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Coral Vue Hydros

Hammerstone's Tank


Hammerstone

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Are you sure this isn't going to cause a cycle and kill my clowns? It's late, I'm worrying.

 

I forgot to put in my post above. The water that is in my holding containers is water siphoned directly from the tank, that way there was no worry about different parameters, and shock to your creatures. I keep my house pretty cold, so the heater was paramount to keep water temp from dropping too low. The fish are still in the holding "tank" until I'm sure I don't have a little cycle. I also added 1/2 a bottle of nitrifying bacteria (Fritz Zyme 9, it's all my LFS had).

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Are you sure this isn't going to cause a cycle and kill my clowns? It's late, I'm worrying.

First, clownfish are very hardy. However, if you follow the steps that I have outlined, you won't have an ammonia spike. Plan it out; maybe make a checklist. As a precaution, you can even have a bottle of Seachem Prime handy, just in case (but you shouldn't need it).
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Hammerstone

 

To link to my page, just click on the blue line at the bottom of this post that says "bc29 build". Most of the work was done inside. I pulled the carpet back and put towels around, as well as having a hand towel handy for frequent drying of hands and clean up of little oopses! My fish and snails are in a clear plastic storage bin with power head and heater. Live rock was put in a separate clear plastic bin with water. most corals went in with the fish, but a few were too big and went in with live rock. I put a lid loosely on the fish container in case they wanted to jump ship. I did was the bins with plain white vinegar then wiped dry with paper towels. I had two 5 gallon buckets, one with peroxide and salt water, one with just salt water- both about 1/2 full. My rocks did not have as much broadcast algae as yours, but I did have to hand pick out hair algae from between delicate corals. Even with that, they were out of the water less than a minute or 2. I then swished them in the peroxide solution for about 30 seconds, then rinsed them in the fresh salt water. They then went back into the plastic bin. At this point I emptied the two 5 gallon buckets (I made sure I kept a bottle of peroxide in case I need it). Now I began siphoning out the water. This is where hubby came in. He would empty one while I kept siphoning the tank. That's pretty much all I used him for. Try to keep the area around you somewhat organized and a decent path from the buckets to wherever you are dumping your water. When I got as much water out as I could, i used a large plastic cup to scoop the sand out. I kept about 1/2 cup of the old sand to seed my new sand. You don't have to do this, I just did. Keep it wet if you do. When I got as much sand out as I could, Hubby took the tank outside for a good cleaning with the garden hose, and scrubbing with a dobbie sponge (sponge for non stick fry pans that you can pick up at the grocery store). When all clean, I did a rinse with white vinegar and again dried with paper towels to remove any missed residue. That's pretty much it. Then I added new sand with some water. It took most of the day Sunday, but that's because of the amount of corals that I had to meticulously and carefully clean. Feel free to ask me any questions.

how are your fish acting? Did you use all new water and did you mix it yourself? Did you keep any old water? I am using the mobile version of the site so I don't see the signatures.
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how are your fish acting? Did you use all new water and did you mix it yourself? Did you keep any old water? I am using the mobile version of the site so I don't see the signatures.

 

At the bottom of the page should be an option to open full site. Fish are fine. Acting like they are starving as usual. I kept about 20% off the water from my tank, and added it back in. I do not mix my own water. I use fresh ocean water that has been sterilized at my LFS. You can also go to the members forum page and click on Penny's Lane. that is my page. If it's not on the 1st page go to the 2nd

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Hammerstone

How long does it take to make fresh salt water? I don't have enough buckets to have 30 gallons worth of water plus the h202 and salt water rinse?

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Are the RFA's attached to rock? If so just remove the whole rock and put it in your bucket. When you scrub that rock, work quickly and carefully scrub around them. Instead of dunking the whole rock in your peroxide bucket, take the solution and pour it over the rock until it has been thoroughly rinsed. It's okay if you get a little peroxide on the RFA's. Mine actually looked really good after the treatment and I poured straight peroxide on my rock before rinsing in clean salt water. If they are just in the sand bed, then just gently reach down until you find the foot and slowly work under it until it releases. you will disturb your sand bed, but everything else should be out by this time.


How long does it take to make fresh salt water? I don't have enough buckets to have 30 gallons worth of water plus the h202 and salt water rinse?

get more buckets or bins.

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How long does it take to make fresh salt water? I don't have enough buckets to have 30 gallons worth of water plus the h202 and salt water rinse?

How about a storage container like Penny used, or empty water jugs? You can use the new saltwater as soon is it dissolves clear (which depends on the salt mix).

 

When I take out the RFAs that will disturb the sand bed. Any ideas on that ?

Yes, it'll disturb the sand bed. So you will remove them towards the end. Remember, once you disturb the substrate, you'll have to discard the remaining water; so you'll want to remove any water you wish to save prior to disturbing the sand bed.
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Instead of dunking the whole rock in your peroxide bucket, take the solution and pour it over the rock until it has been thoroughly rinsed. It's okay if you get a little peroxide on the RFA's.

If you want, it's alright to dip rocks, with RFAs on them, for a few seconds. They'll bubble up and look upset, but they will endure the treatment fine. But I'm pretty sure that Hammer's anemones are attached to the bottom of the tank.
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Hammerstone

If you want, it's alright to dip rocks, with RFAs on them, for a few seconds. They'll bubble up and look upset, but they will endure the treatment fine. But I'm pretty sure that Hammer's anemones are attached to the bottom of the tank.

yes my RFAs three of them are attached to the bottom of the tank and one is snuggled under a rock.

