Juiceman Posted May 11, 2016 Author Share Posted May 11, 2016 Just another thought as I am full of them this week. [emoji14] If you are removing all the rock anyways, why don't you just put your current rock in a tub that's plumbed into your DT. Then throw a ton of peppermints in there to get rid of the aiptasia. Cover the tub and let the trash palys and GSP dieoff. If it's a lot of them, maybe move those rocks with GSP and palys to another smaller tub and leave them in there with no light to die off and run some carbon. That'll save you a whole lot of money and still keep the same biofilter you had with your tank that's been happy. On the live rock, I'm surprised you're going with actual live rock. I thought the whole point of the reboot was to get rid of unwanted hitchhikers? Also... I loved my live rock... way more than the Dry I tried. Both times I added dry or non live rock to my tank i had issues... I tried some "real reef" rock when I first got into the hobby to try and get some Coraline (didn't know it was painted) which led to Dino's and some dry when I setup the 200 (Marco Rock which cured in a 55 gallon with water changes for almost 2 months and I still killed all my SPS. Fast forward, the algae that would grow on my Marco rocks was horrible, but the Live Rock right next to it wouldn't have any unwanted Algae. There's one tried and true way to reef and that's with good live rock, I've been a trial and error person a few times, but not this time.T There were definitely other factors that helped out those previous issues, but I still believe those were definitely a major cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 Show me one good tank that was started with just live rock? Just kidding. You ARE going to have an interesting summer... and a busy one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuxx Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 Show me one good tank that was started with just live rock? >_>Really happy with Marco Rocks after a huge explosion of GHA. Just kept up with GFO and most of the rock is now covered with coralline. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 (edited) You've got a lot of work ahead of you! Ty's suggestion to put a bunch of shrimp in there and letting them eat up the aiptasia is a good one. I've done the same thing with Valonia Sp. and emeralds. You've got a high fish load and the rock is bound to full of tons of tasty stuff that the shrimp will eat first. It could take months to clear the rock, even if it were just aiptasia and nothing else. I'm not sure how long it would take to kill the palys, but I've completely buried them in sand for a month and had some live. If you want to sell the live rock without any pests then it might be worth it to cook the stuff for months and kill everything. If it were me, and I wanted to reuse the rock, then I would give it a two hour acid bath at 1 gallon of acid to 60 gallons of submerged rocks. That's enough to kill everything, but not dissolve too much rock. Edited May 12, 2016 by Sascha D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 Nearly 1,000 posts in and this has turned into a new tank thread basically Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted May 12, 2016 Author Share Posted May 12, 2016 Nearly 1,000 posts in and this has turned into a new tank thread basically Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Yeah, I almost thought about starting a brand new one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted May 12, 2016 Author Share Posted May 12, 2016 You've got a lot of work ahead of you! Ty's suggestion to put a bunch of shrimp in there and letting them eat up the aiptasia is a good one. I've done the same thing with Valonia Sp. and emeralds. You've got a high fish load and the rock is bound to full of tons of tasty stuff that the shrimp will eat first. It could take months to clear the rock, even if it were just aiptasia and nothing else. I'm not sure how long it would take to kill the palys, but I've completely buried them in sand for a month and had some live. If you want to sell the live rock without any pests then it might be worth it to cook the stuff for months and kill everything. If it were me, and I wanted to reuse the rock, then I would give it a two hour acid bath at 1 gallon of acid to 60 gallons of submerged rocks. That's enough to kill everything, but not dissolve too much rock. I think for the Paly rocks, it's the only way to salvage them. Same with the aiptasia. The GSP is favorable for some people. I'll give everything a good look once this is all said and done and decide if it's worth selling/cooking/drying/ whatever the case may be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 You're going to need to edit the thread title: Juiceman's Oceanic 200g Reef - Re-Re-Aqua Scaped! Nearly 1,000 posts in and this has turned into a new tank thread basically Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Yeah, I almost thought about starting a brand new one. I like Bobcat's idea... Juiceman's Oceanic 200g Reef - Re Re-aqua scaped! