Restarting Tank after a lull period

[msayani2]

Hey guys..

(Sorry for the long post... please read it fully):strange:

Im NOT new to the hobby but have been taking it seriously the past year and a half.. I had a freshwater style tank that had been modded to saltwater use.. it caused a lot of issues due to the design (CPR overflow box that caused floods, an improperly put together sump that did the same sometimes, no space in the cabinet for equipment, no idea of phosphate, phosophate test kits etc due to unavailability of a lot of equipment in my area (middle east - UAE)

So after all that, in July 2014, I set up a 135G barebottom tank (reef style with all good tank features - overflow, good glass sump, custom cabinet with loads of room) that I initially would like to keep as a FOWLR & then upgrade to LPS/ softies. I want to avoid SPS totally as I want a decent success first.

I have been studying a lot about fishes and their behav. and compatibility.. so i know what will work.. which fish will kill another and the rest.. thanks to the RC forum. This helped me with introducing fish to the tank and what to keep etc.

Here is the thing:
The past 2 months i got busy due to my new significant other.. settling down with stuff etc.. so I left my tank past 3 weeks without the return pump running.. had the tunzes going and fed 3-4 times a week.. I have 80 lbs of LR and that was doing the filtration...

Now little did i realise that the tanks salinity as i was not adding water increased from 1.026 to 1.035.. Plus my temp dropped to 25.5C which is low. It took my fav and only 3 fishes with it..:mad2:

So, i am devoting time now and working towards building up the population in my tank. There are only snails as of now as I had kept my population low in the tank as I didnt want to add fish till I got time in December since there was too much going on..:uhoh2:

I have done a water change (25%) yesterday and will be using my full tank for filtration and get all my parameters in check (NO3, NO2, PO4, NH3, PH, salinity etc).. My question is :given the above, how quickly can i add fish to the tank considering it has been established since mid-Aug 2014 with 5-6 fish?

I was thinking start with a pair of clownfish (tank bred) as soon as param. are ok and then build up with 1-2 fish per 15-20 days. This will help my biological filtraion take care of the bioload in a progressive manner.

Any suggestions? Am I on the right track?:crazy1:

 

[droog]

Your plan sounds good to me, and seems like you're on the right track in some ways.

If the 30g sump had no circulation, I would drain it and refill with new water before turning on the return pump.

Suggest you invest in an RODI unit, ATO and aquarium controller (e.g. Apex) and set it up to automate your equipment and warn you in case anything is not running. Even if not sold where you live, there are always ways to get what you need.

-droog

 

[msayani2]

Thanks for the information. It was an oversight from me that i dont need to top off if sump is not running. But yeah I have a top off system normally on my sump which in turn takes care of the system.

Ive restarted the tank with new RO/DI water and some salt (coz my SG was 1.035). Lets see what the SG turns out to be today after all the mixing. Im guessing itll be close to 1.025. Then I am going to check NH3, NO2, NO3, PO4, pH.

After a week of stable good parameters. Ill add a pair of clowns to start it off again.