Inherited Husband's reef tank.

E

elysium

Reefing newb
I would like to bring my husband's reef tank back to life. To say I'm a novice would be an insult to all the novice reefers out there. I know little outside the names of some of the coral and algae. This was my husband's hobby, not mine.

What I do know: His tank is 125 gallons, it has over 60lbs of live rock. It has live sand. Some of the crabs are still alive. The fish have died. Most of the coral died. It still has some in the zoo family and tons of a palm tree/fern like soft coral. It has a very large carpet anemone still living. It survived by eating the fish. And I've taken out buckets of grape caulerpa which killed off all the remaining coral (also taken out). The skimmer's off (in the garage somewhere). There are two plastic tanks that go under the tank (also out in the garage). The four lights say Current on them and have 'moon lights' and fans on them. There are four filters on the tank. I have not tested the tank. I have added filtered water (enough to keep the filters going). I want to clean it a bit better before taking pics.

What I need to know at the moment: Any advice on taking over a tank that has been neglected for a long time and has been taken over by algae and worms. Can it be recovered? If so does it take someone who knows what they are doing? Can live rock & sand go through some cycle to kill off all the unwanted and cycled back for growth? Sun cured maybe? If this is more than someone beginning to learn should attempt I'd like to know before I start buying books. Thanks. =) Lisa
 
Hello and welcome to the site...glad to have you. "Take a deep breath with me" (wheeeew). :)
To answer you question, yes, the tank can be nursed back to health after being neglected...and yes, someone with little experience can do it. You've come to the right place for help. :)
The 1st thing I would do, is get rid of the anemone, and give it to the fish store, you don't want it to die and wipe the tank out completely. It's probably already dying slowly, and by the time you realize it, it'll be too late.
2nd thing would be to start doing weekly water changes(10-20%) to try to get the levels back intact.
Once you make that initial start, then we'll get more into the filters and lighting and protein skimmer etc.
 
Thanks Smitty! =)

Our sons and I loved his tank while he was able to keep up with it. It has been a sad reminder of our loss to see his tank grow weeds and die off. Bringing it back to life would let us enjoy those memories again. I wish I had payed attention to him and learned from him. But I'm glad you were here to help and tell me it is not beyond reach.

I will return the anemone tomorrow and change out 15 gallons and get some books.

Thanks again. I was overwhelmed by the neglectful state it was in and my total lack of knowledge. I wonder how many spouses know how to maintain their mate's reef tank?
 
Elysium
First of all welcome to the site, I understand fully what you are going thru, as a terminal cancer patient, returning to this hobby has been some of my best medicine. If there is anything you need for the setup, be sure to check here first, nothing will replace having your own books to read, but some of the most updated info is provided on the web. Also if you can try taking some photos and post them it will speak volumns. Take care.
 
Pictures by childlikehope - Photobucket A few photos taken by phone.

Dana, I have no idea what the plastic tanks are. I took a photo of one (there are two of them) and it is in the album I linked above. I know he had some plants sticking out of it at one point. I'm not sure that was its intended use though. Thanks for asking.

I'm saddened to hear you have terminal cancer Ole Salty. It took my husband, but he fought a good fight. Keep fighting the good fight. I added the photos for you. Maybe when I'm not so embarrassed about the shape I let it get in I'll take some good ones.

Oh and we have a live fish... and it was my favorite!!!! The Dragonette!!! (Mandarin) She's shy, but I asked my sons to take a photo of her if they see her out again. I can't believe I didn't kill her last night.
 
At this point the most important thing is getting good water!

What kind of water are you refilling the tank with as it evaporates? If you used tap water (even if it was dechlorinated) it will cause algae to grow. Tap water is just not pure enough.

You probably have some RO water filter installed. If not, you can get RO water at Wal-Mart or you can get distilled water from the super market although distilled is pricey. Use RO water for water change also. Get your family to help lug the water.You may wish to look around for a TDS meter and use it to check the purity of your RO filtered water. The TDS meter is very easy to use.

HN1151_99.jpg


Also, the last thing you need is some kind of tank disaster giving you even more headaches. So sometime soon when you have a chance, take 10 or 15 minutes to read this: https://www.livingreefs.com/marine-aquarium-disasters-and-prevent-them-t20514.html

WE will get you through this!
 
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If I read correctly, you said that there were plastic tanks under the tank? If I read that correctly, then that's more than likely a sump setup. A sump is like extra space that you can plumb your tank to so that it can add more water volume, put equipment in and conceal it from the main tank, and/or you can also have a small section for a refugium. A refugium is a small space where you can grow macro algae. Macro algae is helpful for taking out nitrates\nitrites...one of those...by which can be harmful to the tank in high ammounts. As it's been said, take out the anenome because it can destroy the whole tank if it dies. Do your best to keep up with water changes and try to pull most of the algae out that's probably all over the rocks. Some water changes should make the tank look better over time. You can use a turkey baster to clean nasty gunk off the rock if you got any. The protein skimmer skims out proteins and nasty gunk from your water. People here will usually use a protein skimmer or an algae scrubber. As far as lighting goes, your lights say current so you have a decent brand fixture(s). For the tank. Current USA is pretty nice. Does it tell what model/kind it is? And depending on what it is, you may be covered on lights. Also depending on how long the bulbs may have been running, you might want to change them out. But before getting into all that, get your water cleaned up, rocks cleaned off and come at us with more questions because i'm sure you have a million more! Hope this helps. Sorry for the wall of txt. Posting from my phone. We all want to see you succeed! Welcome to the site!
 
