very dirty tank

i am trying
should be up in a bit


okay it is up now =]

 

I agree. I would go from scratch. It's difficult when there are so many unknowns.

I agree with this with the exception I would nuke all existing rock minus one small piece.

After the rock is done with the nuking process, I would add it into the tank.

I do not feel you need to wait to start the cycle for the rock to nuke. Just add the small piece you saved in and add the nuked rock later.

It will take more time but you will probably be far better off. Dirty tanks tend to have nasty hitchhikers. I'd want all that out.

 

There are pro's and con's to reusing the old rock/sand etc. The purple stuff is coraline algae...harmless. There's no telling what else is "living" in that rock. You could end up with unwanted "hitchhikers."

I'd start over

 

sorry for being the noob, but how do you "nuke" the rocks,

and from my other thread, i was told the mandarin gobi lives off of the things on the rocks. so how would that go? because there are 3 fishes that came with the tank, the gobi, a damsel and a perc clown.

thanks!


btw, i was wondering what these are( the fizzy/sponge looking things on the rocks).

 

anyone?

 

Nuking is killing everything (good & bad hitchhikers) in your live rocks. You can do that by boiling or using bleach. This is safer way than cooking I described earlier. One all the rocks are dead, use a small piece you saved to repopulate the live rocks.

 

what about the fishes?

i know starting over for the 72g bowfront is a must at this point.
but is it not possible to keep the fishes in their own seperate tanks? and treat that as if they all had their own little 10g? then after the tank is cycled and up and running i put the fishes into the 72g?

 

I don't really have much to add. Just want to agree about using vinegar to clean everything. It works soooo well!