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 You've got a lot of work ahead of you! Ty's suggestion to put a bunch of shrimp in there and letting them eat up the aiptasia is a good one. I've done the same thing with Valonia Sp. and emeralds. You've got a high fish load and the rock is bound to full of tons of tasty stuff that the shrimp will eat first. It could take months to clear the rock, even if it were just aiptasia and nothing else. I'm not sure how long it would take to kill the palys, but I've completely buried them in sand for a month and had some live. If you want to sell the live rock without any pests then it might be worth it to cook the stuff for months and kill everything. If it were me, and I wanted to reuse the rock, then I would give it a two hour acid bath at 1 gallon of acid to 60 gallons of submerged rocks. That's enough to kill everything, but not dissolve too much rock. I think for the Paly rocks, it's the only way to salvage them. Same with the aiptasia. The GSP is favorable for some people. I'll give everything a good look once this is all said and done and decide if it's worth selling/cooking/drying/ whatever the case may be. All of us started at a point where things like GSP and those palys were exciting and new. Our tastes change as we get more experience and try new things. Part of the fun of the hobby is finding what you love, but that doesn't mean your old things are bad; they're just not for you anymore. When you sell some of your corals to fund this new project, other people (probably me) will buy them and be just as excited as you were when you first got them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 I still have my green plate corals and I still love them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 This new tank is the first one since 2001 where I didn't have GSP or Devil's Hand. Go figure right? Speaking of corals, mine are doing great so I might need some new ones 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reburn Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 Show me one good tank that was started with just live rock?>_>Really happy with Marco Rocks after a huge explosion of GHA. Just kept up with GFO and most of the rock is now covered with coralline. Deceptive!!!!!!!!! It's WAS live rock before you did hypo salinity...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted May 13, 2016 Author Share Posted May 13, 2016 So... When I cure the sand.... Do I need to use rodi water or can it be the hose? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted May 13, 2016 Share Posted May 13, 2016 If you're talking about just rinsing sand, then I just use the hose and then the final rinse with RO/DI. If you are trying to cycle the sand, I would use RO/DI, but I never hear of people actually cycling the sand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted May 13, 2016 Author Share Posted May 13, 2016 If you're talking about just rinsing sand, then I just use the hose and then the final rinse with RO/DI. If you are trying to cycle the sand, I would use RO/DI, but I never hear of people actually cycling the sand. Just not looking for any reason to add phosphate or anything else to the tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted May 13, 2016 Share Posted May 13, 2016 It's a good point that you're bringing up. I would expect any source of sand to come in with some phosphates, but the amount is probably insignificant. If you're worried about it causing a large cycle, then you could run phosphate binders on it while you're curing the rock. I've used both dry and live sand, but found little difference. I just get whatever is on sale and then rinse it with the hose. Are you thinking that you'll keep your tank running while the rock is cycling and then add both at the same time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted May 13, 2016 Author Share Posted May 13, 2016 The Plan: Cure the Live Rock and Dry Sand Live Rock Curing: upon arrival, do an inspection and scrub of all rock then run in a bin with Pumps and a heater (Maybe a skimmer) Each week, water test, scrub and remove anything unwanted and water change. Dry Sand: Rinse with RODI water, and soak until its time to put it, just in case. Change water if I detect Po4 Once Rock tests with no Po4 or Na3.... Empty Tank Inhabitants into tubs, tanks plumbed into the sump. Empty tank rock (Inspect for Rock I can possibly still use (Probably only what's in the sump) and put that rock in the fish bin. All SPS will be cut or chiseled from their rock and placed in a tank with lighting for the time being and inspected a few times for any hitchhiker Palys or Aiptasia. All LPS and softies will be inspected for palys and Aiptasia and housed in the sump (Which will become a new frag area later) Current Substrate will be discarded I will then build my new Aquascape with new rock and place in the empty tank with the cure water (Or waterchange water) to further cure with the dry sand and rock. Once everything checks out as not leeching any po4 or na3 pullout the current cure water add 90-120 gallons of clean Red Sea Salt Water and begin transferring between the tubs to allow for acclimation, maybe even put enough to go ahead and have it all running again. not sure how that would work. QT a new Achilles during this as well. Not sure if coral should be first or fish be first but put everything back in All fish go in together Thoughts? things to add or remove? