How to get a tank looking great again

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boosted_347

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I have a 29gallon biocube that has been up for 3 years. In the beginning of the summer I began to get a little bit of GHA that I was working on. Then I faced some serious health issues that took me almost completely away from the tank for some time.

So now I have a tank that is covered in absolute filth/algae. Partial water changes aren't helping. What is the best way, besides starting from square one to getting this back on track?

I've been using the cheap Biocube skimmer. I have a 165 watt dimmable Chinese blackbox for lighting, and plan on cutting back the lighting schedule.

I ordered a reactor from BRS and will be running GFO and Carbon. I also will be pulling as many of the rocks as I can and doing manual removal and a peroxide treatment. A series of 50% water changes will also be in the works.

Does this sound like a good plan? Or what is the better way to lick this?
 
Sounds like a plan to me. I had a time where gha was covering all the rocks in my tank. I changed gfo every week. Manually removed as much as possible. Performed bigger than normal weekly water changes. Don't put all the rocks in peroxide at once because you don't want too much die off at once. I also used phosphate rx as directed which helped make the gha start coming off the rocks. Kept scrubbing it and eventually it was gone.
 
Hope you are feeling better now! That sounds like a good start to getting back on track. There is no real magic quick fix but you definitely get things better with good maintenance. Hopefully you are using RO water?
 
OrQidz said:
Hope you are feeling better now! That sounds like a good start to getting back on track. There is no real magic quick fix but you definitely get things better with good maintenance. Hopefully you are using RO water?
Click to expand...


That's right RODI water with 0 tds
 
Your plan sounds great. Remove all the algae you can by hand. Don't let the GFO become saturated, and remove all detritus you can by siphon & mechanical filtration. GL.
 
GFO, possibly vinegar, dosed strictly by the Chart that's available. The better your water is, the more it will dissolve out the problems latent in the sandbed, rock crevices, etc.
 
Vacuuming shallow sandbeds is ok IF you can put a filter sock in play: that's going to snatch up the nastiness before it can find new lodgings to set up and chemically go south.

The vinegar can hype a so-so skimmer into real black skimmate. And it is not as precise as vodka or some other dosing. It would likely help you also. Bu tyou need that chart.
 
I've been vinegar dosing for a couple weeks now. I hadn't vacuumed my sand bed for about 8 months because I suppose I thought it wasn't a good idea. Then my pistol shrimp went on a rampage and tore up my whole sand bed. After that I had an algae outbreak. So after dealing with that I've been afraid to dig in my sand too much. I don't have a sump so instead of a filter sock would it be a good idea to vacuum my sand then just change the floss in my ac 70?
 
Are you fish-only? if so, get some pillow floss (sewing store, sell it by monster bags) and keep changing it hourly if it's nasty. then slow down. Pillow floss is one of the unsung resources. You probably also have a phosphate issue, in which case gfo is your answer. It has to be changed monthly until you see the algae weaken considerably.
 
No, I have softies, lps, and a bta. I don't have a sump because...I came from having freshwater tanks and not fully understanding what I was doing when I set up the tank. I was emulating another tank I saw that looked great. Now I know what I really would like to have but the only sump I could fit in my stand would be a 10 gallon. And I'm not sure how good that would be. I'd have to redo my whole set-up for what I really want.
 
You COULD set up a hob downflow, and a sump in an adjacent piece of furniture, just a suggestion. But if you're severely sump-challenged, the vinegar dosing could still help---you just need to be more careful when putting it in, like diluting it in a half gallon of water, etc, as I gather you've been doing. Doing a closed loop type filtration area might also help, running a hose outside, to something even like a cannister, might help. Main thing is to get the crud cleaned out. And patience! Don't try to push it too fast, but make progress on cleanliness where you can.
 
Great... thanks for the advice everyone. I'll keep you posted. Where oh where would I find the chart on Vinegar dosing?

BTW.... Nitrates are <.10; Water is RODI; Livestock is a False Percula and a Tiger Pistol Shrimp. CUC is a scattering of nassurius, nerite snails...
 
A ten gallon sump on a 30 gallon tank is fine; I use a 30 gallon sump on a 105; your challenge is getting gear to fit in, and a hob skimmer on the sump, only the pump inside, would help: I use a Coralife, and with vinegar dosing it performs like a champ. I'd stack the spare space in it with large rock rubble so there's plenty of flow-through, and it'll increase your processing power.
 
Hi just a thought may be worth utilising a good additive I have been using its a zeovit product called Bio-mate it a high efficiency bacterial mulm reducer at least worth a look may help your problems its not a chemical Regards Mike
 
Sk8r said:
A ten gallon sump on a 30 gallon tank is fine; I use a 30 gallon sump on a 105; your challenge is getting gear to fit in, and a hob skimmer on the sump, only the pump inside, would help: I use a Coralife, and with vinegar dosing it performs like a champ. I'd stack the spare space in it with large rock rubble so there's plenty of flow-through, and it'll increase your processing power.
Click to expand...

Are you suggesting that I don't try to use the hob on the sump?
 
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