# Restart



## pretzelsz (Jan 14, 2010)

So Bear told me I should try ti restart my 10 gallon tank since it didn't really go great. I just want to know what I should do after I put the rock, sand, and cheato in the buckets.

Do I need light?
Am I recuring the rock?
Could someone elaborate on what exactly to do?

Thanks
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## bearwithfish (Sep 29, 2009)

i suggested it if you wanted to to see if perhaps it was just a start up issue.... if you are certain you want to i can out line in great detail how its done... and your not really re-curing any thing just super cleaning the tank and starting over... with good rock and such which will shorten the time it takes to get everything going again....
if any one else wants to jump in here please do.....
just trying o suggest a method that will cost less on getting things all set.... with out additives and major changes (once done)


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## pretzelsz (Jan 14, 2010)

If you don't mind I would like details. As soon as I can get the attachment for my RO/DI for the sink I will do that.

Thanks


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## pretzelsz (Jan 14, 2010)

Also do I need my lights on at all since nothing is really alive besides little copepods?


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## bearwithfish (Sep 29, 2009)

ok here i will go into full details with everything covered
step one mix two buckets of water 
in bucket 1 add Live rock, power head, heater and any corals or other live stock you may have
if anything add your light if you anticipate this taking longer than 4 hours (it should not)
siphon all of the remaining water from the tank
in bucket 2 add your Live sand - i keep them separated in order to reduce the junk on the Live rock and for ease of re adding later as you will see
now that this is done you have one muddy gross looking tank
if possible hose it off out side for the first rinse
if not please do not get sand grains in the garbage disposal as your parents will not be happy trying to fix this (been there its a pain)
next get your tap or shower on full blast hot water
rinse the tank well not filling it but rinsing it out and removing as much stuff as possible..
now the next step i used in a "hard restart" as i like to call it is to wash the inside of the tank with rubbing alcohol .... just enough to get a few paper towels folded wet then scrub the inside well in every part you can reach (that back chamber may require the use of a set of tongs) 
next rinse again with super hot water
now we come to my favorite part and really try it this way once and you will never do it any other way again
put in sand by scooping it. cover with a news paper (trust me i have not forgotten anything yet)now you have a messy bucket of floating stuff you really dont want any way so dump it out and make a new bucket of water
slowly pour the water into the tank until about 50% full in display chamber....
then add more of this water to the back chamber to equal things out...
gently remove the news paper (ohhhhh prettty no cloudy water!!) add in Live Rock, corals,power heads, heater, any other live stock and the remaining water from our adventure until tank is full and now that this is done and assuming all steps followed carefully you are now in the start up phase again... so i was once asked how to manage this with live stock present as now you have a new cycle to contend with... here is my secret 10% W/C every other day for 1 month testing 1x weekly and bang its great!!! i had to do it once but this is how i just started my friends tank also and three months later all is well....


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## pretzelsz (Jan 14, 2010)

So the ink from the newspaper wouldn't effect the tank?

Also everything is dead...do I need to do the alternating WC?

And should I black out my rocks to kill the weird algae?

I still need to get a sink adapter for my RO/DI unit so it will be maybe next week I do this.


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## bearwithfish (Sep 29, 2009)

ink is no problem as you are not leaving it in there long (never had an issue with it) if all is dead then no light needed as for algae hit it with a tooth bruch to scrub it off.... the new water will be clear of nutrients for it so after the scrubbing it may not return....


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