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted May 13, 2016 Author Share Posted May 13, 2016 No thoughts? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+brian.srock Posted May 13, 2016 Share Posted May 13, 2016 How do you plan on putting the new rocks in your tank? If you are going to make difficult rock work with egg crate, rods, and putty do it in the tank. The rock weight starts adding up and it was really hard for me to get it in my tank and I was just doing tonga branches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted May 13, 2016 Share Posted May 13, 2016 There are a lot of moving parts here. I would definitely run a skimmer while curing the rock. All of that scrubbing is going to kill the stuff that's not already dead upon arrival. I like to create my structures on a workbench instead of inside of the tank. It will give you a chance to spin the rock and view it from all sides. It also gives you a chance to move the components of the aquascape around until you find a combination that you like. Some people use tape or cardboard to cut a footprint of their actual tank for specific reference. Using a tarp will keep the area clean. Separating the SPS, LPS and fish into separate holding areas is a good idea. It might be a good idea to cut your corals from their bases soon, so that they have time to heal up before the transition. This will also be a good time to sell corals that you're not going to keep. Build a makeshift rack out of PVC and egg crate. You'll probably need to take out some rock. It probably goes without saying, but you have a lot of corals. It sounds like you're going to keep almost all of them. Make sure you have enough space in the holding tank. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted May 13, 2016 Author Share Posted May 13, 2016 How do you plan on putting the new rocks in your tank? If you are going to make difficult rock work with egg crate, rods, and putty do it in the tank. The rock weight starts adding up and it was really hard for me to get it in my tank and I was just doing tonga branches. I would like to build them in the Tank, however I know that's going to be very difficult.. So i'm probably going to build them in sections, then put them in and putty them. There are a lot of moving parts here. I would definitely run a skimmer while curing the rock. All of that scrubbing is going to kill the stuff that's not already dead upon arrival. I like to create my structures on a workbench instead of inside of the tank. It will give you a chance to spin the rock and view it from all sides. It also gives you a chance to move the components of the aquascape around until you find a combination that you like. Some people use tape or cardboard to cut a footprint of their actual tank for specific reference. Using a tarp will keep the area clean. Separating the SPS, LPS and fish into separate holding areas is a good idea. It might be a good idea to cut your corals from their bases soon, so that they have time to heal up before the transition. This will also be a good time to sell corals that you're not going to keep. Build a makeshift rack out of PVC and egg crate. You'll probably need to take out some rock. It probably goes without saying, but you have a lot of corals. It sounds like you're going to keep almost all of them. Make sure you have enough space in the holding tank. I'm planning on probably having two 100g tubs, one for rock and fish, and one for SPS. I plan on using a tarp or mat and building them outside of the tank, then moving them in sections into the tank.. how that will end up looking i'm not sure, but ive done it before.. SMH I have a few SPS and a few LPS that i'm probably going to do away with. Just not sure who's going to get removed just yet. I don't plan on scrubbing what might not need it, more so what is obviously dead or dying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted May 14, 2016 Author Share Posted May 14, 2016 Came home to gifts from Fed Ex and UPS! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted May 14, 2016 Share Posted May 14, 2016 Any ideas on your design? You seen like a pretty creative dude. Two of my towers are 40-50 lbs. Climbing a step stool and lowering that into the tank isn't as easy as it sounds. If you're going to epoxy then that might be best done in the tank, just in case you want to move the towers in sections. Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted May 14, 2016 Author Share Posted May 14, 2016 Any ideas on your design? You seen like a pretty creative dude. Two of my towers are 40-50 lbs. Climbing a step stool and lowering that into the tank isn't as easy as it sounds. If you're going to epoxy then that might be best done in the tank, just in case you want to move the towers in sections. Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2 I think I'm going to do so the drilling, rods and design outside of the tank, then the detailing and putty inside the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted May 19, 2016 Author Share Posted May 19, 2016 Picked up a few more tools Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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