Post Hurricane Tank Help

[cerino]

Hi All,
So I have a 12G long running for ~3 years and recently got hit hard in NJ from the storm. I was out of power for the past 6-7 days and hence a majority of my tank is done. I had some survivors - a feather duster, CUC, blood shrimp and pistol shrimp.

Prior to the storm i was fighting a bad aiptasia problem which i would use aiptasia x all the time and zap them when i could and before water changes. The tank was still running fine i was just getting tired of these aiptasia and realized it was a never ending problem.

Now with everything gone i was thinking this is a good time to start front scratch. does anyone have any reccomendations on how to do this ? i dont have a refuge or any way of keeping the blood shrimp/pistol if i start from scratch and re-cycle.

i would love some advice as to what the best idea is at this point. i really would love to "start from scratch" to really ensure this aiptasia is gone. i may sell off the remnants or leave them with my LFS for the time being.

any advice would help.

 

[Fish_wiz2]

Im sorry for your loss. Hope your family is all and well. But, its great that youre still dedicated to the hobby! To start off, you could either setup another small tank, say a 10g, and keep whatever is left in there. It can be simple with just rock, livestock, heater, powerhead, and light. Then you could rebuild the 12g from scratch. I have battled aiptasia before and would go with dry rock from bulk reef supply next time to avoid any pests. Unless you could find a natural way of ridding it such as a copperband butterfly or nudibranchs then really the rock is done. At this point, do not reuse sand and try to start fresh with everything. Good luck! Wiz.

 

[cerino]

yeah i was thinking about getting another tank. a small nano cube or something similar to cycle and move any livestock i have over to that thank then redo this one from scratch.

just curious do i have to rid of all coraline algae before recycling this tank?

 

[cerino]

i know im gonna have to rid of my rock/sand.

 

[Fish_wiz2]

That would be fine, i recommended something simple like a standard 10 or 20 gal as it comes cheaper than a nano cube. If you prefer a cube, in no doubt, get it! But, no, the coralline can stay as it either will die or stay encrusted on the rock. I believe there are methods to clean your rock using either bleach or acid but im not too sure on the steps. But in my years, ive always used new sand, ive found you can never clean sand to new, its just nasty.

 

[cerino]

well i actually have crushed coral in my setup now.

 

[120reefermadnes]

If you want to save money on getting new rocks just remove your rocks you have now and put them out in the sun to dry out for like a week then rinse them really good to remove all the stuff that died from them and your good.

 

[120reefermadnes]

You could probably do the same with the crushed coral too, when you let the sun dry it out it will kill any pests that would be in there, but make sure to rinse it all real good before putting it back in the tank

 

[cerino]

im thinking about switching to sand anyway.
if i sold off or moved my livestock and kept the water can i just get new live rock/live sand to put in there to cycle with a CUC?

hoping i dont have to truly cycle and start from scratch.

 

[cerino]

and do you think it is possible to keep the livestock in the tank and switch out everything else - attempting to rid of that aiptasia problem. ridding of the crushed coral and live rock

 

[cerino]

can i leave the 2 shrimp and feather duster and CUC in the tank and leave everything else out in the sun for a week, rinse, and put back in?

my goal really is to just get rid of this aiptasia once and for all and i might as well do it now while i have no coral/fish.