Frustrated

Colin_T said:

The pool chlorine should have dose rates on the packaging, but you should double or triple dose it to make sure there is nothing alive on the rocks. You can put a lid on the container too to help reduce the fumes but be careful and hold your breath when you lift the lid so you don't get a lung full of chlorine gas.

If the sand is an inch thick then stirring it up several times should allow the salt water to get in. If you have 3-4 inches of sand, then the bottom of the sand might not get salt water. In which case you could remove it and put it in plastic storage containers with salt water. Have half an inch of sand in each container and let it soak for a bit. Then rinse and dry in the sun. Once it has been salted, rinsed and dried, there won't be anything alive in it.

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Alright thanks a lot. Last question. With my 55 gallon garbage can I’ll be putting the rocks and pool chlorine in, once I rinse and drain and rinse, I can of course reuse this container for water changes in the future? Just dechlorinate well? Is it ok to just leave the chlorine water and rocks stagnant for a couple days or should it have a pump in to mix?

If you use a plastic container for the rocks and chlorine then you can re-use it afterwards. Just rinse well and leave in the sun until it no longer smells of chlorine.

Don't use a metal bin/ container because the chlorine will cause the metal to rust.

Don't use a water pump in the chlorine because water pumps usually have a metal impellor shaft that will rust from the chlorine.

You can stir the chlorinated water up a few times and it should not need a water pump. If you put an airline in the container, it can bubble away but will cause the chlorine to come out of the water faster so just stir it up with a plastic spoon or something similar.

If you don't have anything to stir the water up with, get a small plastic bucket/ container and scoop some water out and pour it back in. Do this a few times to circulate the chlorinated water around the rocks.

Colin_T said:

If you use a plastic container for the rocks and chlorine then you can re-use it afterwards. Just rinse well and leave in the sun until it no longer smells of chlorine.

Don't use a metal bin/ container because the chlorine will cause the metal to rust.

Don't use a water pump in the chlorine because water pumps usually have a metal impellor shaft that will rust from the chlorine.

You can stir the chlorinated water up a few times and it should not need a water pump. If you put an airline in the container, it can bubble away but will cause the chlorine to come out of the water faster so just stir it up with a plastic spoon or something similar.

If you don't have anything to stir the water up with, get a small plastic bucket/ container and scoop some water out and pour it back in. Do this a few times to circulate the chlorinated water around the rocks.

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Copy that. Ok to summarize this all up. The plan for next week on my days off. Please add or take away anything. Drain tank water and remove all the rocks placing them in my 55 gallon plastic garbage can. Move outside and fill with tap water. Triple dose with pool chlorine and stir up. Let sit for a few days stirring occasionally. Drain, rinse can and rocks and then let dry.

For the tank, wipe glass down, remove a portion of the sand and dispose of but leave the rest in (about an inch or less). Dispose of fake plants. Fill tank with water and turn on cleaned out rinsed filters. Add pool salt until it no longer dissolves and there’s extra on the bottom. 40 pound bag hopefully is enough. 125 gallon tank though so maybe need 2 bags? Stir remaining sand allowing salt to get underneath. Run for 3 days stirring sand occasionally. Leave unplugged heaters and nets and anything else used in the salt mix a bit to disinfect. Drain tank and fill back up with water and run it again for a bit. Then drain tank. Add new sand and disinfected dried rocks after been drying for a week or so and no longer smell of chlorine. Add plants and set everything back up as normal. Begin cycling tank as before. Sound about right?

There's no need to dispose of plastic/ artificial plants. You can soak them in salt water or bleach and re-use them.

Don't fill the tank completely until after you have added the salt otherwise it could overflow. Once you have added all the salt, then top the tank up.

You can bleach the coverglass too, if you have coverglass on the tank.

The rest of it is fine

Awesome!!! Thank you so much for all the help Colin, and thank you everyone for the advice!!! I really appreciate it. When you’re frustrated and stuck and can’t get knowledgeable advice from fish stores nearby, having people that know their stuff is so damn nice. While I’m disappointed at losing everything, I’m excited to have a plan in place moving forward! I’d think in about a month or so, I’ll have the newly disinfected tank up and running and cycling. I’ll keep you guys posted. Thanks again

kerncake233 said:

Thanks Dennis. Appreciated. You clean your lava rocks this way? Them being so porous I don’t want them to absorb bleach and leach it into tank killing fish

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Yes I have. I put twenty years in the pet shop trade. Back in the early years of the marine trade when everyone wanted white corals, we used the same technique to get rid of that "gross" algae. Soaking the rocks in the fresh water baths several times will eliminate the bleach. Just keep doing the baths until the rocks don't smell like bleach or fishy. Back in the day, we used straight liquid laundry bleach, the cheaper the better. Cheap stuff had no additives. Leaving out in the fresh air will evaporate any water in the holes in the rock. At one store, every Monday morning, every plastic plant was cleaned this way. Bleached rocks went into a big sink and fresh water constantly ran for an hour over them.

kerncake233 said:

Awesome!!! Thank you so much for all the help Colin, and thank you everyone for the advice!!! I really appreciate it. When you’re frustrated and stuck and can’t get knowledgeable advice from fish stores nearby, having people that know their stuff is so damn nice. While I’m disappointed at losing everything, I’m excited to have a plan in place moving forward! I’d think in about a month or so, I’ll have the newly disinfected tank up and running and cycling. I’ll keep you guys posted. Thanks again

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Good luck just remember to go slow with restocking because there is little or no beneficial bacteria. Throw in a few test fish in and observe for a few days.

Be sure to cycle the tank before restocking

Yep I’ll cycle it all over from the beginning. I’ve had a great luck with dr Tim’s pure ammonia for starting the cycle. But yep, for sure using some cheap test fish to see how they do

You can use Tetra SafeStart Plus, I have used it to jump start a tank.

This stuff work Colin?

Calcium Hypochlorite is fine and what you want. However, I don't know what is in the "other Ingredients" and you should try to avoid things with unknown ingredients because they can leave a poisonous residue behind.

Try to find granular pool chlorine that only has Calcium Hypochlorite in.

H

Colin_T said:

Calcium Hypochlorite is fine and what you want. However, I don't know what is in the "other Ingredients" and you should try to avoid things with unknown ingredients because they can leave a poisonous residue behind.

Try to find granular pool chlorine that only has Calcium Hypochlorite in.

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Hmm, can’t seem to find anything in hardware stores around that doesn’t have “other ingredients.”

kerncake233 said:

H

Hmm, can’t seem to find anything in hardware stores around that doesn’t have “other ingredients.”

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Substitute "Brand X" generic bleach. That is what I used to use. In fact, the pet store in my town just used it last week to clean the corals in their tanks. Cheap because it has no additives.

House hold bleach is the other alternative. Get one that does not have surfactants in.
It should contain Sodium Hypochlorite.