Overwhelmed with used tank.

[micha3l87]

Hey everyone, I made a post a while back and showed the 55g tank I bought that is a disaster. I have it in my house now it wasn't easy moving everything up stairs, theres 2 things I need help with flow rate, and storing the rock in my tank. I need to store everything in the tank until I can build a new stand and get everything the way it should be

Live Rock
- The LR in the tank is in bad shape, some of it has red spiderweb type algae on it which I'm thinking is cyno? and some weird yellow spots on all the rock I'll attach pictures.

-Store I bought 60lbs of dry rock that is being mailed here UPS
I don't want to get rid of my current LR I'd really like to clean it up and use it later with my new setup but I don't want to take the chances to whatever might be bad in this tank getting into my new setup. So I've read that I should take it out clean it with a brush and boil water and dip the rock in it a few times and let it dry out? I just want someone from here to reassure me this will basically make it dry rock like I have coming in the mail?

-Cheato
The cheato in the aquarium seems to have cyno growing on it.. should I just dump it and buy new? I don't want to it infest the new tank after I have it setup.

Sump Refugium
-I bought a 30g sump someone made, never used on craigs I bought a mag5 for it but I'm questionable about what size hole I should drill in my tank I want to buy the bulkheads now and the internal overflow box I'll attach picture of the 30g tank. It barley fit my protein skimmer in there!

The sump has 6 baffles, the middle was going to be his return. I'm thinking I should put my return pump in the section with the skimmer and take out the 3 baffles to make the refugium section longer. Opinions?

-GPH
so I think I've read 10x the gph of the DT, so I have roughly a 50Gallon tank so I bought the 500GPH pump not very much head between the sump and display

I'm thinking 1" pvc pipe
1" SCH 80 TxT Bulkhead Dimensions (see diagram)
48mm Diamond Coated Glass Drill Bit

with a spare 1" overflow


I'm not sure if I should decrease the return hole? someone had suggested it but i don't understand why.

[Mongo77]

Throw out the cheato. When you're ready for some, I'm sure you can get some for free. People throw this stuff out all the time because it grows so fast. Don't boil the live rock. It can release harmful vapors into the air. Leave the live rock in water with some flow. Keep it in the dark so that any algae will die off. I personally would use all your dry rock and add a piece or two of live rock to seed the tank. This decreases the chances of introducing pests.

[Mikey_B]

Toss the cheato, i also can't tell what the 2 yellow spots are, possibly a sponge? The bright green is a type of algae, won't really hurt anything

http://www.melevsreef.com/id/annulata.html

[micha3l87]

Thanks guys for the quick reply that picture is crazy! I've been wondering what that thing was! I'll throw out the cheato once I get the tank shut down.

I wasn't going to boil the rock I was going boil the water and dip the rock? would that do the same thing?

[Mikey_B]

It could, you don't want to chance it though, just leave the lights off like Mongo said or if you really want, see if you cant scrub some of it off. When i first set up my tank i just used a brush like you would to wash dishes.

[Sk8r]

When we talk about 'cooking rock' we mean put it in a Rubbermaid Brute trash can with good salt water and strong circulation pump and leave it in the dark for a month or so, at about 78 degrees. If you do that, you can add your new dry rock and just let it 'cook' for about 12 weeks and have a lot less problem.

In the meanwhile, toss the old sand. Toss the cheato. You can 'cook' the rock in the tank if you need. Just be patient with it. No boiling. No fire. People have seriously hurt themselves misunderstanding the words cook the rock.

This may also help: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2380674

[Percula_Clown]

That green on the right looks like a type of Macro that is in one of the LFS's tanks.

He is always cleaning it out because it soaks up calcium. At the end it may even be white and hard like it.

[micha3l87]

alright I'll look into that, I imagine the trash can would start to smell pretty bad!

anyone have any advice for the hole drilling? sump set up, I'll try to get a better picture I have to move some water out of the tank from infront of it first.

[Mikey_B]

Originally Posted by Percula_Clown

That green on the right looks like a type of Macro that is in one of the LFS's tanks.

He is always cleaning it out because it soaks up calcium. At the end it may even be white and hard like it.

Breaks off pretty easily too, just stick your hand in and pick it right up.

[Sk8r]

If you do it right, you won't have a smell from cooking rock OR from the tank. You need a lot of circulation---like about 950 gallons an hour as a pump for a 55 gallon. Check your pump to be sure it delivers that.

[Mikey_B]

Originally Posted by micha3l87

alright I'll look into that, I imagine the trash can would start to smell pretty bad!

anyone have any advice for the hole drilling? sump set up, I'll try to get a better picture I have to move some water out of the tank from infront of it first.

I don't know if the 30g are tempered or not, but if they are, you can't drill it.

[micha3l87]

I'm not going to drill the 30g just the 55g
I'm going order 3 1" bulkheads 2 for overflow 1 for return and size the return down to 3/4" that way I only have to order one diamond drill bit

I'm going to look into cooking the rock not literally later tonight

[MondoBongo]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1703443

In the third picture, the piece on the right looks suspect to me for being neomeris annulata.

I can't tell you for sure, but it might be worth looking in to.

[micha3l87]

Yep this first picture nailed it, the picture i took was bad because the crab was in the way and the thing was laying down and not up

Originally Posted by Mikey_B

Toss the cheato, i also can't tell what the 2 yellow spots are, possibly a sponge? The bright green is a type of algae, won't really hurt anything

http://www.melevsreef.com/id/annulata.html

[micha3l87]

Hey wanted to update everyone
I'm still cleaning the 55gallon tank has some round spots that are a pain to clean off not sure what they are.
I'm trying to learn how to use my apex but this thing is not as easy as it sounded!

Have new radion gen 2 over the tank operating in the natural mode puts my old light to shame!

[klwheat]

Originally Posted by micha3l87

The sump has 6 baffles, the middle was going to be his return. I'm thinking I should put my return pump in the section with the skimmer and take out the 3 baffles to make the refugium section longer. Opinions?

I would leave it as it. If you put the return pump with you skimmer, you may just end up introducing all of the microbubbles from the skimmer output straight into you tank...trust me, it's a headache and looks like crap after you spent all that time just to have a TON of microbubbles filling you DT. Those 3 baffles are there for a reason :-)

[micha3l87]

I'm not sure the mag drive will fit in the middle section once I get the pump in the mail

[Spyderturbo007]

Originally Posted by MondoBongo

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1703443

In the third picture, the piece on the right looks suspect to me for being neomeris annulata.

I can't tell you for sure, but it might be worth looking in to.

I saw that right away too. If it is Neomeris, you want to address that issue sooner, rather than later.

[micha3l87]

hey guys quick update

i threw my rock into my tub last night gave them a quick scrub to get most of the crap off them

Salinity in my bin matches that of my DT, the temp was 82F when i went to bed, I just checked and it was 88 so I'm thinking lid needs to be cracked more for air flow, I have 3 small powerheads inside the container that seem to be getting really good water flow as well as a small bubbler

from my understanding I'm just waiting on ammonia to drop to 0.
As of week 1 day 1 it is 3.0 ppm