13 day total blackout not working
- Thread starter Scottm032
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Amphotericin B! It's been YEARS since I've thought of that drug! Avoid alcohol and watch for nephrotoxicity. And yes, fluconazole is a fungicide. And it is a POTENT Cytochrome P-450 Inhibitor (2C9 and 2C19 with a some 3A4). I've seen some pretty serious negative outcomes in humans due to this (including one death when Dilantin was involved --- They brought him back tho)
OP, patience is the primary element in this hobby and if you are panicking at 4 months now with no patience then it is going to be a long up hill battle for you. I want my reef and I want it now doesn't work in this hobby. As others mentioned using dead rock in a new tank is a set back and will take time for the biome to develop. Your tank will go through a variety of ugly stages the first year and taking the rocks out of their emerging environment for an extended blackout just killed off what little biome was started and put you back to the beginning stages. Harsh chemicals will compound this situation 5x worse and open the door for worse algae. Dead fake rock goes through multiple color and algae phases before it finally settles somewhat in the tank. It is not even close to using real live wet rock from the ocean which turbo charges your new tank biome. If you don't step back and learn patience you will have continued struggles in this hobby.
MnFish1
10K Club member
A lot of algae can survive like this. I would consider manually scrubbing it off the rock.
MnFish1
10K Club member
I'm not sure that fluconazole adsorbing to the rock would be an issue.
OP isn't a rookie..I just think it's the first go with dry rock
I thought only rookies like me used fake rock? Then he should ditch some fake and add some pieces of real ocean rock.
I'll never start with dry again. Honestly for where I'm at I would say it was about 2 years with dry to sort every problem associated.
IME adding chems to a young tank started with dry rock is the first step down a steep slope to failure. Been there done that and still battling over a year later.
I had good results with 50/50 live and caribsea in my old 120.
Only the caribsea got the uglies for a few months.
Current 2 systems are all Gulf Live Rock. $9 a pound shipped to your door.
I have 150lbs in my ext 170. Just shy of 12 weeks with 20 plus hard corals.
Corraline is now starting to spot on the back wall and powerheads.
Only uglies I got were some typical brown on the glass surfaces. Continied to scrape off and now minimal once the corraline takes off.
LIve rock has always made my systems easier for over 30+.
Something to think about anyway.
Current system.
Only the caribsea got the uglies for a few months.
Current 2 systems are all Gulf Live Rock. $9 a pound shipped to your door.
I have 150lbs in my ext 170. Just shy of 12 weeks with 20 plus hard corals.
Corraline is now starting to spot on the back wall and powerheads.
Only uglies I got were some typical brown on the glass surfaces. Continied to scrape off and now minimal once the corraline takes off.
LIve rock has always made my systems easier for over 30+.
Something to think about anyway.
Current system.
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Yes I learned from my mistake as well.
Beautiful, how did you cure the live rock?I had good results with 50/50 live and caribsea in my old 120.
Only the caribsea got the uglies for a few months.
Current 2 systems are all Gulf Live Rock. $9 a pound shipped to your door.
I have 150lbs in my ext 150. Just shy of 12 weeks with 20 plus hard corals.
Corraline is now starting to spot on the back wall and powerheads.
Only uglies I got were some brown on the glass surfaces. Continied to scrape off and now minimal once the corraline takes off.
LIve rock has always made my systems easier for over 30+.
Something to think about anyway.
Current system.
Solo McReefer
Valuable Member
Way too much information
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I rescaped this tank over a year ago with dry rock. Then made the mistake of adding Flux to combat the gha. Then came cyano so I added chemi clean then the gha came back rinse and repeat. I'm just letting it roll now doing nothing but sucking some out durring water changes. I'll take the gha over the cyano.
Started this tank late March 2024 barebottom with all dry rock in the display at the begining and couldn't be happier
IMO this in the sump is what made it happen. Old live rock from another tank. I keep the stuff everywhere I can.
