Please help me ... ASAP

[liongirl]

I am moving. I have 2 freshwater tanks (55 & 20) and 1 saltwater tank (44).
I am going to be in a two (2) story apartment now, so I am only going to keep the 55 gallon tank ... and maybe the 20 gallon.
I want to transfer all of the water in the 44 gallon tank into the 55 gallon tank so that one will be saltwater now.
I only have 5 damsels in the 44 gallon, it has been out of its cycle for about 4 months now. I have brown stuff on the glass constantly (and I brush it off) and brown stuff all over the bottom of the tank on the ls and cc. NOTHING else is in the tank.
Here's my problem. I originally was going to make this tank a brackish water tank .. b/c i was scared of saltwater ... but then my lfs talked me into saltwater and explained it wasnt as hard as i thought it would be. So I had play sand on the bottom, about 2 in. or so and then I had cc on top of that, to keep the pH up. THEN ... everyone said how great ls was, so i put about 8 lbs. of that on top of the cc.
When I first put the damsels in one of them got ICK and my lfs told me to treat them with Rid-ICK or something like that. After I did that another lfs told me that was the stupidest thing i couldve done. Well ... I didnt know! So all of the seals in my 44 turned turqoise. The main reason i am transfering everything to the 55 (plus its a tad bit bigger).
How can I keep as much bacteria I have worked and waited so long to get?
Should I transfer all of the stuff in the bottom of the tank to the 55 or should i just scrape off like the top half and then add new ls on top of it in the 55?
Do I need to start all over with new ls because there could be bad stuff from the RID-ICK in the sand? Will this cause me a new cycle?
What do I do about this constant brown #&@% all over the bottom and sides of my tank?
I have a hang-on-the-back filter (the one on the 55 right now is for a 55 gal. tank, but the one i have on the 44 is for a 100 gal. tank ... can i just move that one over to the 55 .. will it be enough filtration, or do i need to add something else)
If I have to add more ls can you be really specific in about how many more lbs i will need.
Sorry this is so long, but I want to be as specific as possible.
Thanks in advance for your help!!!

 

[jacksonpt]

Originally posted by LionGirl:
<STRONG>
How can I keep as much bacteria I have worked and waited so long to get?</STRONG>
Your best bet is to take as much of the substrate as possible and put it in a bucket with some of the aquarium water. Keep it wet, warm, and as ariated(sp?) as possible. Then get it back into the tank asap.
<STRONG>
Should I transfer all of the stuff in the bottom of the tank to the 55 or should i just scrape off like the top half and then add new ls on top of it in the 55?</STRONG>
Not 100% sure on this one, but the more you pull over to the 55, the more bacteria you will keep... but you will also get any bad stuff that may be decomposing in there as well. I'd pull as much of it over as possible... it will also save you a couple of $$
<STRONG>
Do I need to start all over with new ls because there could be bad stuff from the RID-ICK in the sand? Will this cause me a new cycle?</STRONG>
If you do start with LS, you will need to recycle to build up the bacteria community again. I have no experience with RID-ICK, so I can't comment on that aspect of your question.
<STRONG>
What do I do about this constant brown #&@% all over the bottom and sides of my tank?</STRONG>
If it is the same brown stuff I get (very fine brown film... not really a slime, but almost dusty), you have a couple of options. I always used to clean it off with a common household sponge (the kind that do NOT have soap added to them). I didn't like reaching into my tank and disrupting things twice a week to clean this stuff, so I started using a set of magnets. This works just as well, but disturbs the fish much less. I also bought a few turbo snails... they do a good job, although they move at a snail's pace (sorry, but I thought it was funny). Lastly, some fish will eat this stuff. While they won't clean the tank spotless, they do make a dramatic difference. I have a yellow/lemon angel that loves the stuff, and I have heard that other dwarf angels do too. From my experience, lighting makes a big difference too. Try to cut off as much natural light as possible. I ended up buying heavy, rubber-lined curains to keep out the sunlight. Also, make sure you are not running your lights excessively.
<STRONG>
I have a hang-on-the-back filter (the one on the 55 right now is for a 55 gal. tank, but the one i have on the 44 is for a 100 gal. tank ... can i just move that one over to the 55 .. will it be enough filtration, or do i need to add something else)</STRONG>
I personally don't like the hang-on-the-back-style filters, but if you want to move it over, you certainly can... just replace all the filtration elements and give it a good rincing with fresh water. As far as it being enough... I try to keep a minimum of 5x the tank volume flowing per hour (i.e. 100g tank gets 500g per hour filtered). Now, this has to change a little depending on the size of the tank, but I would suggest adding in a powerhead just for circulation. Just my preference though.
<STRONG>
If I have to add more ls can you be really specific in about how many more lbs i will need. </STRONG>
Sorry, can't help you on this one.
<STRONG>
Sorry this is so long, but I want to be as specific as possible.
Thanks in advance for your help!!! </STRONG>
Good luck with everything. I just moved my 75g reef a few months ago. Once you decide what you want to do with all your gear, I suggest buying a huge (50g or so) rubbermaid tote thing to store the water, and a few 5g water tight buckets to move the water. Empty the tank completely, move the tank, then start transferring the water in the 5g buckets. That's the way I did mine... took me about 4 hours all told, no deaths.
Good luck.
[ July 09, 2001: Message edited by: jacksonpt ]

