Need Help/out Of Ideas

[coral keeper]

Well my tank is about 10 yrs old. I have recently went through a huge remodeling project at my house and am sad to say that I totally ignored my tank. A powerhead fell over and blew my sand everywhere, since then I have had a huge detritus problem. No matter how many times i siphon or puff the rocks it just seem to still be there. Now I am getting hair algae. I just replaced all the cartridges in my RO/DI but it dosent seem to be getting any better. My true perc that I have the entire time is dying, my red searpant star died. My question is do i need to take all my rock and sand out and start over or is the setup salvageable? Im wondering if the sand had something under it that got out and is killing things? Whats the best way to get my tank back again? I am thinking I will have to tear ot down and start over!!!! Sorry for the long post but I am at a loss.

 

[wooddood]

sorry to hear, i dont think you need to tear the tank down but i would start with a major water change first. with a tank that mature you probally stirred up some bad stuff in the sand bed. i would run a canister filter also with carbon to polish the water and check your parameters and see were you are and probally do another water change in a few days and check the params again. i think you will be ok then. good luck and let us know how it all turns out.

 

[cheeks69]

How old is the sandbed ? It's possible that there was a release of sulfide because of the PH incident and a buildup of phosphates in the SB possibly are causing problems. If the SB is old then I would suggest you take the tank apart and start over.

 

[CAT]

If the sandbed is 10 yrs old, I'd say it was time to replace it I would expect that lots of stuff has collected in there. I just tore out my 5" sandbed and if you're organized, it's a pita but very doable.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Montanareefer]

I also agree the DSB has to go. Personally I would tear the tank down and start fresh. Every thought of going Bare Bottom?

 

[wooddood]

you said the tank was ten years old, but did'nt really say how old the sand bed was. if the sand bed is ten years old i would say you got a very long life out of it and it needs to go. if not i would still do what i suggested above if the sand bed is more then a couple years old get rid of it.

 

[mps9506]

I really don't know about the sandbed being the source of the problem. You only have 1.5" sand bed, I would suspect you would have had problems much earlier if there was excessive nutrient buildup or didn't have the correct sifters.
My suggestion first would be to run a full battery of tests on your tank and list what the levels are:
Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH, Alk, and phosphate at the bare min.
We can go from there. It is hard to diagnose the problem without know what your levels are.
Mike

 

[cheeks69]

I didn't notice the 1.5" sandbed I thouth it was deeper but I still would say get rid of it because of your huge detritus problem. With the layer not being very deep the buildup of phosphates will be that much quicker possibly causing the HA problem.

My true perc that I have the entire time is dying, my red searpant star died.

I agree with mps9506 "run a full battery of tests on your tank and list what the levels are" before we know a possible cause.

 

[coral keeper]

I will do all the tests and post results thanks for all the input. Yes the sand bed is about ten years old, so i should get rid of it??? Whats the best way to do that and what do i replace it with?? What do i do with the fish? Do i need to pull all the rock out? WOW this will be a huge project but it sounds like a neccesary evil

 

[coral keeper]

I just bought a hanna tds-1 meter on e-bay for $ 21.45 including shipping. Is this a good brand? I will add these test results to the rest of the results that i post in hope that you folks can give some more of that great advice that is always here on this forum. Thanks
-Dave- (coral keeper)

 

[cheeks69]

Yes the sand bed is about ten years old, so i should get rid of it???

If the sandbed is that old I would remove everything from the tank and put it in a large plastic tub/container with a PH and heater, remove all the water and then remove the SB. I would also be careful not to move the SB around while removing everything you never know what could be released after 10 years. That is the oldest sandbed I've ever heard of.

I had to do that recently in my 42gal and it was a big project but I did it in a few hours.Good luck

what do i replace it with??

That is a good question. I know alot of people are going BB because a DSB over time tends to build up phosphates that later on will leach creating algea blooms. Since a DSB will only export nitrogen based products if set up correctly all other products that enter it will be sunk and stored.

