reworking tank project

[cath]

Hmmm..well it's about time I re-worked my tank. What with a majano and aiptasia farm, and cyano( just to mention a few pests). I plan to have an all-out agressive clean up the tank campaign this weekend. Here's the basic outline. Now I want comments from you on how to best do this. Or just general comments.
Thank goodness this is TRT and I know you all will be nice (along with the usual smart ***** comments.

BTW...my tank is a 29, that's been up and running for about 3 years. No crashes, but...ommigod the problems. As Alice says.. I've got the super deluxe pest package.

Goals:

1. treat LR infested with majano and aiptasia
- suck up cyano or blow it off LR

2. add Southdown for DSB (from Tom)

3. Clean glass of majano and aiptasia

4. Clean powerheads with vinegar

5. Clean LR that has been banished for some time.

6. New aquascaping

----------------------------------

Currently in tank: thanks to good reef buddies Tom and Rick

free standing softies
twin leathers from TDW
Colt and 2 other leathers from Rick
Finger leathers from Rick
Sinularia from Rick
-these seem to be free of majano & aiptasia

Frogspawn
Various xenia...some from Rick some from fragging project

striped shroom sharing small piece of LR with majano

Ricordea - some in good shape some with majano and aiptasia

Hairy shroom rock with some majano...shroom is agressive and wins
over majano

Fuzzy shrooms
Purple shrooms

Trumpet coral

unidentified wrasse (Mr. Spot)
2 or 3 snails
1 hermit
Mantis or pistol shrimp

Major pieces of LR have majano and aiptasia and corals.

current bed is sugarized oolite with cc on top

How to go about this?

Take out all LR and corals. Put offending LR in a special container so that I can spot zap the majano and aiptasia with a thick solution of pickling lime. TDWyatt found this neato metal baster (at Target, of course) with a very small hole at the end. This looks like a great way to "Target" the nasties But what about the pieces of LR that have good things and bad things on the same rock?

Put the free standing corals in another container for safe keeping till I put add the Southdown. I guess I should take out the current substrate of oolite and cc? Or should I add the Southdown on top?

How much water should I take out of the tank? What about Mr. Spot and the other critters in the tank?

And is this a do-able weekend project? ANd who wants to come over to help? There could be beverage around

[filly]

I don't know about your other plans but I have syringes that I can get you with 18 guage needles to zap the nasties. My bf uses a concentrated paste of the Kalwasser, turns off the pumps for about 30 min after squirting down into the holes or over top the aptasia. they seem to grab the stuff and then it burns the crap outta them! (fun to watch! ) It usually takes only one or two times, depending on how big the little beasties are...hope this helps... and good luck with your plans!

[cath]

Thanks, filly...I need all the support I can get.

[Rick O]

Cath I'm glad to see you doing this. You really needed an aggressive attack on those pests. I wish I was there to help.

[cath]

Ya, me too! Sadly, it looks like the beverage offer isn't helpin' much

[Alice]

You could put Mr. Spot in a clean bucket with tank water and bubbler airpump or small powerhead for a few hours while you work. Just cover the bucket so he doesn't freak and jump out. You could put a rock or two in there for him to hide under and clean those rocks last. If there's enough room in the bucket, you could put your corals in there that don't have pests on them.

Then I'd take the rocks that are covered but don't have corals out, blast the heck out of them and let them sit in their own bucket for a while. With a 29 and many nasties that need blasted, I don't think you'll want all that kalk paste in the tank. Rinse them with clean SW before you put them back in.

The the rocks with corals on them, treat them, rinse them with clean SW and place them in their own bucket of either tank water or new water.

Then blast/clean the aips and majano off the glass, remove some or all of the crushed coral, to your preference, (if it's on top, you might want to kind of seive it to remove worms, etc) then put a thin layer of the Southdown in. I'd put maybe 1/4-1/2" in every day until you're at the depth you want for the tank. Probably the best way to do this is to get the sand wet in a clean plastic bag, snip the end off the bag (like a cake/icing decorator bag) and then squeeze the sand right onto the bottom of the tank.

Add clean SW to the tank, let it settle for a bit, then rinse the rocks that you've blasted, put them back in the tank, then the coral rocks and lastly, Mr. Spot.

That's just the way I'd do it anyway

Good luck to you Cath-sounds like you have your work cut out for you!

Alice

[cath]

Whew!!! that's some good detailed info, Alice! I guess this falls into the area of "what I shoulda done a long time ago" arena But ya gotta do what ya gotta do!

Now about the LR that had been banished for a while... I let some outside to kill off hydroids, but now they have moss (high humidity of late caused this I guess) on them. Are they now ruined, or would a good scrubbing be sufficient? There is probably 20 lbs of kewl LR that could go back into my tank. And when I do get it cleaned, do I need to go through a cycling process?

[beach bum]

Sounds like fun Cath! NOT! hehe... Good luck with the project. Definitely scrub that rock good if your gonna use it again. The cycle period is only for die-off and resulting ammonia spikes. I ain't no scientist but I would clean it good thenm keep it in a bucket of circulating saltwater for a least a couple days. Then I would clean it again before putting it in the tank. But then again, I'm anal about such things...

[cath]

heheheh! That's me alright, Beach Bum! Sounds like what I should do. After all the work I'm planning, I don't wanna mess up on that point!

[Mrs Smith]

It sounds like a good time to upgrade... Not to anything really huge, but that way, you could just start over with a DSB and some new rock while your old rock is being overhauled. Then the fish & corals could just go right in a new home... Although it might be more work than it's worth.

I will have to say that I have been close to tearing our BIG tank down and starting over completely - being so frustrated with the hair algae. Now, we may be making some headway, so we'll see.

Good luck!
Danielle

[cath]

Hmm...that's a tempting thought, Danielle. But a 29 is all that I can afford at this point.

But maybe what I could do is just buy a new 29 and start all over? Same size/shape so I woulldn't have to buy a new stand and hood.

Gotta think about that. Thanks for your suggestion!