Bad Tanks

[csb]

I'd love to hear (or see if you have pics) about tanks in bad shape. I wouldn't expect it to be your own tank, rather, most likely the tank of a clueless friend or relative. Perhaps even a clueless LFS?!?

Where am I coming from?? I have a friend who's tank is an absolute disaster. It's completely overrun by hair algae and cyano. There's enough salt build-up on the outside of the tank to probably conduct a full waterchange with salt-chips alone.

The guy isn't stupid, but he is ignorant about tank care... he thinks his tank is very healthy and I can't convince him otherwise. On the contrary, he thinks my clean and healthy tank isn't "established enough yet", so he keeps offering me chunks of his rock so I can "kickstart the growth of that good algae". (the red cyano he likes so much). I keep having to tell him 'thanks, but no thanks'.

There's a lot more to this story, but I think you get the point. I'd love to see some pictures of other "disaster tanks" for comparison.

I'm taking care of his tank next week :eek1: and will snap some shots. I also want to test his tank params out of curiosity, so I'll post it all here. It'll make you all feel good about your own tanks

 

[cutsupremetrib]

lol wow can u bring him to my town and let me smack him lol

 

[mystikdragon7]

Send this person to Reef Central. It sounds like he will be having a rude awakening.

 

[BigReefing]

maybe he is trying. If you were a reef person you would nicely help him get it together. I don't like elitests like you. I am in the IT field and I don't like computer people that react to peoples computer problems like you did to his reef problems. We call people like that elitests. They are looked down on in the IT comunity. I hope people are the same way here. The first time I saw a tank like that I would help a guy out.

 

[mystikdragon7]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6814098#post6814098 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BigReefing
maybe he is trying. If you were a reef person you would nicely help him get it together. I don't like elitests like you. I am in the IT field and I don't like computer people that react to peoples computer problems like you did to his reef problems. We call people like that elitests. They are looked down on in the IT comunity. I hope people are the same way here. The first time I saw a tank like that I would help a guy out.

I wouldn't go so far as to call the poster an elitest - we're talking about living creatures here, and their care (or in this case, lack thereof). There is a vast difference between someone knowing little about computers, and someone taking on the responsibility of pet ownership with little knowledge and a lack of dedication.

 

[Salamander]

BigR...It appears to me that this guy has been trying to help,but his friend is unwilling to listen. I agree wit mystik dragon that this guy should peruse RC and learn abit about the life he's keeping his glass box. And csb, maybe this guy really likes his algae, lots of people do and some have devoted tanks.

 

[BigReefing]

well if that is what he means then i agree with him, but alot of people on here just like to cause trouble. I have been in this hobbie about 1 year and have wanted to be in it sense I was 6. I am 26 almost now. I have some algea in my tank, but I clean it every 2 days. i have a little on my rocks, but I rebuild my sump so i can put a phosphate spunge and other fitler media in it. In central ohio where i live, we have a bad phosphate problem. I use a osmosis filter with 8 canisters, but still have problems. A guy I just met close to me has a 280 gallon and says you have to use a phosphate media in your sump if you dont want the green stuff, so i just rebuilt mine. It should go in tomarrow. Sorry, i just felt like typing all that.

 

[csb]

Whoa... I'm certainly not an elitest. My friend and I actually share a couple of common interests - for example, we are both amateur radio operators. He holds a higher class license than I do and I'm learning from him, so we both certainly share our knowledge in both directions.

Regarding his tank... it's not an elitest thing at all (at least from my side). He's had his tank for 8 years, so there's not a lot of weight in my advice to him.

 

[angel125]

hey my tank probably would have looked worst than his if i didnt know about rc........lol........we would love to see him here soon....

 

[davidryder]

algae occurs naturally in the ocean, and is a sign of healthy water. no one harps on people for harvesting and growing caulerpa. algae provides benefits and some people like the natural look of algae, regardless of color. nothing unhealthy about that.

 

[wfrost]

There was a 55 at one of the mechanic places in Huntsville Alabama in the waiting area. It had crushed corral substrate, 2 HOB filters they never changed the filter pads, they never did a water change, they used tap water to top it off, and very seldom ever added salt to it. Flake food was gunked up all around the top of the tank and around the filters, the nastiest SW tank I have ever seen. But the fish thrived, they were all huge, a yellow tang, a wrasse of some kind, the biggest ugliest damsel I have ever seen. and a couple more I dont remember. He was telling me he had only lost one fish in it since he set it up and it jumped out. This tank was over 5 years old at the time.

 

[rustybucket145]

The first saltwater tank I ever had was 'inherited' from a friend. He asked if he could store his tank at my apartment for two months while he was overseas on business. I said sure although I had no clue about anything having to do with SW Aquariums. I would also be out of town during the time the tank would be stored so my roomate was supposed to take care of it. When I arrived back well after the two months had passed the tank was still sitting in my living room. It was half full of water, salt creep down all sides of the tank. The Hair algae was so thick you couldn't even see into the tank and the salinity had to be through the roof. So I knew I had to do something. I started by pulling out all the HA I could (by the handfull) and adding tap water to get the water level up. Oh did I mention all the light bulbs were on 24/7 due to a defective timer and the heater was busted. And because of the low water level the only circulation was from a BackPac pump dripping into the tank. The next day I woke up and checked on the tank. There were 3 freaking fish swimming around in it. I have no idea how they survived. I don't even know how they swimmed as thick as the HA was. A couple of corals actually survived one was a Brain and a Rock Coral which I still have.

Well we never heard from the tanks owner again so I claimed the tank in the name of Rusty. I saved it from doom and since I have upgraded and given it to my mom. One of the original fish survived (Falco Hawkfish) and I still have him today, 7 years later. I regret never taking pictures of the tank it was an absolute mess!!! Oh, did I mention how bad it smelled?

Here is a pic of the original Hawkfish. He is much happier in his 90gal Palace than he was in his Hair Algae Forest.

http://valdostaadsonline.com/fish/020106/jpgss/020106JPGS/Unknownhawkfish.jpg

 

[csb]

Nice pic of the hawkfish ... that's a good story too. Did you ever grab any pictures of that tank??

For one of the other posters above in this thread... algae isn't necessarily a bad thing, I know that. I'm willing to bet his nitrates are 0 because he gets all the nutrient export he needs.

--csb

 

[Salamander]

Its true that algae is good in a controlled environment ie fuge etc but it can kill corals in a reef tank. And its true there is a lot of algae in the ocean, but not usually much on the reefs unless it is subject to heavy and unhealthy pollution. Many species of algae can grow in plague like epidemics in your reef tank and kill many corals.