my buddy's tank needs help. BAD

[povsan]

Here's my delema his tank now looks like the amazon and he wants me to clean it up. 125 gallon with corner overflow. He wants FOWLR and he has about 100 lbs or so in his tank right now. Remenber it look like a rain forest right now. Where should I begin and how? Should I take up the challenge and help him out so he can have a beautiful tank? I know it has a lot of potential. I'm still a newbie but I have a little more knowledge then he does........ but does that give me the skills to do this? Do you think I can do this? Or should he get a pro?

 

[hmello@bermexin]

Lending a helping hand to a friend is always a good idea. Plus you will learn as you go also which can only benfit the both of you.
Now on to the question of were to begin. First if we are to help you we need more info.
How long has the tank been up?
What is his chemistry, everything in numbers, not Okay or within parameters.
Is he running a sump or fuge?
What kind of lighting?
Start there and by starting to rid the tank of as much rainforest as possible by hand picking it out.
Need pic's.

 

[povsan]

Henry,
you're right...... I think I'm gonna take this challenge and keep pics and post it. My next day off is monday. I think I'll start then.

 

[BurntOutReefer]

and if you mess it up....at least iit will still look good.....
FOwLR....no more forest....LOL

 

[papagimp]

So you are just trying to clean up the algae in his exsiting saltwater tank?

 

[Willjs7]

Lets see some pics. Good luck, let us know how it goes.

 

[barbra]

I would definitely do it. You will get to experiment on someone else's tank and you will be in a much better position to start your own after gaining all that practical experience.

 

[rustybucket145]

I'd start by dumping in about 100 blue and red legg hermits. Then I'd fire up the skimmer to full capacity. Let it skim for a week or so then start doing major water changes, add a fuge, do some more water changes..... and a few months later you should be good to go!

 

[povsan]

I'll kep this updated for you guys. It's actually clean up mainly and getting back to running condition

 

[Blown 346]

I owuld pull out what you can by hand first, then I myself scrub the rock while it is in the tank then siphon it out. Make sure he is using RO water as tap water in your area might not be very good. That can cause algae, as well as over feeding etc.

 

[Shagsbeard]

I'd say the first and foremost thing to do is to physically clean out what you can. Then, work on getting the water parameters in check. After you have good water, you can add a clean up crew. There's lots of different algae eaters out there.

 

[hmello@bermexin]

I think we are all having more fun with the than he is

 

[povsan]

I actually like cleaning my aquarium...... it's a challenge and the out come is well worth the time I think. I think everybody's right I'll do the cleaning first then get the water right. Then clean up crew.