Lost Almost Everything..Need help!

[Alfredo De La Fe]

Warning: Clorox drop has only been done on bigger systems. I don't know how big his tank is, so be careful.

 

[empire]

hey my tank is 30 gallons. should i remove all the sps skeletons? i heard something about how they contribute calcium to the tank? is this true? also, in my hospital tank, there are a few sps frags that have some flesh on it and im talking less than 15% of the entire frag. is keeping these frags in the tank detrimental? i do have high nitrate levels in both the display and hospital tank.

as far as adding cycle additives from a bottle, it really doesn't make sense to me. i'm going to wait as long as i can before i add everything back to my display. if there is one thing i learned from this hobby, it's never rush things. yeah 6- 10 weeks is a pita, however i'd be devastated if i lost 100% of all my livestock. i still have my clowns, anemone, and some inverts left. i'm starting to get nervous bc one of my clowns is starting to swim weird, meaning he swims horizontally very near the surface of the water. however he is eating. hopefully he is just being a clown. as i said before, nitrates are high for a 10 gallon tank. i do 25% water changes almost every other day with aquavitro salinity to help bring the trates down. i do appreciate everyone's input. thanks for all the help and the support.

 

[JimmyR1rider]

hey my tank is 30 gallons. should i remove all the sps skeletons? i heard something about how they contribute calcium to the tank? is this true? also, in my hospital tank, there are a few sps frags that have some flesh on it and im talking less than 15% of the entire frag. is keeping these frags in the tank detrimental? i do have high nitrate levels in both the display and hospital tank.

as far as adding cycle additives from a bottle, it really doesn't make sense to me. i do appreciate everyone's input. thanks for all the help.

Microbacter7 and others arent bad to aid in your cvycle- I was really referring to smart start and nite-out, the instant cycle stuff- dose now add fish right after or 4 hurs after or 24 hours after.

I would remove all dead skeletons, you don't need them in there anyway.

 

[Alfredo De La Fe]

Coral skeletons would not dissolve quickly enough in a reef tank to make a difference. As for the mostly dead SPS frags, don't worry about them- they are not contributing to the problem. What most likely happened were that worms, sponges and other inverts in the rock and sand died because of a lack of water flow, low temperature and low Oxygen levels.

Alfred

 

[Awibrandy]

I lost all in both my 155 & 20! Here is what I am doing.. I hated the ESV sand so this gave me an opportunity to replace it. Throw out all dead, dying corals. Put all of my rocks back in. Currently filling it with new RO/DI IO salt water. Once I have it filled I will be running carbon in both BRS reactors for a week, weekly water changes, all equipment will be running (heaters, pumps, powerheads, reactors). I'll add a pinch of food daily to keep the bacteria fed.

 

[marrone]

I think what you'll find is that products like Microbacter, Cycle, Bio-Spiro, Nitrex and such do work but you need to understand what they're actually doing. Most of these products release bacteria that converts ammonia and nitrites into nitrates, which are less toxic to fish, corals and inverts than ammonia and nitrites are. So basically in tanks that are fish only or fish with LR these products do let you add fish right away, as most fish can handle high nitrates. As for corals and inverts, well the high nitrates aren't really a good thing, as most can't handle them, so it's really not a good idea to use these products and then fully stock a tank with corals and inverts, unless you have a way of eliminating the nitrates. You also need to remember too, the more ammonia and nitrites that you have the more these products will convert them into nitrates, which your system will not be able to eliminate.

You do need to remember that just having a cycle tank doesn't mean it can handle a large load. What these products do is supply a good safety net to start with as your biological bacteria builds up over time, eliminating any ammonia and nitrite spikes that you may have. So, are they all snake oil? No, some do work, while others don't. The thing is you need to really understand what they actually do and determine if they fit your situation.

 

[CoralMeister]

hey my tank is 30 gallons. should i remove all the sps skeletons? i heard something about how they contribute calcium to the tank? is this true?

They contribute, but not that much, if anything, to make a significant difference. If you leave it in there the skeletons will eventually be occupied by the nitrifying bacteria, and act as Live rock in the tank.

 

[empire]

Here's a video of my clown. What's he doing? Is he going to make it? Is this just my clown being a clown?

