sand+bleach+bugs=?

[scbadiver]

Hi everybody. I am pondering tearing down my tank to finally be rid of my weeds so my questions are; I know I can bleach the system and run it for a few hours with heavy bleach and clean/kill about everything in it(of course I'll remove the animals!) but what about my southdown? Am I just going to have an amonious mess? (is amonious a word?? ) I have a pretty good population of "bugs" and worms in the sand bed. I don't know anywhere to get another 300 pounds of the stuff, I love the way it looks so can I bleach it to kill everything and then sift it or is there a better way? If I could just get more I would but that doesn't look like it will happen. Any ideas? I HAVE to get this stuff out so I can have real reef! Thanks for the help.


Robbie

 

[Chelsey]

I would think that if you bleached the sand it would retain some of the bleach or at least the residue and once you got your system started back up it would release it and kill everything. Where did you get the southdown in the first place? It would be most beneficial to just take a cup of your old sand and seed a new sandbed rather than bleach your old one...your critters would die anyway with the bleach and you'd have a nitrate bed instead of a sand bed. That's just my opinion based on my limited knowledge...I hope this helps at least a little bit.

 

[scbadiver]

Well, my concern is that the spores of the Neomeris will still be viable in the sand if I don't kill them somehow Chelsey. But, I was just sitting looking at the tank and had another thought/problem. Every peice of coral, Zoos etc is on a chunk of rock with Neomeris on it too so this may not be an option either unless I get rid of EVERYTHING and start from scratch. Man this frustrating me!
I originally got the Southdown about 4 years ago when I was still planning the tank from a guy down in Springfield, MO. He had a whole pallet of the stuff and was selling it for $10 a bag so I took a Saturday and drove down there and got 10 or 12 bags. I had a few extra but I gave them away figuring I had what I needed. Oh well...hind site I guess.

 

[capncapo]

Rob,

You can still get oolitic aragonite that is similar to Southdown but it costs a WHOLE BUNCH more. Like about $1.00 a pound!

 

[scbadiver]

I didn't know that, thanks Greg. If it's about the same stuff I'd be willing to pay the price but now, like I said, I have to figure out what to do about all my corals. I have some Sun Zoos, the pic in my avatar, I really don't want to loose but they are on some pretty big chunks of rock and naturally, they have weeds on them too. AAARRRGGGH! I'm going crazy and it's seeming to be a darn short trip. The bright side of today is I put an Iwaki 55 on the main return this morning and it went great. the pump moves just a little more than the 40 and is actually a little quieter. It took me only 12 minutes to install and not leak one! sometimes I do get lucky.

 

[mjpelikan]

I would think if you bleached your sand bed, everything would die, and then you would have to cycle after the bleach cleared...

If you are prepared to start over, then I would say bleach the hell out of it, stir the sand up as to make sure you get it all, then after a couple of days of aeration (to help dispate the bleach) put some Amquel in and stir it all up again to make sure you have no free chlorine...

After it settles, then reseed your sand bed and let the cycle begin

You could also do the same with formalyn, but it would probalby be cheaper to go the bleach route... and less cancer forming...

 

[mjpelikan]

Woo Woo double post!

What if you powerhead your LR before you put it into QT tank while your display is cycling and see if any grow on it?

From WetWebMedia:
Riding Out a Neomeris Algae Bloom
Hello,
<Hi! Scott F. here this evening!>
I have a 125 gal. reef that in its beginning, I added some lace rock at the recommendation of an aquarium shop where I live. It seemed to introduce the Caterpillar weed (Neomeris annulata) algae. I crop it to get rid of it, but it accumulates rapidly. I have tried yellow Tangs, Scopas, and yellow eye tangs. None seem to eat it snails and crabs also stay away. Do you have any recommendations to get rid of it? Thank You. Shawn
<Well, Shawn, this algae tends to be difficult to eradicate, as you have suggested, and few herbivorous fishes will touch the stuff, as you are now aware! I think that this species is infinitely more "desirable" (ok, make that "tolerable") than the disgusting Bryopsis, or other nasty algae. They are actually kind of interesting, as their thalli contain calcium-sort of like an ugly version of Halimeda, if you will. In my opinion, the best way to get rid of this stuff is to do what you've been doing- yank out what you can, and ride out the "invasion". These algae tend to disappear once the tank gets more established, and less abundant supplies of nutrients are available to them. Of course, other algae will arise to take their place once things get going, so an ongoing nutrient control/export program (i.e.; water changes, use of chemical filtration, protein skimming, and general good husbandry techniques) will really help you reduce or eradicate future nuisance algae growths. Be patient, hang in there, and you'll see these fuzzy little algae start to disappear. Good luck! Regards, Scott F>