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Unread 11/18/2018, 10:48 PM   #1
smogl00
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Cleaning aquarium for re-boot

Shut my reef down after an almost two year battle with dinos. It has been down a couple of months now, and I am getting ready to re-boot. I’m trying to avoid getting any dino’s Back- they really screwed me, but want to make sure I’m doing this the right way.

So far I have filled it up with a 3:1 water to vinegar mixture, and let all the equipment run for a couple of days. I then scrubbed off all the old coralline, and emptied it for another week.

I have now filled it back up with just normal tap water to let all the equipment run again, and give it a good rinse from the vinegar mixture. I was contemplating mixing some h2o2 in the tank while it is rinsing- just for good measure, but I read that the mixture of vinegar and h202 could be hazardous.

Now for me- the concentrations of each would be so low since they will be in the presence of 75 gallons of freshwater- but my questions- is it dangerous, and is it necessary.

My biggest concern is getting any possible traces out of plumbing that I cannot get at behind the overflow.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions.

Thanks


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Current Tank Info: 20 gallon high nano mixed reef 4x24 t5HO with lunar LEDS.
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Unread 11/19/2018, 10:14 AM   #2
Michael Hoaster
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I'm in a similar boat. I had dinos, aiptasias and runaway, invasive macro algae. After draining the tank, I sprayed it down with a bleach solution. After letting dry out for months, I've sprayed it down with water to rinse. I will rinse again before filling it. That's about it. Oh, also I'm starting with new sand and live rocks.

I think what you've done sounds really good. I don't know about that combo being dangerous. You could google it. I understand your paranoia. You want to make sure it doesn't come back!

I share your concerns with traces in the plumbing, so I've added a UV sterilizer. Like many of us, I tried a lot of different things to battle the dinos. The UV worked. So I'm keeping it plumbed into my system to use whenever needed. I'll probably keep it on for a while after startup to combat any possible residue.

Good luck, Steve! Here's to a dino-free future!


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Current Tank Info: 180g Seagrass Sandbar Lagoon, START DATE November 28, 2018
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Unread 11/19/2018, 10:35 AM   #3
smogl00
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster View Post
I'm in a similar boat. I had dinos, aiptasias and runaway, invasive macro algae. After draining the tank, I sprayed it down with a bleach solution. After letting dry out for months, I've sprayed it down with water to rinse. I will rinse again before filling it. That's about it. Oh, also I'm starting with new sand and live rocks.

I think what you've done sounds really good. I don't know about that combo being dangerous. You could google it. I understand your paranoia. You want to make sure it doesn't come back!

I share your concerns with traces in the plumbing, so I've added a UV sterilizer. Like many of us, I tried a lot of different things to battle the dinos. The UV worked. So I'm keeping it plumbed into my system to use whenever needed. I'll probably keep it on for a while after startup to combat any possible residue.

Good luck, Steve! Here's to a dino-free future!
Thanks! Yes I forgot to mention that I will be buying all new live rock and sand for this one. The UV sterilized is probably not a bad idea.

I've just seen that these dinos can survive a crazy amount. Trying to do as much as I can before booting back up


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Current Tank Info: 20 gallon high nano mixed reef 4x24 t5HO with lunar LEDS.
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Unread 11/19/2018, 12:16 PM   #4
reefgeezer
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You're probably OK to start now. After you've drained the tap water & filled with RODI, any remaining vinegar would be so dilute that it wouldn't be harmful. The hydrogen peroxide is probably not needed unless there is some organic build-up you are worried about. The vinegar, and the chlorine in the tap water, likely killed anything you need to worry about.


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Unread 11/20/2018, 11:23 PM   #5
bertoni
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It's likely that your procedure has killed a lot of microbes that were in the equipment. There might be encysted forms in the environment, but there's little you can do about that.


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