40gal Breeder Ressurection

[cowdawg]

Hey Guys! I have been inactive for quite some time... And during that time life and work (mainly work!) prevented me from taking care of my tank. I've had a 40 BR SPS tank for about 4 years, specs are:

40 BR display
40 BR sump
Octopus recirc skimmer (can't remember the size haha)
10 gal refugium
60 lbs LR
Bare-Bottom
2x 150MH + 2x 54watt T5 (Now temp. 4x 54watt T5)
Vortech MP40
various koralia's

Now, over the past year, I haven't done a thing to the tank (until yesterday!). I mean literally nothing besides topping off evap with filtered water. No water changes, nothing. Nada. Zip.

Needless to say, the tank went to sh%t! It turned into a complete caulerpa farm. All of my corals died, along with the fish. Even the clean-up crew kicked the bucket. During this time, my light broke as well. I never fixed it.

I was busy working a new job and just flat out did not have the energy to deal with the tank. The outcome was inevitable, and I knew it.

Here is the tank before the disaster, in its prime (I never took pics of it when it was bad)












Just for fun, here is one from the first day it was filled up!





So, where I stand today I'm optimistic. Let me know if there is a fault in my plan however!

I pulled out two 5 gal buckets of caulerpa/dead coral from the tank

I removed all of the rock and scrubbed it with a wire brush( this worked extremely well BTW)

I did a 15% water change

Put up a temporary 4 bulb T5 fixture with 2x 10,000k and 2x actinic (this will be replaced with a 2x 150 watt MH/2x T5 actinic)

Scrubbed down the tank

Cleaned MP40 and other powerheads

Cleaned refugium but left some detritus (prob 1/4 to 1/2")

Gave the surviving clown a bite of food

Here is what it looks like now (again, I couldn't bring myself to take pics of the worst it looked)













So there you have it. Hopefully I don't have too much phosphate buildup and I can get this thing looking good again. I plan on doing water changes (15%) twice a week for a bit. Plus I need to get new filters for the RO/DI.

This light will work for now, but when I start putting corals in again I'd like to have MH's over the tank.

Am I missing anything? I feel like it won't take all that long before I can re-stock with frags, I mean, it has been set up for almost five years. Right?

[cowdawg]

Bump for some responses/advice. I've been doing a lot of work to get the tank back on track.

Just got my RO/DI filter cartridges in the mail, and am looking into a DIY LED fixture. I've done four ten gallon water changes since I made the first post and cleaned out the DSB. Also completely removed all detritus from the fuge.

Anyone??

[cowdawg]

update bump, still looking for some advise...

did some water tests a bit ago,

ca 440
alk 11dkh
PO4 0
NO3 0


The tests look good, however, I am considering scrapping the rock in the display for some clean stuff. I'd like to get some acros in the tank sooner than later.

[cowdawg]

BTW thanks for the bump reefer!

[THE JOEY]

To me it looks like a good start. Alk might be a little high. Set up your aquascape to your liking and goooooooooooooo! You already know that good husbandry and stable perimeters is what is needed. Good luck.

[cowdawg]

Yea, I went a little overboard with the two part trying to get the parameters back up to spec. I'll be letting the alk drop back down for now.

What has me confused is the NO3 and PO4. I completely removed ALL detritus from the tank, so there should be a reading in the water right? There is nothing to consume it in the system minus a handful of chaeto yet I am seeing the caulerpa starting to grow back.

I'm starting to wonder if I will ever be able to rid it from the rock or not.

Would it be a good idea to scrap the infested rock and replace it with clean stuff? I could keep the 30 or so lbs that are in the sump and fuge so it "shouldn't" cycle too badly.

I would hate to do all this work just to have everything be choked out by that nasty stuff again.

On a lighter note, I ordered a Tunze Osmolator last night! Never had an ATO before! Will the pump work with kalk very long?

[swollix]

I would have done 100 percent water change if nothing living was left besides the rock. A decent sized tang will take care of your caulerpa permanently.

[cowdawg]

Originally Posted by swollix

I would have done 100 percent water change if nothing living was left besides the rock. A decent sized tang will take care of your caulerpa permanently.

I thought about that, however I was waiting on filters for my RO/DI. I would have had to purchase 80 gallons of salt water from the LFS to do 100% change. At $1.50/gal it would have been pretty spendy. Now that I have my RO/DI online I am going to be aggressive with changes, prob 10gal twice a week. I still have a clown that survived and he's been in the tank since the beginning.

I added a long spined urchin in hopes that it will mow down algae until the tank is back on track. I'm still wondering what to do about the rock... Seeing all the little caulerpa nubs poking out has me worried. I have heard many mixed opinions on tangs and caulerpa, and my tank being only 40gals is a bit small esp. for a large one.

[cowdawg]

Bump for thoughts on the rock. The caulerpa is still just barely poking out, maybe 1/2", but it is sprouting all over. The growth is pretty pale however. I removed tons of nutrients this past week or two. Not sure if it will starve out or not, though its def. not growing like it was before. I have not noticed the long spine urchin eating the caulerpa as he stays mainly on the glass.

Still trying to decide if I should replace it or keep pulling it out and scrubbing it. Params look good-

ca- 440
alk- 9.5
No3- 0
Po4- 0

Also I'm looking into LED's a little more. I like the idea of no bulb replacement while still having shimmer (I really don't like the T5's)