ohmeshell
New Member
This is gonna be really long and probably not completely coherent due to neurological problems that I have... But I'd appreciate it if someone could sift through all of it and try to help me out =). I'm sure I will repeat some things a lot and not sort out my thoughts well. But, here goes!
I'm not sure where to start, but I guess I'll go from the beginning. A couple years ago, I got a Fluval 41 gallon osaka tank for my first salt water aquarium. I used to work at a pet store, and knew all kinds of stuff about all kinds of animals, as well as salt water. Because of memory issues that I have, I don't recall a lot of stuff that I used to know about maintaining a tank. I don't know all of the specifics about setting up my tank, but I can assure you I knew what I was doing then and did it well. I'm not sure how I started the tank, but I ended up with a pretty successful one. It had lots of live rock with lots of nice coraline algae on it, lots of really beautiful corals, the "right" kind of lighting, a protein skimmer, heater, and a filter on the back... The substrate was crushed coral. I had no fish, but my lovely mother decided it was a good idea to get some clownfish and damsels without knowing crap, or asking me first. So the clownfish and damsels killed each other off for the most part, and I ended up with one clown and one damsel who left each other alone for the most part.
So let's get to the important part. First off, don't judge me. I let my tank go to crap and I realize that. The beginning was that my light fixture broke and I didn't have the money to fix it. So I took all of my wonderful coral to my boyfriends house. I was left with a dark tank with live rock and a couple fish. I got very sick and as disgusting as it is, didn't do a water change for a veeery long time, and neglected my tank other than feeding the fish and topping the water off.
I moved my fish to cleaner, happier tanks, and I have a really dirty tank with THOUSANDS of bristle worms and I'm assuming a ridiculously terrible water quality.
I would like to have a thriving salt water tank again, so that's what I'm asking advice on.
I understand that sooo many of you welcome bristle worms and I also understand the good things that they do for a tank. However, I can not even begin to make you understand just HOW many bristle worms are in my tank. I've always had a few, and I had no problem with them... Until now, because there are THOUSANDS. THOOOUUUSAAANDS of them. And many of them are.. LIKE SIX INCHES LONG. I've never had a problem with bugs or worms or other creepy crawlers but I swear to God if I have to look at 6 inch bristle worms for much longer I'm gonna flip out. eklfwjeofjklszdfj ewwwwwwwww they freak me out. There are tons and tons of baby bristle worms buried at all depths of the crushed coral... I could pull out a random handful from anywhere in the tank and it would be crawling with dozens of them.
So here's what I want to do. I want my damn tank back. I'd like to use the live rock that I have already considering that the crap is so expensive. So I need to do it in a way that my live rock lives and (AT LEAST MOST OF) the bristle worms are gone. I figure I'll get all new crushed coral and basically start fresh, but I have no idea what to do with my live rock.
HELP?!
I'm not sure where to start, but I guess I'll go from the beginning. A couple years ago, I got a Fluval 41 gallon osaka tank for my first salt water aquarium. I used to work at a pet store, and knew all kinds of stuff about all kinds of animals, as well as salt water. Because of memory issues that I have, I don't recall a lot of stuff that I used to know about maintaining a tank. I don't know all of the specifics about setting up my tank, but I can assure you I knew what I was doing then and did it well. I'm not sure how I started the tank, but I ended up with a pretty successful one. It had lots of live rock with lots of nice coraline algae on it, lots of really beautiful corals, the "right" kind of lighting, a protein skimmer, heater, and a filter on the back... The substrate was crushed coral. I had no fish, but my lovely mother decided it was a good idea to get some clownfish and damsels without knowing crap, or asking me first. So the clownfish and damsels killed each other off for the most part, and I ended up with one clown and one damsel who left each other alone for the most part.
So let's get to the important part. First off, don't judge me. I let my tank go to crap and I realize that. The beginning was that my light fixture broke and I didn't have the money to fix it. So I took all of my wonderful coral to my boyfriends house. I was left with a dark tank with live rock and a couple fish. I got very sick and as disgusting as it is, didn't do a water change for a veeery long time, and neglected my tank other than feeding the fish and topping the water off.
I moved my fish to cleaner, happier tanks, and I have a really dirty tank with THOUSANDS of bristle worms and I'm assuming a ridiculously terrible water quality.
I would like to have a thriving salt water tank again, so that's what I'm asking advice on.
I understand that sooo many of you welcome bristle worms and I also understand the good things that they do for a tank. However, I can not even begin to make you understand just HOW many bristle worms are in my tank. I've always had a few, and I had no problem with them... Until now, because there are THOUSANDS. THOOOUUUSAAANDS of them. And many of them are.. LIKE SIX INCHES LONG. I've never had a problem with bugs or worms or other creepy crawlers but I swear to God if I have to look at 6 inch bristle worms for much longer I'm gonna flip out. eklfwjeofjklszdfj ewwwwwwwww they freak me out. There are tons and tons of baby bristle worms buried at all depths of the crushed coral... I could pull out a random handful from anywhere in the tank and it would be crawling with dozens of them.
So here's what I want to do. I want my damn tank back. I'd like to use the live rock that I have already considering that the crap is so expensive. So I need to do it in a way that my live rock lives and (AT LEAST MOST OF) the bristle worms are gone. I figure I'll get all new crushed coral and basically start fresh, but I have no idea what to do with my live rock.
HELP?!
