Total loss, new set up

[jhj0112]

Originally Posted by Felix

Suffered a total loss on my Red Seax Max 130, lost matched pair Clowns and Royal gramma. So decided to do a 50% water change, remove the living rock. just letting it cycle at the moment. Not had a problem for getting on for 8 years the clowns were my originals and the RG was getting on for 6 years. lost a flasher wrasse a while back and decided just to keep the three as they seemed happy in the tank.
So my big question is?
Do I buy more Live rock? if so where is good these days used to buy from Steve at Red Sea then Blue world and Big Als mainly for food as the fish seem happy and there is a limit to how many you can have in the 130 litres.
And of course Fish, I know not ready for them yet but apart from a pair of clowns and a gobi or a scooter what are members suggestions and who has a good rep for fish (if you work somewhere please disclose).
Thanks Felix

I'm sorry to hear your loss. I also had the major tank crush on my RSM 130 and lost all corals and fishes except clowns.

What was the main cause of the crush?

You need to identify that first. Mine was phosphate spike that led to overdosing NO3PO4X...

I added ~5lbs of LR to increase filteration.
I just added some CUCs, flasher wrasse, and a Jawfish.

I still have high phosphate and nitrate so need to have that under control before adding corals...

Good Luck...

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[dpg]

Aquarium illusions and 19 islands are great stores.

[Myka]

Why did the tank crash? Seeing as some livestock survived, I assume it wasn't poisoning from some contaminant, in which case using the old rock should be fine.

[albert_dao]

It's often easier to do a full reset on a crashed tank than it is to incrementally pull it back into shape.

You can use your old rock (see Myka above). Might as well use this as an opportunity to swish it out in some clean SW to remove detritus. Ditch the existing sand for a few water changes (as in throw it away, don't store it somewhere to reuse). Add a fresh layer once things have settled out and you notice less "shedding" from the system. Go thin, <3/4" or so and use something coarse. You can also use some of those bacterial additives, they're pretty good nowadays and worth the cost of admission.

Also, don't be afraid to do several LARGE (50-90%) water changes during the restart. Just make sure it's been premixed and heated appropriately.

[DKoKoMan]

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