Major tank overhaul advice needed

[BJanecka]

As you can see from the pics, my 75 gal tank has been seriously neglected due to “issues” over the last 6 months. The issues are resolved and I want my tank back! I have thought of two plans and would like comments on them. Tank is 75 gal with a 30 gal sump/fuge that has a Euroreef ES skimmer. Current lights are (4) t5s. Return is with a mag 9.5 to a center return that has a wye in the tank. Current readings PH 8.1, Cal 390, Alk 2.5.

Plan one: Manually remove as much of the green/red algae as possible. This stuff comes out in clumps and is not slimy like hair algae. Do several water changes (15-20gal at a time) while siphoning as much detritus “dirt” and algae out as possible. I also have sump/fuge with a Euroreef skimmer that I will be tuning up as well. My concerns are that the tank is just to loaded with “dirt” and the sand is full of it. Look at the first pic. The sand bed in this area is covered with “dirt”. Which leads me to plan 2.

Plan two: Break it down and start over. Syphon the existing water into a container to hold corals and fish. Remove the rocks and clean the algae and “dirt” off in a separate container. Remove the sand. Clean tank. Install new sand or go bb. Fill with new sw and put rock back in. Since I am using my existing live rock and it will remain in sw during the process I should not have to cycle my tank, correct? Add corals and fish. Fine tune skimmer.

The other big problem is aiptasia in the tank! Big ones, small ones, on the rocks and in the sand. Probably go with berghia but I do not want to add them until after the cleaning is finished.

Comments/suggestions welcome.

[BJanecka]

Here's a little more tank background.
Tank was set up 2 1/2 years ago as a skimmerless tank with miracle mud and no skimmer. Had some algae problems. At the two year mark, I removed the sump that had the miracle mud and added my new sump/fuge and euroreef. This is the same time that other things went downhill so the tank was neglected. Tank only has 1-2 inch sandbed.

[Thunderkat]

That tank still looks pretty nice :)

It sounds like you know what you need to do but I like plan number two.

Since you are taking out everything you want to keep I would do that and fill it up with fresh water and let it sit for a while to kill the aips.

Then on the stuff you want to keep you can use a syringe to inject the aips with that chemical (http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=JJ1111) that kills them.

Regardless though I think thats a pretty sweet looking tank!

[GaryP]

I very stongly recommend NOT going with plan 2. I'm afraid you are going to find that you are going back to where you are starting from. None of the problems you mentioned seem any worse than those of someone setting up a new tank other than the aiptasia. Just get a handle on the nutrients, do the water changes weekly for a while, add some activatged carbon and phosphate absorber, and contact Instar for some Berghia nudibranches for the aiptasia. It will all work out. Adding some herbivores such as hermits, a variety of snails, a Foxface, and emerald crabs will help too. Nassarius snails will help clean up detritus in the sand bed and help out with cyano. ChemiClean will also help at least temporarily rid you of the cyano.

I know that sounds like a lot, but you will be doing at least some of the same things if you start over.

[Brett Wilson]

There are so many options available to you at this point it will be hard to cover them all but i'll at least add a few.

First off, how much do you feed? How clean is your input water (RO/DI, etc...)? How old are your lights?

Depending on how removable the stuff is that you have in there I may or may not remove all of the rock. I once had a major hair algae issue that was best solved by removing all of the rock and scrubbing it off at the same time as eliminating all possible excess nutrient sources.

If you plan to change your sand bed layout then that will require you remove everything... but you shouldnt have to change your sand bed at all, you should be able to stir/suck that 'dirt' up and filter it out of the tank mechanically (or by syphoning it out).


Since I am using my existing live rock and it will remain in sw during the process I should not have to cycle my tank, correct?

That is not a correct assumption... anything you do to the tank, including merely sticking your finger in it, causes some form of algae cycle.
Removing all the 'dirt' and nuisance algae will surely cause a cycle, possibly large. One thing to keep in mind is you are removing something that absorbs nutrients (the algae) but hopefully by removing the dirt (detritus) as well you are removing much of the source... but without knowing exactlly what caused the algae to begin with I am not sure how much of the source may be remaining.

