starting over new water

[treesprite]

I have had a sudden take-over by cyano growing too fast to keep under control so I tested the water for nitrate for the first time in eons, to see if having moved my RDSB sand caused the nitrate to jump... I do a lot of water-changing so it should be going down, not up. I thought getting rid of all the water that the sand was originally in would keep me from having a problem, but it looks like I was wrong, like the sand released stuff settling in after I put the new water in with it.

 

The nitrate reading color was as dark as it could get. I did a 50% water change and it was still as dark as it could get. Miraculously, I have not seen any deaths. It would take way too long to get the nitrate to a fairly reasonable level with just water changes so I am going to change about 80% of the water all at once. I can't see the transition hurting the livestock any more than living in nitrate 43ll is hurting it.

 

I have such a small bioload that I see no need for cycling because I have my liverock and sand. My system has appx 100g of water and all I have in it are 2 cardinals, 2 firefish, a percula, snails, a few hermits, and little in the way of coral.

 

I don't know how to deal with my liverock with the corals on it. I have two towers of epoxied (Aquamend) liverock which I will most likely not be able to take out of the tank intact, though I'm going to try. I'll probably end up having to break the pieces apart and will never get them back properly.... that is really the only reason I am dreading doing this procedure. Please, wish me luck with my liverock!

Edited March 16, 2009 by treesprite

[droyal1110]

Well unless your sand was bone dry after you took all the water out, its still going to release anything that may have settled on the surface or was trapped in your live rock. If you completely drained the tank, all the water out, fish in a bucket, coral in a bucket, rock still in the tank I would think you would send the tank into a cycle. Especially if there is sand and rock exposed to the air, there is automatic die off of certain things as soon as they are exposed to air. As far as the amount of water changes go, I would personally cut back to a smaller amount but daily. Maybe do a 15% water change a day, that's just a little over your entire system being changed in 1 week. Definitely avoid stirring up the sand anymore, when you refilled I hope you used a bucket or something to slow the flow down from disturbing the sand even more, especially if this is an older tank.

 

With that high level of nitrate I would really monitor my lifestock, maybe even consider moving them to another tank or hospital tank only if they start to exhibit high stress, I would hate to stress them even more in an already stressful environment. The transition might be just enough to do it for them, they may be stressed from the high nitrate levels and catching them, putting them in a weird place, or even draining the water that low in their tank could just really push them over the edge.

 

If you're not running chaeto, buy some today, even if you don't have a fuge. Cram a whole bunch in your tank, in a spot where they won't get sucked into power heads, you can even pin them down with rock work if need be. Every few days look at it, trim if they start to turn color on the edges. If you've got a fuge put it in there and have that light on at night, this will also benefit with Ph drops and what not.

 

I'm not sure what your live stock will experience through such a dramatic water change but I can't see it being that good on them, especially if the water isn't identical (obviously minus the bad stuff.) Either way good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[droyal1110]

Also if you change a huge amount of water, I would think that it would send the tank into a cycle whether you wanted it or not. I could be wrong on that though.

[gsedlack]

Well water changes are the answer for a start, but you need to understand where the problem originated. 50% - 80% can be done so long as you match temp and salinity and ph

 

good luck

[varora]

if you are going to try a big water change prepare the water way ahead of time get it mixed and the temp up and keep it aerated and check its levels before you use it, check for phos, my input water had tons of it when i had cyano. had to change salt brands and things turned around

Edited March 16, 2009 by varora

[zygote2k]

No need for drastic action. Just vaccuum it out and do regular water changes. Cut back on frozen foods if any. Persistence is the key here. An 80% water change is very drastic and will most likely create another cycle with the cyano. Increase the current on the problematic areas.

[treesprite]

Thanks for the responses. The sand was never dried out, it stayed damp during the time I was moving it except for the sand I added that was completely new; the water it was in was completely drained and tossed when I moved it (some was in my fuge, some in the sump, drained both, put all the sand in a single location). It's been a month or two since I did it, so I imagine anything to be leeched out of the settling-in sand has already leeched out of it.

 

I'm leaving a little bit of water in the display (I said 80% change) so that I can leave the fish alone and can leave anything not attatched to the tower rocks on the bottom of the tank, and I'm leaving the sand in the display alone. I will acclimate the tank slowly with the new water, not just dump all the new water in. If the towers have to be taken apart, they can go in the frag tank or fuge because they will then not need a tall container.... taking the towers apart would make the changing water & acclimating a lot easier, but would make putting the rock back correctly a difficult task. If I can get them out whole, they will go in a tall container with the old tank water until I get them acclimated to the new water then put them back in the tank.

 

When I re-did the clownfish tank (put the sections in it) I had roughly 75% new water and didn't do cycling, and I had no problem with it. I acclimated everything slowly to the new water and that was it.

[droyal1110]

Well whatever you decide to do keep us informed and good luck.

Edited March 17, 2009 by droyal1110

[Boret]

You might want to check this link out about water changes percentages:

 

LINK

[treesprite]

You might want to check this link out about water changes percentages:

 

LINK

Thanks for the link. I read that article a long time ago, actually. Note he says reduce the water level to 20%, i.e., change 80% of the water as I plan on doing. I should be starting later tonight.

[gsedlack]

Good luck - remember to post your results so that other might learn

[st9z]

Good luck Forrest and let us know! I am having a problem with my nitrates as well and can't seem to keep it down even with water changes.

[treesprite]

I ended up taking everything out of the tank yesterday including all the sand (SSB in display, not DSB). I rinsed out the sand in tank water to get rid of the detritus.

 

Most stuff is crammed into a 20g... rock, corals, fish. I have been changing out the water from it about a gallon every couple of hours, so everything will be acclimated by the time I finish filling the tank back up. I'm also changing the water in the sump gradually like that because the LR that was in the sump apparently put nitrate back into the new water and I have frags in my sump right now. I guess it will be a couple days before everything can go back into the tank.