulled all 300pds of rock out the tanks. (fish are upset) Rock was soaked in diluted Muratic acid for about 20 minutes and then power washed off. Then we soaked it on regular tap water for 30 minutes or so and added it the our salt water mixing tank. We are going to let it soak over night. I cleaned the main tank and added fresh sand to it and Bio Boost. Aiptasia X was used on the pieces of coral and are now down in my refugium. We replaced all of our RO System filters.

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Author Topic: Hello From Wapakoneta, Ohio (Read 3426 times)