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I reccomend reading the following book cover to cover: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/New-Marine-Aquarium-Step---Step/dp/1890087521/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1297873972&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: The New Marine Aquarium: Step-By-Step Setup & Stocking Guide (0097818900875): Michael S. Paletta, Edward Kadunc, Scott W. Michael, John Goodman: Books[/ame]

It'll cover all the basics in a very easy to understand way. After you get the basics down, it'll be much easier to read info on the forums or know what to ask about. Good luck! Glad you're asking for help!
 
Little fish... thanks for the link.

Sen... I was using filtered water, but upon talking with my sons I discovered that 5 gallons of tap water had been added to the tank as well. I had read the link you posted last night, but I'm glad you did post it as it was what I needed to read. :) I'm going to look and see if he has a TDS meter, and if not get one. That was very helpful to know... Thanks! =)

Aquatic...I looked up images of sump tanks and that is exactly what the two tanks are. :) After talking with my sons this morning we are thinking of moving the anemone to one of the other empty tanks (like the 55 gallon in the photos... I meant to mention that) with some live rocks and we have extra lighting (not good enough for coral, but maybe good enough for this purpose). The anemone has been in the tank over 5 years and though we hate it, the boys think the pet store here doesn't take good care of anything. I'm so glad you mentioned the baster as I was wondering how to get in the little holes in the rocks to clean as my wire brush was skimming them. I made a mistake last night... I stirred up the sand in the front of the tank. The bottom looks 'ashy' now. So I gather I'll be cycling for messing with the sand? Do I need to somehow catch my dragonette and get her out of there? She hides in the reef.

As for the lights, I can't see a model number but each light fixture has 8 bulbs (pink, blue, white, white, pink, blue, white, white) and two fans on each side (4 fans total). I will work on the water for 8ish weeks, read up, and then start in on reforming this tank. :)

Lizardgi, I should have that read in a week or so. Thanks for recommending an easy to understand guide... exactly what I need!!!
 
I would fine a good pet store to return the nem too, because they are some of the hardest animals to keep in this hobby. I highly doubt it would survive a trip to one of the other tanks, small swings in parameter can kill it, along with tiny amounts of nitrates. It also needs more light than corals.

And i think you can leave the drangonette in there. But i would leave her as the only fish until you get the tank up and running again.

Also, you might want to look into building an algae scrubber to deal with your algae problem. I think that will be the easiest way for you get your algae under control. It will take a DIY but its cheap to do and pretty easy.
 
Lisa, I'm sorry for your loss. We're glad to have you on the site. You'll get everyone's best advice. So far, it looks like everyone's got you covered...The only couple of things I can add is...this is a wonderfully rewarding hobby, some people make it much harder than it has to be. Make sure to share the experience with your children and everyone is going to have a blast....It's quite addicting. Just listen to the advice given, and you're going to be just fine.

Welcome aboard.
 
Hi Lisa, we are all sorry for your loss. Folks here are giving good advice on the tank project. Cleaning up the tank, getting out the algae growth, are good places to start. You mentioned sand, what is the average depth of the sand, 1"-3" or more like 3"-5" the first is consider shallow and second is deep sand bed. Disturbing the deep sand bed can bring more water quality problems from the bacteria that work in a deep sand bed. Either one you can clean using a python (brand name) type of syphon tube, and this is an excellent way to remove water for the water change and clean some at the same time. If you do have a deep sand bed I would only clean a small area, say 6-8" square at one time. If it is a shallow sand bed you can clean pretty much all of it at one time. At least this is mo, others may have different thoughts?
 
Reefracer, it's about a 6" bed. I started stirring up the sand before I read up or posted here. I shouldn't have jump to do it without doing any research prior. I just couldn't look at that tank like that anymore.

I've been using a very small vacuum hoping it would stir up less sand, but my husband has a powered vacuum (Ancient Mariner). I've been afraid to use it as it looks like it could do the whole tank in about 5 minutes. From the images of python tubing online it looks like the Ancient Mariner uses it. My husband only used the powered vacuum when he first was starting the tank... so I thought I should wait on using it given I had already messed up his dsb by not checking into it first.

It is good to hear 6" to 8" inches as I was wondering about how much at a time. I'm glad you mentioned that. :)

I was a bit worried my complete ignorance of reefing would be too trying, but y'all have been patient, kind, and helpful. I really appreciate it. Thanks. :) Lisa
 
YW, yup 6-8" is definitely a dsb. Sounds like with the cleaning of algae and plant growth and water changes which imho you could do a 50% to start and then start doing some 15-20% and things should begin to take shape. I think I would do the vaccum on the top 2-3" at least but no I would clean deep but only small areas per week and weekly water changes should be part of that program along with getting the filters and lighting up and going. Let us know what you have for filters when you get it all figured out. and good luck, you have lots of support here in the forum. One of the best things available for help the hobbist, like someone else said, unlike the lfs we are trying to sell you anything, and our only involvement is to try and help each other succeed with the hobby we love.
 
I would be careful with 50+% water changes unless the new water params match your tanks water you can cause huge issues for your livestock.
 

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