 

[brunoboarder2444]

Here's a video of my clown. What's he doing? Is he going to make it? Is this just my clown being a clown?

link isnt showing up

 

[empire]

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/...0-8F3A-6FF89319547A-2229-000000F07E34EB17.mp4

Sorry I'm using tapatalk. This is the direct link. I did some reading and it was suggested that I oxygenate the tank. I took a controllable pump and an airline tube. The bubble stream isn't strong enough to create surface skimmate. I hope I'm on the right track.

 

[brunoboarder2444]

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/...0-8F3A-6FF89319547A-2229-000000F07E34EB17.mp4

Sorry I'm using tapatalk. This is the direct link. I did some reading and it was suggested that I oxygenate the tank. I took a controllable pump and an airline tube. The bubble stream isn't strong enough to create surface skimmate. I hope I'm on the right track.

i mean it could just bea clown being a clown but are there any other fish acting weirdly? is he eating? parameters? any more info other then a video?

 

[empire]

Yeah nitrates are high, 20. They were 40ish. Everything else is 0. i didnt bother tedting for trace elements. phosphate is 0. He's a new fish. My other clown, both Harlequin shrimp and my emerald crab are all fine. Everyone is eating. I am doing 25% water changes every other day to help my trates. My display tank parameters are starting to consistently stabilize.

 

[brunoboarder2444]

Yeah nitrates are high, 20. They were 40ish. Everything else is 0. i didnt bother tedting for trace elements. phosphate is 0. He's a new fish. My other clown, both Harlequin shrimp and my emerald crab are all fine. Everyone is eating. I am doing 25% water changes every other day to help my trates. My display tank parameters are starting to consistently stabilize.

well if hes a new guy he might be stressed a bit....any signs of the other clown bullying him....when introducing a second clown to my tank the first one bullied him for about a week until he let up and has been fine since....nitrates at 20 is nothing for a fish let alone a very hardy fish like a clown, fish can handle significantly higher amounts of nitrates before showing ill affects from them corals on the other hand arent as tolerant....just keep a close eye on him watch out and make sure hes eating and no signs of parasites etc and also monitor other fish if they start acting weird maybe check for stray voltage

 

[empire]

at first the other clown would let him host the anemone and now it doesn't seem that way. he is much smaller than the other one. the other fish is acting normal and both are eating. this is what i came home to after black friday shopping-

 

[brunoboarder2444]

was he stuck to the vortech or just resting on it?

 

[empire]

Just resting on it. He eats like a pig. I'm hoping I'm just being paranoid.

 

[brunoboarder2444]

Just resting on it. He eats like a pig. I'm hoping I'm just being paranoid.

probably fine then, just monitor him

 

[empire]

will do, thanks! I just did a 10 gallon water change on my display tank last night. im hoping to get everything back in the display by the weekend.

 

[brunoboarder2444]

Sounds good

 

[beastium]

Bump for this nug of info

I think what you'll find is that products like Microbacter, Cycle, Bio-Spiro, Nitrex and such do work but you need to understand what they're actually doing. Most of these products release bacteria that converts ammonia and nitrites into nitrates, which are less toxic to fish, corals and inverts than ammonia and nitrites are. So basically in tanks that are fish only or fish with LR these products do let you add fish right away, as most fish can handle high nitrates. As for corals and inverts, well the high nitrates aren't really a good thing, as most can't handle them, so it's really not a good idea to use these products and then fully stock a tank with corals and inverts, unless you have a way of eliminating the nitrates. You also need to remember too, the more ammonia and nitrites that you have the more these products will convert them into nitrates, which your system will not be able to eliminate.

You do need to remember that just having a cycle tank doesn't mean it can handle a large load. What these products do is supply a good safety net to start with as your biological bacteria builds up over time, eliminating any ammonia and nitrite spikes that you may have. So, are they all snake oil? No, some do work, while others don't. The thing is you need to really understand what they actually do and determine if they fit your situation.

What if I was to cycle with new saltwater, "revived" LR/sand, macroalgae, and only filterfloss media in HOB filtered picotope, while feeding reefroids/flakes, after adding cope/amphi-pods on a dim light cycle? Would having this kinda system for like 2 months be a good one?
Will the macro and fauna and lr balance nutrients?

I also restarted a tank