Have this banked for future needs
Even a tray of rubble can make a huge difference.
This tank started February 2023 barebottom all dry rock with a couple containers of old rubble in the sump. Never had to do any manual removal of nuisance algae.
I think the fad of starting with dry rock to avoid pests and keep a sterile looking tank like you can find on YouTube IG etc is one of the reason so many people don't last in the hobby. Unreal expectations leads to disappointment.
Oh and don't forget to add a good CUC.
Started this tank late March 2024 barebottom with all dry rock in the display at the begining and couldn't be happier
IMO this in the sump is what made it happen. Old live rock from another tank. I keep the stuff everywhere I can.
Have this banked for future needs
Even a tray of rubble can make a huge difference.
This tank started February 2023 barebottom all dry rock with a couple containers of old rubble in the sump. Never had to do any manual removal of nuisance algae.
I think the fad of starting with dry rock to avoid pests and keep a sterile looking tank like you can find on YouTube IG etc is one of the reason so many people don't last in the hobby. Unreal expectations leads to disappointment.
Oh and don't forget to add a good CUC.
Solo McReefer
Valuable Member
After you have a dry rock tank get taken over by crysophates
Green hair algae is like looking at a beautiful lush green picture postcard of Ireland in Spring in comparison
If it's furry green, it will not let the crysophates grow. Awesome in my book
I am sure there is a direct connection between dry rock and crysophates in a tank. I will never use it again
I think that dry rock (in my case, DEAD dry rock - even worse) can be used if it's treated properly. Myself? I'm gonna pressure wash, dry, pressure wash again, bleach it, dry, pressure wash, then cook in a garbage can for about 6 months until the PO4 decides to leave. It can be done, but it takes planning (and a lot of work). But it's something to do while waiting for floors to be redone, right!?
MnFish1
10K Club member
I respect your opinion, I do think dry rock is more difficult to use. However, I used 90 percent dry rock (the rest was some rubble that I had) - because I wanted a certain design. IMHO - one has to be a bit more careful - but I never had 'uglies', I never had any issues whatsoever (except issues with my controller). However, I do things a bit differently. I bought my table rock (dry) to allow a certain circulation pattern throughout the tank. Then stacked mostly pieces of flat dry rock on that. However - I then bought multiple colonies - (coral) that basically covered the dry rock. Some people can't afford to do this - but I think the 'uglies' are completely avoidable if you purchase coral, etc to cover those areas (coral is obviously the most advanced example of 'live rock'. In any case - People trying to put 6 small frag plugs in a 100 gallon tank are going to have 'the uglies'. However, in 3 months, dry rock is live rock. I think that the comments stating xxx will have uglies for a year is just not true if you do it right.
BTW - I'm not sure what you mean by 'chems' - but I agree I think - that many people are using multiple additives which are not measured, and probably promote the 'ugly' phases.
Just like in the ocean, empty space is going to be filled with 'something'. In new tanks, that is 'the uglies' - unless you put something else in.
MnFish1
10K Club member
I am only answering because you asked - and not criticizing - but curious about your rationale. My answer is 'no'. You should not need to do any of that with dry rock. Bleach ? why? Why would dry rock have PO4? If it did, why can't you use a method to remove any PO4?
If I was worried about the things your are - I would put the rock (very carefully, with PPE, etc) into muriatic acid (diluted obviously) - that will get rid of any phosphate thats adsorbed onto the rock (and will dissolve away a certain percentage of the 'rock' (CaCO3)). There is no rationale IME for anything with regards to rock, cycling, etc that takes 6 months.
Sorry I was referring to chemicals like vibrant, Flux, chemiclean and things like that. I think when people use them to treat the ugly phase (if you get one) of a newer tank it upsets the natural progression of things and causes more problems than they cure. These are just my oppinions based on my experiences, no science or facts to back them up. I'm not much of a science guy but have great respect for those of you that are. I'm always learning.
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