The important thing to avoid is adding excess nutrients at this point to help feed that cycle. I would feed the minimum required amount of food for your fish, etc, as possible.

[CD]

best solved by removing all of the rock and scrubbing it off


Since they have aptasia on the rock also, won't this turn the rock/tank into an aptasia farm? I could see doing that *after* the aptasia is gone, but before may just make things worse in an entirely different way? I know Gary's suggestion may take a little more time, but the end results would be the same, and less of a chance of aptasia taking over in lieu of the algae...plus no worries about a huge cycle. A smaller (hopefully) cycle will most likely be inevitable no matter what is done - I agree.

The input water and lighting would definitely be something to look into as well as the other suggestions.

Wendy

[Polkster13]

If you go with option two, then you will need to replace all of the LR as you will never get all of the aptasia off of the current rock. Scrubbing will only spread the cells and the aptasia will come back in even greater numbers. You need to find a good predator (like berghia nudibranchs) to get the aptasia under control. You also need to beef up your cleaner crew and try to siphon out as much gunk off of the bottom each time you do a water change. Keeping the nutrients low will cause the macro algae to die back and lots of herbivores will polish off the rest.

It takes time to get the tank to balance itself and radical changes only prolong the waiting. It takes about a year or two before a tank will finally "settle in" where you only have to do periodic water changes, filter maintenance and changing the light bulbs. It's takes a lot of patience and self-control to successfully maintain a SW tank for an extended period of time (I am talking years, not just monthes or weeks). Anyone can make a tank look good for the first couple of months. The true test is to see a great looking tank that has been setup for more than two years with little to no changes other than standard maintenance. That is when you know you are "doing it right".

[BJanecka]

Thanks for the suggestions and comments. Since a few people asked about lighting on the tank, it has 4 54w t5 bulbs that are a couple of months old.
Looks like the water change and siphon methond is the road I'm taking. I already have the first 20gal mixed and ready to go.

All make up water is ro/di water with a tds reading of 0-1. I'm also using IO salt.

[Brett Wilson]

I didnt think about what the scrubbing would do to the aiptasia... that would be way bad indeed.

[Polkster13]

Good luck on the water changes and let us know how things progress. You should start seeing some changes for the better in the coming weeks. Take pictures each week so you will have something to compare. Alsi, I live in Lago Vista which is very close to you. If you need anything or want me to take a closer look at your system, please don't hesitate to call on me (drop me a PM or email).

[GaryP]

I would also get some carbon and phosphate absorber started as soon as possible. Blue leg hermits are a good next step too. It will take a lot of them for a major algae bloom. I would suggest one for every 2-4 gal. as a starting point. Check with the local LFS for the best price on a cleaner package. I know a few have packages as well as some of the online vendors, CrabsnFrags for example.

[TexasTodd]

IMO good advice here. Going BB won't make it easier. It's actually supposed to be more work, but cleaner.

If you went bare bottom and then continued without time for your system; it would get MUCH worse than it is now.

What is your flow rate in system gallons turned over per hour now? Bumping this up will help you skim more and settle more out in your sump to be taken out.

TT

[jaded]

baby steps... It sounds like you've got a great handle on things. It also sounds like your doing the right thing, just go slowly! You wont get this back too it's earlier condition in the first couple of water changes, so avoid major changes. What I mean by this is don't start injecting the aptasia, syphoning all the sand at once, moving rocks and (of course) DONT ADD FISH OR CORALS!!!

[NaCl_H2O]

I agree with option #1, but go to the LFS and buy several LARGE buckets of patience ;)

Don't know your feeding schedule, but if you can cut WAY back for 2-4 weeks, that will help reduce the growth of everything, including the Aptasia. Someone else mentioned flow, if your turnover is 10-15x or less, add a few powerheads during this period to keep things suspended in the water column and flowing into your filtration.

Let us know how it goes!