tank crashed... doing recycle now.

[ReDDeviLs]

hi guys,

my 2nd tank crashed thanks to a dead cowfish,

anyway i decided to do a recycle.

i remove all water and filter media..like bioballs and ceramic rings

recycle my liverocks in a big tub..and going to mix salt in the tank tomorrow..

was wondering need i add market prawn to the 2.5x1.5x1.5ft tank?

not going for dsb,will be having mangroves in the tank

using weipro 2012 with rena pump 1700l/hr

adding phosphate removal,carbon plus and a piece of sponge.

did not intend to have corals in the past so i left the bioballs to help reduce bioload..

but now im trying to have some soft corals.. so i will be removing the bioballs etc. to avoid nitrate factory.

anything else i have to look for?

mod: please help me change the topic to :tank crashed,doing a recycle need some help.

thanks.

[Achilles Tang]

Done!

Cowfish? Toxins... hope you drain everything! And used carbon & polyfilters to help!

If there is enough ammonia present, you may not need to use another source of ammonia aka... market prawn!

Using mangroves? Did you know that mangroves are not recommended for nitrate absorption because you really need a LOT of mangroves for it to work and they need loads of light aka MH to grow fast enough?

If you want to use a refugium to grow macroalgae to export nitrates & other nutrients, they will grow fast enough for regular harvesting but you have to be careful coz some macroalgae esp caulerpa are know to crash and add a sudden bioload to your tank... if your skimmer is under-rated or lousy... oh oh! Maybe you can try Ulva instead?

Just my 2 cents,

AT

[ReDDeviLs]

thanks AT,

however i dont have a sump and only a side filter..like those louhan tank.

the tank have some morning sunlight shining on it,so i thought it will be good idea for mangroves..

i drain off every bit of water,clean the tank and sand throughly.should be good enough i guess

just added salt to the tank..

when do i test for ammonia spike?

after i added my liverocks?

[ReDDeviLs]

regarding Ulva ,are they sea lettuce? anyone know where i can get them?

[delirium]

"Ulva Lettuce Plant : Provide moderate flow and lighting with the supplement of Iron, Magnesium and Trace elements. High levels of phosphates or nitrates will inhibit the growth of these algae."

I dont get it. If high nitrate inhibit the growth of this plant then how will it help to exporting nitrate?

[ReDDeviLs]

weird..

means it cant help much to bring nitrate down?

im confused!

[RAV-65]

Bro,

read somewhere dat u have a 5x2x2 tank too? Why not u use this 2.5ft tank as a FOWLR? den no prob of nitrates? Good idea to recycle everything, but are u certain the cowfish caused the crash? Although the cowfish has got toxins, but when my 2 cowfishes died in the past, they never cause a crash leh.... So, but very sure as there may be other problems dat caused the crash and your cowfish is juz one of the victims?

Vincent Ho

[victorp]

From my past TWO experiences of tank crash due to shredded sea cucumber, let your tank run with no additional live stock (shrimps seem to survive in a toxin-laded water) for at least 3 weeks. If your Protein Skimmer is good, the toxin which is usually protein-based in this case will be removed by your PS and decomposed during this time as well. I also dosed the tank with occasional beneficial baterial (which I am not sure if they will help to speed up the breakdown of the proteins).

[ReDDeviLs]

hi vincent,yup i have another tank that is in my room..the small tank is in my living room,suppose to be a seahorse tank,but i might have seahorse with soft corals only.. want to move my soft corals to this tank from my 5ft tank..

as for now.

i have remove and everything from the tank and clean everything in there including the sand,and im curing the liverocks in a big tub.

i have 3 cow fish,2 of them died..and i cant find the body until when everything crashed and after cleaning i found it under someliverock burried by the sand,and it stinks!in another word,its rotting in the tank..

anyway no survival in that tank.except the cleaner shrimps that i move them into my main tank.

no3 have been always high..so would like to try and bring it down..if no choice hve to leave it with FOWLR

thanks for the advise guys.