Adding benificial organisms to my tank

[ahmedess]

Hello! My name is Ahmed, I`m from Alexandria, Egypt and i have just started 4 months ago in this hobby. In the city I live in there`s only one saltwater LFS and i get all my stuff from it.

Recently, I have been attacked by cirolanids because i bought live rock from the LFS which was infested with them and due to the lack of my experience i thought they were good hitckhikers to clean up my tank from leftovers.

After reading about cirolanids i have had to empty my tank and discard my sand. I have also put all my live rock in the sun to kill any trace of cirolanids and that also killed all other life forms on it which were a lot.

I would like to start again with new sand and use the rock i have left in the sun in my tank after i cure it.

I have some questions, I would really appreciate your help:

1-Will the cured rock have any organisms other than the nitrogen cycle bacteria alive again on it?

2-how can i add benificial organisms to my tank, knowing that all the live rock and sand at the LFS is infested with Cirolanids and knowing that i live very close to the Sea?

3-If i am planning on having a 2 inch sand bed in the DT and a 5 inch DSB in the refugium to aid in nitrates removal, without having the worms and other creatures alive again in the sand to turn it over will that be a problem? will my DSB turn into lumps because of the lack of small organisms turning it over? what options do i have?

[seapug]

Welcome, Ahmed!

I don't have experience with Isopods but there's a great article about someone who had an experience similar to yours here:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/bp/index.php

I would do whatever you can to avoid drying your live rock, as it will kill everything you paid for and end up with, dead rock at best, or a rotting mess at the worst. The article discusses some capture techniques that worked for the author.

[ahmedess]

I have already dried my rock and discarded the sand.

I have read this article before. it has a lot of information but the writer says that he has never got rid of cirolanids completely. He says that their population decreased in number but they were never completely gone. He is still trying to get rid of them.

I have read that the other choice is to do what i have done which is to cook the rock in the sun and throw the sand away and get a fresh start.

[koranAngel]

slm ahmed

u can dry the rocks in sun for a weeks or bake them then leave them in fresh water for a few days

but as mentioned above it will kill all befeicial bacteria but never mind
once in tank it will over time become live again (might take longer though)

to kick start the cycle after adding sand n rocks id recom using stabillity follow instruct works well

if u decide to fresh sw make sure u go far out rather than off the beach etc

no need to have 5in dsb in sump
my 2c worth

[ahmedess]

I have read that to have anaerobic bacteria that breaks down nitrate to nitrogen gas the sand bed must be between 4 to 6 inches.

after i cure the live rock will it have any sort of life forms other than the bacteria? I had amphipods, coralline and corals on my rock could they become alive again after curing?