Shutting down a tank for a while

[mss]

This might be a dumb question, but is there anything special that I need to do to close down a 6g nano for about 8 weeks in order to keep everything going during that time (ie beneficial bacteria).

I have recently lost many fish on seperate occasion in that tank, and want to leave it empty for about 8 weeks to make sure that there is no parasites in the tank. (as water params have been ok, with the exception of ph being low)

Do I run the lights any during this time? I read someplace that you still need to feed the tank..how often? I do have a little red algea that is starting to build up, plus this one big aptasia that just popped up. I also have 2 small crabs in there...should I keep those in there for now as the algea dies off, or remove them into my bigger tank. What about water changes?

Thanks in advance for any response.

 

[plack]

In such a small tank you can't really keep many fish they would have to be small fish also.

Do you know why they died-- I would try to figure out that first .

One defenition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Make up 5 gallons of fresh saltwater and let it aireate for 24 hours before adding (Done after all cleaning).

Test the levels of the new saltwater first before doing anything so you know where the new water will be at and make sure there are no problems with the test kits you have ,or the salt and water you are using.

Take the rock and put it in a 5 gallon empty bucket then do a 4 gallon water change into that bucket.

Try to improve the water flow direction and areas. Clean any substrate and filters in the nano.

Clean and scrub the rocks inside that 4 gallon bucket one at a time and gouge out and remove that aptasia with a knife.

Then dump out the dirty water from the 5 gallon rock filled bucket and do a little water change of only 1 gallon into the rock filled bucket again to do just a rince and then when that is done with dump that !

Replace cleaned rocks back to the nano and add the new 5 gallons of fresh saltwater.

Youv'e still got the beneficial bacteria from the 1 gallon left in th nano. Once you start back the filters and let it run for a few hours Then when it looks clear reclean the filters.

Walla you should be good to go in 48 hours I would not add any food only RESEARCH what fish you can add that is small when full size !!



Paul

 

[mss]

thanks.
Yeah, I had a small frogfish in there first. I know froggies need more room then that, but I was going to move up to a bigger tank (24g) and he was small. First one, I think he just "overate" prior to me getting him, as I was told he was placed in a tank with another frog and he ate that one and it was at least the same size. Second one I had, I did pull a feeder fish that I had in there for a couple of days that had ick before I realized it. And I learned frogs are prone to ick.

The next fish I had in there were 2 baby naked clown that I was holding until my 125g tank is ready. I made a mistake of "impulse" buying these when my gut told me better. The one fish had these white things on its gills. It was hanging around the top of this open tank. I thought something was wrong, flukes, but asked the guy that worked there and he said, no...it is his coloring, true naked clowns are not naked, they have some coloring on them. And trust me, I dont think this guy tried to mess me over..he really thought it was just his markings. I should have stuck with my instinct. Bought the last 2.

The one with the "markings" around the gills was lying at bottom of bag, other one swimming fine. Dripped them for an 1 1/2, and the bad one never really swam. Turned off lights and let them be. Next day one was dead..one with the flukes.

3 days later (last night) the other one started to get ick and this morning he is dead also.

Before that, I only had a seahorse in there.

I do know that I did not wait long enough after the frogfish died and placement of these fish.

I did mod the filter a bit, added purigen, added hyrdocarbon, piece of filter pad and piece of phos-ban pad to the filter with only a few bio-balls and the ceramic rings.

Will that process you were mentioning kill the ick that is in the tank, or is it best to just wait and let the ick cycle run its coarse. Honestly, I am in no rush to get this tank up and running as I am in a process of converting my 75 to a 125, so this will probably be placed on the back burner until I find that one fish I want.

 

[plack]

Ich oh ick
I did not know about this and just now read your responce.

Yeah I would still clean as said and then.

Turn up your heater to like 83º F and use less salt in the new salt batch to 1.018 while leaving it livestock empty for 5 weeks.

That should be enoughp.



Paul

 

[mss]

thanks for the response!