"This will put a time limit on the functional ability of the sand bed as time goes by." Thanx Mike for that explanation

I myself like a DSB and will use it again in my new tank although I realize in time I may have to replace it.:columbo:

 

[BoomerD]

Hanna makes a good TDS meter. I don't envy you with all the work you have ahead. I agree, that the stirring of the substrate probably released a lot of nutrients and toxins into the water column. A 10 yr old sand bed would probably be getting ready to be changed out anyway, at least according to the current theories on DSB's anyway. There are several ways of doing what you're gonna need to do. Get some large rubbermaid tubs and put the corals, fish and rocks into them, with heaters and powerheads for circulation. Then using iether a large scoop, remove the old sand. YOu will make a heck of a mess in the process, and probably won't be able to see more that a few inches after a scoop or 2. The other way would be to use a piece of hose and siphon the sand out. The only problem I know of with that is the loss of water. You'd have to keep replacing the water as you siphon out the sand. I'd certainly recommend making sure you have everything out of the tank before you start, to eliminate any chance of losing anything to the siphon process. Once you have all the sand out, clean the tank well, rinse well, and start all over with fresh sand and water. I'm not sure if Home Depots where you are at carry Southdown or Old Castle Caribbean play sand...Worth a look, since it's about $5.00/50 lbs, as compared to $1.00/lb for the stuff at the LFS. Many people would probably recommend replacing all or part of your live rock at this time. I won't go there, not sure if that's a valid theory or not, but...
Anyway, you certainly have a lot of work ahead of you. It's possible that you could get away with just running some canister filters full of carbon and a good phosphate media like RowaPhos,and trying to filter out most of the nasties...Might be worth a try before you replace all the sand...

 

[ReefLady]

My true perc that I have the entire time is dying, my red searpant star died.

This makes me question how much parameters shifted when this happened - especially pH. What kind of symptoms is the clown displaying?

I'm not sure exactly how far you are from us - I'm guessing about 2-3 hours, but just an option - I have a boatload of room in my 'fuge (it's basically a 70g softie tank) - if you need a "holding place" for any fish or corals - or rock - while you're overhauling anything.

Door (and tank) are open. ;-)

 

[coral keeper]

well the poor guy died. The PH was low around 7.9 I dont have a nitrite or ammonia test kit havent tested ammonia in years. Didnt think i needed to in an established system. Phosphates are also off around 0.3 . Do you think i should put southdown in system i have a 350 lbs of it in my basement(i was going to go DSB last summer but decided not to) Wont i have to cycle all over again? RL i live in Haverhill 10 minutes from Plaistow where are you located i have a ton of soft corals and gorgonian in my tank. Not sure what the softies are but it is all the same and it grows like mad, Taking over the tank most everyting else has died in the last month or so ned to do this quick

 

[ReefLady]

coral keeper,

We're in Raymond - about an hour from you, tops .. more like 45 minutes. Do you know how far you are from Epping (Rte 125)? We're only 10 min from Epping.

I'd be glad to hold any corals or rock you need. I probably can't do fish (don't want to risk it - no quarantine), but I'm not sure you even have any.

Tonight ... tomorrow night? Whenever.

Pm or email me -- ReefLady@comcast.net

 

[coral keeper]

I have a red sea purple tang, royal gramma,hippo tang, neon dottyback they seem to be ok. Maybe a little stressed but not dead. How would you suggest i store them while i tear the tank apart. I know where Raymond is I camp a Pawtuckaway State Park all the time. About 45 minutes away.

 

[CAT]

I think you can probably get the overhaul done in a day if everything is ready to go before you start. Lots of rubbermaid tubs, lots of new water, save what old water you can. Sounds like your 1 1/2 inch sandbed did it's job for you for a long time, if you like it just do it again

Just to let you know that several of us went through this routine and survived, here are some pics of what to expect....

Living room

Trying to aquascape with new Sand ...

3 year old sandbed. Yuck.

 

[mps9506]

Did yopu test that pH while the tank lights were off or on?
We need to figure out why your pH was that low also before tearing your tank apart.
Mike

 

[wooddood]

your fish should survive in a rubbermaid contaianer while you take the sand bed out, just nput in a heater and a powerhead and they should be fine. alot of people me included are goind bare bottom on thier tanks, something to think about. but hey the sand bed you had worked for ten years so you be the judge. good luck.

 

[coral keeper]

lights were on, I dont understand why the PH dropped so low either. - wooddood-, Talk to me about bare bottom. Where is all the bio-load?, In the rocks? What do you put the aquascape on? I'm assuming right on the glass. Will have to cycle the tank all over again?????