RELOADED: Starting over from tank crash

[FishyJimBob]

I have a 20L that broke on New Years Eve. After getting everything set back up a day later, I found myself with a horrible cycle. 8ppm ammonia for 15 days, not a trace of nitrites or nitrates. Upon closer inspection, I noticed the sand in my fuge had a bad odor. I reused all the old sand, which is where I feel things went wrong. During the downward spiral I added Amquel+ per recommendations on this board, but I quickly discovered that stuff is garbage and should never be used during a cycle because it removes nitrite as well as locking up ammonia. This causes the cycle to stop 100%.

So I decided a teardown and reload was in order to get back on track. I just started the process this past weekend and here is what I have done so far:

I have set up a quarantine tank - 10G AGA, 8Lbs. LR, skimmer, HOB filter. This is working well and is keeping my fish nice and safe while I get the 20L back together.

I discarded all the old sand and water. I spent hours cleaning every single piece of equipment and both the 20 and fuge with some tank cleaner(cleaner from LFS) and finished with a white vinegar/water mixture followed by a healthy rinse and a towel dry. The rotten smell was in everything and now it is 100% gone.

So I reassembled everything. Used eggcrate for the 20L bottom which I did not use before. Placed about 35 lbs. of Bahama Oolite live-sand in the 20L (2"+) and 10 lbs of aragonite in the center fuge chamber (5"). I filled with RO and it has been running like that since Sunday night.

My LR has been in a 10G garbage can with a heater and a pump for the past few days. I tested the ammonia level of that water last night and it is like 3ppm. The water in the garbage can was all new, and obviously some of the high ammonia water came over with the LR.

So what is my next step here? Should I leave the LR in the can for a while or should I go ahead and add it back in the 20L? Part of the reason I went with live sand was in hopes it would help seed the LR if the bacteria levels were low, so I'm thinking of putting it back in tonight. I could'nt do it any sooner because I had a massive sandstorm for the past couple days.

[papagimp]

I'd just stick the rock in there, the sand probably didn't do anything harmful, you're going to have a cycle starting a new tank, so I wouldn't worry about high ammonia levels or anything. They will drop as the cycle progresses. 15days into the cycle is nothing. This process can take upwards of 6-8 weeks. I think your next step should simple be, place your rockwork how you want it, and let the tank finish the cycle naturally. don't add anything to try and 'speed this up". If you cook the liverock, this will kill off more bacteria and cause the cycle to take even longer.

[FishyJimBob]

The main reason I did the teardown was that the sand in the fuge (10 lbs) smelled like rotten eggs.

[papagimp]

eeewww, okay, given that information, I would have replaced my sandbed as well.

[ACBlinky]

How deep and how fine/compacted was that sand? Rotten egg smell likely means you had a buildup of hydrogen sulphide, something you definitely want to avoid, as (AFAIK) it can poison fish and other inhabitants if it's stirred up. Make sure you've got some critters (nassarius, bristleworms, etc.) to move the new sandbed around so you don't run into the same problem in the future. Bahamas Oolite is gorgeous sand, but it's fine, so you want to make sure it doesn't compact too much.

[FishyJimBob]

ACBlinky - Thanks for the input. I have the bahama oolite in the 20L and 1.5-2.0mm aragonite in the fuge. I am using egg crate this time around in the 20L so none of the sand should be 'compacted'. The oolite is about 2"+ in depth at the moment. It might get a little deeper because I plan on sweeping the sand forward in the tank to expose the eggcrate when I add my LR. I will them sweep it around the rocks but the bed will probably be deeper.

I didn't have anything in the fuge before aside from a couple LR pieces and some macro. I will be adding snails and crabs this time around.

Also, I have several nassarius snails in the quarantine tank. They will be going back in the 20 when the cycle is completed.