Tearing down/rebuilding tank...advice?

[boobookitty]

Howdy, all...

I've had a 240g tank for almost 4 years now, and the first 3 were great (excellent growth, color, etc.). The last 9 months or so, I've had steady problems...excessive (excessive) algae growth, getting worse, and losing corals (tissue loss). I still have most of my stuff, but I need to do something, and standard tank parameters are fine and the same as they've mostly been (8 dkh, 425 calcium, 1300 mag, 35 salinity, 0 measurable phosphate and nitrate).

I believe the deep sand bed I stupidly installed in the beginning is the issue, so I'm taking it out. I've been building up water and getting ready, and I'll be doing it tomorrow, so any advice would be great. The plan is:

1) get replacement water supply at right temp, salinity, dkh, ca and mag.
2) use about 20% of the current tank water for seeding
3) remove all corals into one of the holding tanks with replacement water
4) remove all rocks. I'll be using about half of the current rocks, half new rocks.
5) remove sand and clean out tank
6) spread thin layer of sand (for aesthetics)
7) fill tank with replacement water, start all pumps, and add rocks along with the water
8) replace corals, ensure water flow is good, etc.


Drastic, but it's been coming for a while and needs to happen.

Aside from general advice, I do have one specific question: I have a huge (really huge) Derasa clam. He's still of a size that I (think I) can get him out of the tank, but is there an issue with transport, exposure to air, etc.? What's the best way to handle the clam?

Not looking forward to this, but hopefully it'll go relatively smoothly...

[thor32766]

well I wish you good luck with this move. I am doing the same thing this saturday on my 220 to relocate it to another part of the house so I can set up the new tank. GOOD LUCK!

[boobookitty]

Thanks. I've avoided it for 9 months since it's stressful (both on the tank and on me :)), but with the tank not doing well I decided to bite the bullet...

[bonerfortuna]

Can you put a 5 gal pail in the tank once its emptied of rock and coral for the clam?We need some more info otherwise. Good Luck

[RWillieK]

Instead of storing the corals in the new water, it would be less stressful (IMO) to use the old water. Also it would save time on acclimating them to the new water, and then again into the tank.

Robbie

[newb]

a tip i learned here on RC is to use a shop vac to remove the dsp
it fills up fast and gets real heavy be careful
if it were me doing this in your shooes the first thing i would do is figure out if i could get the clam out if not then totally re think your plan. you dont want anything live near what will be released from your dsb. an alternet plan may involve a couple of months and a gravel vac. might be a good time to cook the gunk out of the rocks you have been building up for the past years. lots of diff ways to approach this but the plan revolves arround the clam. dont rush this make it a four month plan. re-plumb re-think everything. after you clean your tank out put it inyour front yard and try some new things with flow and diff amounts of sand etc. work it all out before so when it goes in for real its smooth for you and your fish/corals
good luck

[boobookitty]

Thanks for all the input...:)

Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, it needs to happen now. I certainly don't want to leave it for another 4 months, considering what's been happening, and it's either tomorrow or it waits another month.

My concern about using the old water is that, given what has been happening with the corals, I'm concerned the water may have something in it. I figure I'll use 20%-30% of the old water, start our with mostly new. However, for the transfer tomorrow, it does make sense to store them in a tank with old water, then acclimate them all as if they were new corals.

Same with the rocks...I don't have an opportunity to cook them, so I'm starting with about 50% new rock.

For the clam, I can get it out, but I can't get a 5 gallon bucket into the tank to take it out. However, I'm looking for something smaller now that can fit into the tank, but take the clam out in it, to avoid exposure to air.

Thanks again for all the input...it's helpful.

[boobookitty]

I found a bucket that I can use to move the clam, that fits in the tank, so the clam should always be submerged. Is this critical? I remember hearing that when I first set up, so I'll do it anyway.

Big day is tomorrow...