 

[cosmosbasement]

Just skimming quickly over the posts....that Rid-Ich stuff is terrible. Don't go back to that LFS. Anyway, in my opinion I would just get rid of the substrate on the bottom of the 44. Start brand new with the 55. Keep some water so you can put the damsels in there. Fill the rest of the tank up with new saltwater. Let it run for a while before anything new goes in the tank. I think the Rid-Ich stuff has copper and that is a nad idea in salt. It'll soak into the substrate on the bottom and may cause problems later. I mean, you can try it and test the water but I'd go strictly with a DSB and start new and get rid of that cc. Just my 2 cents.
peace
doug

 

[q]

If I were you I would start over with the 55.
You only have 4 fish right. As long as I am not missing anything. Then set up the tank with sand only and then seed it with the live sand. Recycle your tank with the damsels. Also add the live rock now if you wish to keep any.

 

[jacksonpt]

I agree... if you can, and you don't mind, start fresh with the 55. I got the impression that you did not want to start over, and that's why I answered the way I did previously.
With 4 fish (hardy damsels), it won't be a big deal to start over and recycle.

 

[liongirl]

Well if I start all over again ... someone said something about putting sand and then adding ls. Are we just talking about the regular play sand? How much should I put in there and how much ls should i add to it?
How deep should it be? My tank is like 4 feet by 1 foot by 2 feet or something like that.
I was thinking of buying ls from Saltwaterfish.com and i need to know how much to order.
Thanks!

 

[liongirl]

Oh, by the way .. how do I find out if there was copper in that RID-ICK ... maybe my sand doesnt have bad stuff in it and I wont have to go through another cycle?

 

[mr . salty]

If you use all live sand,,,Or a 50/50 mix of GOOD live sand and a dry AQUARIUM sand there will be NO RECYCLE...That is the point of paying extra for good live sand,,Is that it already has all the needed bacteria living in it....I also would just start over with the new tank.Use all live sand,your filter off of the smaller setup,and throw the fish in.As I said,,This should not recycle at all......Oh yeah,Use freash saltwater also....

 

[lettheirberock]

I agree with cosmosbasement, ditch the cc and start out fresh with a 4" deep sand bed. you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. good luck!!

 

[liongirl]

How many lbs of live sand should i buy for a 55 gallon aquarium ... i am going to order it online here so i need to know if i should get 20 lbs or 40 lbs. or perhaps even more?

 

[cosmosbasement]

Hmmmmm, let me see for my 55 I bought 3 bags of Nature's Ocean Live Bacteria Sand, which I think was 60lbs. Then I went and bought 10 lbs of ls from my LFS. I have 70 in mine. It's about a 3 1/2 to 4 inch sand bed with lots of life!! Plus it looks fantastic. If you have the money buy the Nature's Ocean stuff.
peace
doug

 

[q]

As Mr Salty said if you use a 50/50 mixture of GOOD live sand and aquarium sand you won't get a cycle.
You want to use aragonite sand as it suposed to buffer better. When you buy filler sand make sure it has a good aragonite composition and the ls is sold here so you won't have to look far.
IMHO if cost is a question go slower. I am in the process of setting up my tank but it won't see water for 3-4 months ( if lucky )because I am going for all the good stuff. Planning to up grade is a waste of money IMHO unless you plan on setting up another tank.