Is This Normal

[canisee2]

Originally Posted by NTank20
I feel the same way. I used to work there and it was just plain nasty. The original people that owned it have now sold to another lady who is trying to clean up the place, but she thinks she knows about saltwater and she don't. She was telling me all this stuff that was wrong so i quit going up there. I find the people at aquarium showcase more helpful. I guess so since that is what they specialize in. They are somewhat more expensive on some things, but i would rather pay more for good stuff and get what i need then go somewhere thats going to tell me stuff that will later wind up killing my fish.
Very ture

the people at aquruaim showcase are some of the only good salwater fish stores anywhere they only hire people that know what they are doing i used to volunteer there it was fun until the orignal guy sold it to his freind and moved to the bahamas
Austin

 

[ntank20]

I really wouldn't know how to go about doing all of this. I wish i would have been told it to me this way before i bought all of my cc.

I just really hate to have to start all over again. I wouldn't even know how to begin.

Any suggestions if i do change. What would i do with the fish and all the live rock. Wouldn't it be a lot of money buying things to store the stuff in until i could put it back in and woudn't start my cycle all over again. Even so i guess it would be better to be safe than sorry.

 

[saltn00b]

no offense but if you guys are gonna thread jack , i personally will stop reading the thread.

 

[ntank20]

I wish that i could just pick up and move to the bahamas. That would be so great!!

 

[ntank20]

sorry, I didn't know that i was thread jacking. I really do appreciate all of your help though

 

[canisee2]

Originally Posted by saltn00b
no offense but if you guys are gonna thread jack , i personally will stop reading the thread.
Sorry didnt mean to hi jack this theard.

Austin

 

[saltn00b]

i dont know exactly what you said you had in there, a few fish and some LR, i think. i havent done the change my self, but i would say if you have a QT tank, put the fish in there for a few days, while you scoop out the CC and replace with LS. if you dont have one , then you can do it in portions, as opposed to all at once. that should keep the water cleaner. try to kick up everything as little as possible. one suggestion i have, is that when you get the LS, drop the whole plastic bag in there, with an X carved on the top, then gently roll it over and pull up the corners so the bulk of the sand stays in place, yet comes out of the bag. then come back the next day to spread it out.
you will probably get a mini cycle at most, but nothing too big i would gather. you already will have the LR to help

 

[ntank20]

When i do this should i save all of my water. Is there any way that i can do this in one day because the only day that i would have to do something like this would be on a saturday. Maybe i could just put this fish in a bucket and put all of the liverock in a container of some sort. I shouldn't have that much dust from the cc because before i put it into my tank i washed it thorougly (i thinks i spelled it right) so that way there wouldn't be any. Then i could just put all of my water back in when i am done with a little bit fresher water, sure some will be lost in the process. What do you think about doing it this way?

 

[ntank20]

Oh and should i get the live sand from this site or should i go with a bag of sand from the lfs. Thanks

 

[saltn00b]

i would just by aragonite sand, and then one bag of LS from the LFS, to seed the top layer. you will save money that way. also sand is heavy you likely dont want to pay frieght for shipping.
if you only have one day a week to work on the tank, you might want to reconsider the hobby! but for now, i would suggest doing 1/3 of the CC replaced with sand a week, maybe half. no need to take the LR out IMO.

 

[ntank20]

No, it's not that i only have one day a week for the hobby it is just that to do a big job like this i would only have one day to do it. Saturday is the only day that i don't work (except for sunday but i try not to do any labor on sunday's). I can do little stuff after i get off from work but not nothing like this is goint to take. I just though it would be easier for me to do it that way, so i can do it all at once without having to worry about something going wrong when i am at work.

 

[ntank20]

I just can't believe that i did it wrong when i took every percaution so that way i wouldn't have to do something like this. I just don't know what i am going to do. My first instinct was to go with ls but i don't know, after she told me about the sulfer bubbles i just freaked and went with wht she said would be the safer way. Now i find out that i didn't go the safer way, i did the total opposite.

 

[saltn00b]

it happens, be glad you are not a year into it with a fully established reef, and finding this out.
its not the end of the world. the way i suggested would be the way i would attempt to do it. after you have removed 33% , take a step back and see much you mucked everything up. i would even keep the fish in it. you shouldnt be in too bad a shape at that point. then make the call as to how much more you want to take out. if you cant see through the tank, stop. in fact, stop before that point, because you want to start putting the aragonite in. it will start seeding from the LR.then maybe the next week, do the other half and if the water isnt too bad, put the LS on the top layer. if not, do that the next 48 hours or so.

 

[ntank20]

Ok, thanks for all the info. I really appreciate it. I will start everything tomorrow. Have a great weekend.

 

[saltn00b]

you too. get your test kits first and keep checking up after moving stuff around for ammonnia, trite, trates

 

[ntank20]

Ok i will, thanks again. Boy do i have a big headache a head of me.

Like i said before if only i had talked to you before going in to all of this. I am one of those people who hate doing things wrong, so i am really frustrated right now.

But all will be ok in due time. You are the greatest!!

 

[saltn00b]

just trying to help
how did it go ?

 

[jamie12158]

Any other way besides RO water changes to get rid of this brown stuff all over my sand and rock??? :notsure:

 

[ntank20]

Sorry i didn't answer till now. I didn't check till now. I actually haven't gotten around to doing it yet. I am short on money until i get payed and i don't want to have to run up my credit card. I will get on it as soon as possible. Thanks again for your help. I will let you know when everything is done.

 

[promisetbg]

How could NTank20 jack the thread..he started it!?
What size is your tank? Do not purchase sandsifting stars. They will eat all the infauna from your sandbed, then starve to death. The same goes for diamond gobies. Research some of the other suggested amounts and types of clean-up crew as well. Porcelain crabs are filter feeders, not scavengers. Sally lightfoot crabs will start out eating algae when young, but they grow huge and have a nasty habit of eating small fish. The same goes for arrow crabs.