do I start over?

Seano Hermano · Jun 11, 2010

evolved said: ↑

You guys forgot to ask her if she acclimated those fish properly...
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lol. So did you.

ibefishy · Jun 11, 2010

GuitarMan89 said: ↑

Personally, if this were my tank that I had just gotten from a friend, I would start over. All you've done is inherited their problems. I would start a new. I would empty the tank and throw away the old sand or substrate. Keep the rock that's in there. Then I would soak the rock in a solution of RO/DI water and bleach for a few days, or at least overnight. Rinse it in RO/DI water, then soak in baking soda for a few days, rinse again and let it dry. This will eliminate any and all unwanted hitchhikers and nuisance algae. (It may sound difficult or time consuming, but it's really not). While that is going on, gather the equipment you need and clean everything with vinegar or warm water. Clean the inside of the tank with vinegar and IMO, replace the substrate with a fine grained sand.

After that is all done, add the rock back to the tank, fill with RO/DI water or premixed salt water and let the tank cycle for a few weeks. You can cycle with 1 damsel, preferably a yellow tailed damsel as they are not that aggressive IMO and IME compared to other damsels. Test your water every few days or so to see where your cycle is at. When your ammonia and nitrite are at 0, you can begin to add livestock, but slowly. Only had 1 or 2 small fish, depending on the size of the tank at a time and allow the bacteria population to grow to account for the increased bioload.

Again, this is just what I would do. You can just continue from where you're at, but IMO, you will have more issues down the road. Good luck.
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+1 on this method. There is also a learning process that you go through setting up a tank that is beneficial for everyone, plus it starts to teach patience, and gives a chance to do some research before tossing in livestock that will be too aggressive, get too big, etc.

SkyFire · Jun 11, 2010

If you want to save the sand you can do what I did and boil it...smells awful but killed off all the bad stuff in it and then rinsed it and reused it.
Of course it was no longer live sand but I'm sure it is by now as the fuge it's in is 3 months old.

Sharkbate · Jun 13, 2010

+1 Guitarman ....shut it down and start fresh ....I wont buy a used car if I can afford a new one.

bje · Jun 13, 2010

rip and rebuild.... get the proper test kits and start a new cycle.

Peredhil · Jun 14, 2010

GuitarMan89 said: ↑

Personally, if this were my tank that I had just gotten from a friend, I would start over. All you've done is inherited their problems. I would start a new. I would empty the tank and throw away the old sand or substrate. Keep the rock that's in there. Then I would soak the rock in a solution of RO/DI water and bleach for a few days, or at least overnight. Rinse it in RO/DI water, then soak in baking soda for a few days, rinse again and let it dry. This will eliminate any and all unwanted hitchhikers and nuisance algae. (It may sound difficult or time consuming, but it's really not). While that is going on, gather the equipment you need and clean everything with vinegar or warm water. Clean the inside of the tank with vinegar and IMO, replace the substrate with a fine grained sand.

After that is all done, add the rock back to the tank, fill with RO/DI water or premixed salt water and let the tank cycle for a few weeks. You can cycle with 1 damsel, preferably a yellow tailed damsel as they are not that aggressive IMO and IME compared to other damsels. Test your water every few days or so to see where your cycle is at. When your ammonia and nitrite are at 0, you can begin to add livestock, but slowly. Only had 1 or 2 small fish, depending on the size of the tank at a time and allow the bacteria population to grow to account for the increased bioload.

Again, this is just what I would do. You can just continue from where you're at, but IMO, you will have more issues down the road. Good luck.
Click to expand...

+1 from P too. I agree. I would definitely start this over. Starting off with issues like this... you may be battling this tank for eternity... I'd start freshly and start right...

Especially as new to you as it is...

blackraven1425 · Jun 14, 2010

Seano Hermano said: ↑

Oh and please lower your font size.
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Are you too young for large-sized fonts?

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do I start over?

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do I start over?

Seano Hermano Giant Squid

ibefishy Montipora Capricornis

SkyFire Clown Trigger

Sharkbate Coral Banded Shrimp

bje Long-fin Bannerfish

Peredhil Giant Squid

blackraven1425 Giant Squid

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