Advice on best way to NUKE entire system!

[Dark_Reef]

My 260 reef is more than overrun with Aiptasia (probably in the high thousands) and I have decided just to nuke it and start fresh.

I am looking for advice on best way to kill the entire system. I was thinking of just getting the fish out cutting what sps i can and just filling and running the system with fresh water for a few weeks then starting over.

Another thought would be to maybe use chlorine for a pool?

 

[Paul B]

When the hobby started we used to do this all the time. Remove anything alive you want to keep and throw in one cup of regular Clorox to 50 gallons of water. Leave the pumps on and in 3 days it will be sterile and you can change the water or neutralize the water and re use it. I did this to my tank a few times to kill ich and algae and that Clorox treated water is still in my decades old reef. But if you have a lot of decaying matter in there, you may want to dump the water.
You must use "regular" Clorox, no scents or extra whitening or you will kill everything
(don't ask)

 

[lucidheights]

remove the rock and bath it in muriatic acid. With this method you will you kill off all pests and you will also melt away the outer layer of the rock along with any built up phosphates. This means faster cure time and an overall faster restart up. Just be sure you have an established biological filter in a temporary tank to place all your animals.

 

[Preston7]

Hydrogen peroxide is your friend. Kill all flow and add H2O2. Let it do it's thing, then turn on the system. The extra oxygen molecule will drop leaving a sanitized system.

 

[Dark_Reef]

Hydrogen peroxide is your friend. Kill all flow and add H2O2. Let it do it's thing, then turn on the system. The extra oxygen molecule will drop leaving a sanitized system. [/Q

I need to kill the aiptasia in the sump, overflows, plumbing, reactors, .....

So how much hydrogen peroxide would I need for the entire 300+ gallons?

It looks like I can get a 5 GAL 29% H2O2 from a hydroponics store for around $100, would that do the job?

 

[Dark_Reef]

remove the rock and bath it in muriatic acid. With this method you will you kill off all pests and you will also melt away the outer layer of the rock along with any built up phosphates. This means faster cure time and an overall faster restart up. Just be sure you have an established biological filter in a temporary tank to place all your animals.

I have a 400Gal system that I can move the fish to for the time I am restarting the system. But I need to wipe out the aiptasia from more than the rocks, they are covering the glass, sand, pumps, sump, reactors, ... I mean they are everywhere!

 

[Preston7]

Hydrogen peroxide is your friend. Kill all flow and add H2O2. Let it do it's thing, then turn on the system. The extra oxygen molecule will drop leaving a sanitized system. [/Q

I need to kill the aiptasia in the sump, overflows, plumbing, reactors, .....

So how much hydrogen peroxide would I need for the entire 300+ gallons?

It looks like I can get a 5 GAL 29% H2O2 from a hydroponics store for around $100, would that do the job?

Too much! You'll only need a couple of dollars worth from cvs or Walmart

 

[Laborator]

You gotta show pics before setting off the nuke! Lol

 

[husslr187]

wouldn't dumping all the water and letting it dry work?

 

[4adam12]

I did mine a couple of years ago and just did hyposalinaty. You can leave the fish in and get the enjoyment of watching the aptasia pop.

 

[jmn111080]

Post some pics

 

[Dark_Reef]

Here are some pics.

I want to change some of the fish, fix the silicone on the front, and polish the glass on the one side, somehow it got scuffed and you can see it right when you walk in. The only thing that would suck is the two corals that have incrusted.

Sorry the fish kept getting in the way.

 

[mandingCa]

Wow, def con 5.

Blow it up!

Agree with peroxide solution.

 

[Mike putnam]

If you decide to go the hydrogen peroxide route.you could get baquacil oxidizer that is sold for pools. It is 27% hydrogen peroxide you want the stuff in the blue bottle. That one is just HP I think its about 20$ a gallon.

Mike

 

[lucidheights]

that looks pretty cool . i'd definitely acid bath the rock and let the tank sit in bleach water for a while then scrape it clean. Since you have a separate tank to put fish in, there are many ways you can go about sterilizing the tank, have fun

 

[dave.m]

You could also turn your tank into a Berghia farm for a while. When they've finished the job, sell the Berghia off to other hobbyists/LFS.

Dave.M

 

[Dark_Reef]

I like the rock work so that is another reason to just chernobyl the entire system.

 

[Dark_Reef]

You could also turn your tank into a Berghia farm for a while. When they've finished the job, sell the Berghia off to other hobbyists/LFS.

Dave.M

I could probably retire :dance:

 

[Dark_Reef]

If you decide to go the hydrogen peroxide route.you could get baquacil oxidizer that is sold for pools. It is 27% hydrogen peroxide you want the stuff in the blue bottle. That one is just HP I think its about 20$ a gallon.

Mike

I looks like I can get a gallon of 30% h2o2 from a hydroponics store for about $20.

I was planning on filling the system with fresh water then hitting it with the bleach or h202 and running it for a few days. I may have to do a few drain and fills to help get some of the extra nutrients from the death out.

 

[Phantom54]

Wow good luck