Nano Rehab Project

[speedykeys]

I have a friend (who was actually the one who got me started with this hobby about 2 years ago), who has a 12 gallon nano thats he's going to give me. The tank has completely taken a dump over the past six months and he let everything in it die and has not done anything about it. The pumps are still running although the water level is so low it barely makes it back to the return, and whatever lights that aren't burnt out still come on every day. But it is nasty, the glass is so brown you can't even see inside and I'm afraid of what's going to come out of it once I clean it out. I was planning on taking everything out of the tank and maybe cleaning it with a bleach/water mix and starting the whole thing over with a new cycling process. I plan on replacing all the filtration in the back with LR rubble, and a brand new sand bed, but what about the existing live rock thats in the tank? Do you think I should take it out and scrub it off and stuff (not with the bleach mix) and leave it out to dry while I clean the tank, or should I maybe leave it the way it is and keep it in a bucket of saltwater until I get the new water and sand to start the cycling process? I wasn't sure if there might be some unwanted kinds of bacteria on the rock at this point, but then again I wasn't sure if I might need some of that bacteria for the cycling process? Thanks for any advice.

 

[Danyal]

just scrub the rock lightly if its covered with unpleasant algae and then let it soak in a bucket of SW, no sense killing whatever life might still be on the rock by drying it out

 

[Catpicklesdog]

I agree. Keep the rock wet and warm so you can at least re-use it. I'd actually use white vinegar and water to wash the tank with, rather than bleach.
Also, I'd test his current set up for Amm, Ates and Ites not for any particular reason but out of curiousity

 

[Eddiecorrea]

I agree. Keep the rock wet and warm so you can at least re-use it. I'd actually use white vinegar and water to wash the tank with, rather than bleach.
Also, I'd test his current set up for Amm, Ates and Ites not for any particular reason but out of curiousity

Same. You probably dont need a new sand bed either. The tank probably looks ugly but I bet there are a ton of benifical bacteria built up. I would clean the glass and suck out the water at the same time but dont remove everything else. Just a REALLY good water change/clean. Then leave it fallow for a month.

 

[1wizz]

Got to say great advice from Cat and Eddie, what have you got to lose by being patient.
Test all your parameters as it might just look very bad!
Take your time cleaning all the components and exchanging out the dirty water and once you get to see whats happening you may find more life than you bargained for.
Hope all goes well.

 

[speedykeys]

Thanks for all the advice, I still haven't picked up the tank yet but should probably be getting it this weekend. I'll keep the sand and rock and just clean everything up real nice and see where I can get.

 

[speedykeys]

Well I finally got the tank yesterday. I'm bummed that I was in such a rush to get it all cleaned out because I completely forgot to take some "before" pictures to show how nasty that thing was. I had to scrap the old sand bed, there was just way too much crap in it. After adding the new water/30 lb sand bed and the existing rock (maybe 20-30 lbs?) I removed all the sponges/bio balls and media from the back and replaced it with live rock rubble. I also swapped out the old bulbs for some new ones. There's a rio 400 return and a small rio 200 that I buried behind the rock display. I tested some perameters last night:
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-1
Nitrate-20
pH-8.2
Phosphate-0
sg-1.021

I'll test some other perameters once I do a water change to get that sg level up, turns out that the water I bought from the store tested pretty low in sg, too bad I didn't test it before adding it although I'm glad I tested it before using it to do my water change in my other nano tank. Hoping to get an RO/DI system soon to mix my own. Heres some pics of the tank as of now, once it's done going through the cycling process and I can add some life I'll post some more pics. The first two are just with the actinic and the second two are with the actinic/day light.

 

[The Zigman]

Lookin Sweet!
Makes me want a nano!

 

[Eddiecorrea]

Thats lookin good. Thats an awesome thing to be give for free.

Oh and I see your magfloat is way down by the sand. Thats a bad idea because if a piece of sand gets stuck in between the glass and magnet you will scratch up the inside of your tank.