 

Two of my RFAs are already unhappy. My smallest ones.

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I accidentally dropped one of my flowers in a puddle of white vinegar a few days ago. It slimed up sooo bad and its body was contorted into a weird shape. I think a few tentacles came off. It survived and is looking better, tough critters.

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Hammerstone

I accidentally dropped one of my flowers in a puddle of white vinegar a few days ago. It slimed up sooo bad and its body was contorted into a weird shape. I think a few tentacles came off. It survived and is looking better, tough critters.

iam glad your flower is looking better!! They must be tough!! I've seen mine contort it's body like inside out and I thought it was going to die. Then it was fine. Scared me though. And one of them likes to bury itself in the sand completely and it looks like nothing's there. Only to find it in the same spot later. Silly flowers lol.???
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Hammerstone

Well I have gotten all the cyano out physically and cleaned everything out in the tank. I just haven't had a free full day with the three kids and one getting married. I wanted to do that anyway before the big clean so that I would have less to do out of water. I still need a few things. The crabs are actually making some areas sparkly clean and I can see purple corraline. I know I have to do it. I still have algae. I have enough h202 to take a bath in it. I'm going to stay on top of the cyano so when I do the big clean it's easier. I'm embarassed and almost didn't post. I'm a non confrontational shy person. It will happen. I'll try to take a picture later.

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Well I have gotten all the cyano out physically and cleaned everything out in the tank. I just haven't had a free full day with the three kids and one getting married. I wanted to do that anyway before the big clean so that I would have less to do out of water. I still need a few things. The crabs are actually making some areas sparkly clean and I can see purple corraline. I know I have to do it. I still have algae. I have enough h202 to take a bath in it. I'm going to stay on top of the cyano so when I do the big clean it's easier. I'm embarassed and almost didn't post. I'm a non confrontational shy person. It will happen. I'll try to take a picture later.

 

No need to be embarrassed. If you go through many TOTM threads, you can find where they were struggling too. You are doing great!

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I wonder, how many hours have worked on your tank in the last month? It has to be some insane amount of time. It's a testament to your dedication; but your recent efforts are often quickly undone, and then you're back to square one. At this point, I'd take a break and save the effort for something that will have a more lasting effect.

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Hammerstone

Yes it's been hours and hours. I know it's toxic and my tiny Zoas and RFAs don't like the cyano. After I get it out I can literally see a change in them. They open up wider. Now I've switched to cleaning it off and out daily so it doesn't become overwhelming. Thank you so much for the support. It means a lot to me. I also have tons of algae in my tank that needs to go. Iam trying to use a toothbrush to scrub it off section by section. I try to use my fingers but it's pretty much a waste of time. I have been doing some rock scrubbing in sections as well. The one is looking better. I just want my fish to be okay and not die due to the cyano. I dose prime of I get too much detritus floating in the water column. I was gently running the toothbrush over the Zoas and around the RFAs but have stopped and started just using the turkey Baster to just blow stuff off the Zoas and RFAs. Yes it takes me about half an hour everyday. There was the four hour day cleaning the tank and several four hour or two hour times. I know if I did this and got paid id make a lot of money lol. I have to laugh or I'll just feel bad so I try not to worry and know that when things settle down in my life and have the big clean, everyone living in there, and I, will be happy and I can enjoy the tank again. I really want more Zoas when this is done and maybe another anenome. My clowns and now hermits keep me going, and so do you guys. Thank you for keeping me going too!!

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  • 2 weeks later...
uisge-beatha

Looking forward to seeing the results of your planned cleaning, Hammerstone! :)

 

It seems I'll being doing the same thing myself. My tank was in great shape after battling back from cyano and GHA, but then I was away for two weeks on vacation. I came home to the aftermath of a malfunctioning autofeeder that dumped at least 10x too much food while I was gone. Have a look at the picture below whenever you're feeling down about your tank! :P

 

And congrats on the wedding!! :flower:

 

IMG_2132_zpsa8mx451o.jpg

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Looking forward to seeing the results of your planned cleaning, Hammerstone! :)

 

It seems I'll being doing the same thing myself. My tank was in great shape after battling back from cyano and GHA, but then I was away for two weeks on vacation. I came home to the aftermath of a malfunctioning autofeeder that dumped at least 10x too much food while I was gone. Have a look at the picture below whenever you're feeling down about your tank! :P

 

And congrats on the wedding!! :flower:

 

IMG_2132_zpsa8mx451o.jpg

 

Auto feeders notoriously dump in different amounts of food since most just spin around with an opening. Even on my large tank, I had to tape the heck out of my eheim to get the door to stay in place and the hole small enough.

 

I have this one for my small tank because it dumps in a exact amount using different loadable trays for each/time day. Just throwing that out there in case you have to go on vacation again. Be sure to test it though, some people got faulty ones but I suppose that is any product. I would say its cheaply made and probably should cost $10 but mine works, I would love if someone came out with a more rugged feeder that delivered an exact amount.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Fish-Mate-F14-Aquarium-Feeder/dp/B000YK5W18/ref=zg_bs_2975462011_6

 

 

Your tank was beautiful, hang in there, I am sure you can turn it all around!

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uisge-beatha

Thanks, Tamberav, that's really sweet of you! :flower: Yes, it was the Eheim that malfunctioned, but I think it was bumped by my tank sitter, since I had it running for a month before the vacation with no problems. C'est la vie!

 

I don't want to hijack Hammerstone's thread - I just wanted to show her that she's not the only one who's got an embarrassing tank at the moment. :rolleyes:

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