tankover

[seanmc980]

My 72G is infested with sooooo much crap.. I got aiptasia,flatworms,well over thousands of hydroids and spaghetti worms. I probably have 20 pounds of bristle worms. I want to start over pest free. What is the best way to get rid of all the life in the tank? Does anyone think it would be best to let the rock dry out for a few weeks? Someone at the LFS suggested to get a few heaters and crank them over 90 degrees for a few days. Any suggestions are appreciated!

[thedoctor06]

I'd just trash it and start with marco rocks. If I ever start another tank, I'll start with sterile rock and sand. It's not worth the headache for me personally

[Shane Hoffman]

PBITAWA

kidding.

I would remove the rock and let it dry out for a couple weeks. The heater trick will work but everything will stink to hy heaven. Start with new dry and throw your rock back in. The dead bacteria and micrscopic animals on your rock should trigger the cycle.

[redfishsc]

High temps will only kill things that are easy to kill, and will leave behind the most stubborn.

Easiest way to do this:

Remove all animals you want to survive.

Turn off the skimmer, remove any equipment you can clean by hand. Do this treatment to the tank/rock only.

Put a couple powerheads in the tank.

Cook the whole rockwork setup with bleach. Trust me, this can be done safely (may smell foul though).

Add a couple cups of bleach every two days or so until the tank is stark white and all organic material appears to be oxidized.


You can neutralize the bleach with the cheapest dechlorinator you can find. First flush out as much bleach as you can (drain/refill the tank twice with tap water).

I have, in the past, rinsed the tank out well with tapwater a couple of times, and dumped in the whole container of dechlorinator. Allow that to circulate for a day or two.


Remove all water, refill with salt water. Tank should be ready for simple life forms like macroalgae. If macroalgae doesn't die in the system, it's ready to start the nitrogen cycle anew. Will take a month to cycle, but then again that's what happens when you kill a tank.

If in doubt, you can check chlorine levels with a cheap pool chlorine test kit.

I learned this from Martin Moe's books. Anything he writes is a good read.

[seanmc980]

I'd just trash it and start with marco rocks. If I ever start another tank, I'll start with sterile rock and sand. It's not worth the headache for me personally

I just got in 30 lbs of really nice dry rock from bulkreef. I wanted to go with Marco but he never returned my calls. I would start over with all dry rock but I have some really nice pieces that I would be crazy not to save.

I like your idea Red. It does sound pretty scary adding all that bleach directly to my tank,but at this point I'm willing to try anything. My only concern would be the smell.

Can all these pests survive in just RO water? I wonder if I drained my tank and filled it with RO if that would take care of them?

[Salamander]

IMO I'd work with what you have now.

Aiptasia - not hard to eradicate.
Flatworms - not a a horrible pest and not hard to eradicate.
Spaghetti worms - good to have.
Bristle worms - good to have. But if you have 20#'s you must be overfeeding.
Hydroids - not easy to eradicate but populations will wane appropriate feeding.

Give some more details of your setup and maintenance and we can give you more suggestions.

[seanmc980]

IMO I'd work with what you have now.

Aiptasia - not hard to eradicate.
Flatworms - not a a horrible pest and not hard to eradicate.
Spaghetti worms - good to have.
Bristle worms - good to have. But if you have 20#'s you must be overfeeding.
Hydroids - not easy to eradicate but populations will wane appropriate feeding.

Give some more details of your setup and maintenance and we can give you more suggestions.

I'm not overfeeding... in fact I'm not feeding at all because I don't have any fish, lol. It really is unreal how many bristle worms I have.. There is not one square in of my tank and glass that one cannot be found. I've read bristle worms become an issue when they get large... and from what i've read they get large fast. The spaghetti worms from what I read will irritate most corals. I also have this weird white slug looking thing. It's about the size of an average snail and he will lift his front half off the ground/rock and puff these huge white clouds into the tank. I've seen him do this 4 times. He moves pretty fast and is impossible to get a good pic. I've also had a pretty nasty Ick outbreak that wiped out my fish.. I read that ick also can stay dormant. all the more reason to nuke the tank. :frog:

[Acronic]

nuke it, sounds crazy but so does your tank!!!!

[silverfly]

nuke it, sounds crazy but so does your tank!!!!
i agree! You'll really enjoy setting up the tank as new with no pests this time. Get an ro-di unit, take your time and enjoy the pleasures of building a new system from scratch.

Richie

[Ruskin]

Can you post some pics? maybe you have miss ID'd some stuff? If you aren't feeding you must have something in the tank keeping all these critters alive?

How long has the tank been without fish? To me it sounds like you have a really big refugium rather then a display as you dont have any predators to kill/deal with your inhabitants.

I agree with Salamander, I'd try to work with what you have as you dont really seem to have anything that isnt managable.