Need some advice on teardown for restart. I've been fighting a losing battle with hair algae and finally gave up. I'm in the process of taking everything out of the tank and starting over. Livestock are in tubs with heat and circulation. My main question is once I get all the LR out (plan on keeping it "live" in a large tub but lidding it to remove the light source for algae) what should I do next? Should I remove as much algae as possible from glass and substrate but leave water in the tank? Do I completely drain down to the substrate and leave that wet or do I drain and remove everything? I realize that I'll still be "starting over" and waiting for things to cycle but didn't know what to do with all the sand. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Need advice on teardown and restart
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Haddonisreef
New member
To get the Hair alge out scrub the rock and you could always get a phos ban reastor to help lower the phosphates in the water that helps it grow.
skairik
Member
More than likely you'll see the hair algae return if you don't identify the reason it appeared and then correct it. Usually it's either one or a combination of:
1) elevated levels of phosphates
2) elevated levels of nitrates
3) old bulbs
These three factors are the primary reasons, if not exclusively, that hair alage takes root in a tank.
1) elevated levels of phosphates
2) elevated levels of nitrates
3) old bulbs
These three factors are the primary reasons, if not exclusively, that hair alage takes root in a tank.
JeffersonReef
New member
1 - Phosphate reactor
2 - Do you have a fuge? If not, adding a fuge with macro helps
3 - More flow
4 - Sandbed - I like a bed that is under 1" deep... easy to keep from becoming a detritus trap
4 - Add a lawnmower blenny or some other fish/invert to keep algae in check
4 - Are your bulbs old? May be time to replace! Or, maybe your light cycle is too long... how many hours per day is the tank lit?
5 - Skimmer... is ur skimmer keeping up with bioload? If you have enough flow and your skimmer is getting the job done, your nitrates should be low... that coupled with the fuge and reg water changes should keep nutrients down
6 - Over feeding - How often and how much are you feeding? Are you feeding frozen cubes? If so, they pack phosphates! Feeding is the #1 source of nutrients, in one way or another...
7 - Tank temp - what temop do you keep the tank at? I beleive that higher temps promote algae
My 200g system has nitrates around .05ppm, and I only do about a 40g water change every month... and I have NO nuisance algae... the fuge and increased water flow do wonders... also I cut way down on feeding.. only feed a pinch or so of pellets once or so a day... plus phyto and rotifers every 3-4 days and nori once every 2-3 days. GL! HTH
Just MHO... hope these suggestions help!
2 - Do you have a fuge? If not, adding a fuge with macro helps
3 - More flow
4 - Sandbed - I like a bed that is under 1" deep... easy to keep from becoming a detritus trap
4 - Add a lawnmower blenny or some other fish/invert to keep algae in check
4 - Are your bulbs old? May be time to replace! Or, maybe your light cycle is too long... how many hours per day is the tank lit?
5 - Skimmer... is ur skimmer keeping up with bioload? If you have enough flow and your skimmer is getting the job done, your nitrates should be low... that coupled with the fuge and reg water changes should keep nutrients down
6 - Over feeding - How often and how much are you feeding? Are you feeding frozen cubes? If so, they pack phosphates! Feeding is the #1 source of nutrients, in one way or another...
7 - Tank temp - what temop do you keep the tank at? I beleive that higher temps promote algae
My 200g system has nitrates around .05ppm, and I only do about a 40g water change every month... and I have NO nuisance algae... the fuge and increased water flow do wonders... also I cut way down on feeding.. only feed a pinch or so of pellets once or so a day... plus phyto and rotifers every 3-4 days and nori once every 2-3 days. GL! HTH
Just MHO... hope these suggestions help!
rickkott13
New member
i've been having hair algae issue for about 6 months. now my tank is hair algae free after i puted 15 turbo snail in the 100gal tank. they are about 1 1/2 inch big. they eat algae crazy. also they finish my whole colonie of red Caulerpa
Thanks for everyone's input, unfortunately if the wife goes, the 3 year old stays 
As for the other questions, yes my bulbs are were old, I was debating on replacing them or getting a new fixture. At the last bulb change one of the plugs from the fixture shattered and left me with exposed wires (haven't been real comforatable with that). I had a HOB fuge that I was never really happy with so I'm working on incorporating something under the tank. I need to do some exploring here for some good ideas on an overflow that doesn't require drilling. My sand is 3-4in deep but I haven't really had any issues, I have a brittle start that's roughly 10" that keeps things pretty clean. I had a lawnmower a couple of years ago that I believe fell victim to my Sally lightfoot (along with 2 chromis and 1 false perc), glad that damn crab is gone! Thanks for point #6, I feed only a couple of times a week but it is the cubes so I will definately be moving away from them and tank temp is around 78 deg. Thanks again, more comments are always welcome.
As for the other questions, yes my bulbs are were old, I was debating on replacing them or getting a new fixture. At the last bulb change one of the plugs from the fixture shattered and left me with exposed wires (haven't been real comforatable with that). I had a HOB fuge that I was never really happy with so I'm working on incorporating something under the tank. I need to do some exploring here for some good ideas on an overflow that doesn't require drilling. My sand is 3-4in deep but I haven't really had any issues, I have a brittle start that's roughly 10" that keeps things pretty clean. I had a lawnmower a couple of years ago that I believe fell victim to my Sally lightfoot (along with 2 chromis and 1 false perc), glad that damn crab is gone! Thanks for point #6, I feed only a couple of times a week but it is the cubes so I will definately be moving away from them and tank temp is around 78 deg. Thanks again, more comments are always welcome.
JeffersonReef
New member
I would venture to say ur sandbed is more of a problem than its helping. A real DSB would be minmum 5-6".... anything over 1" and under 5" would be more of a nutrient sink than anything else IMHO... I would ditch some of the sand, or go deeper.... again, thats just my opinion!
tylorarm
Premium Member
I'm not sure how well this would fit your situation, but you could consider moving the LR to your sump, if there's room, or plumb in a tub if not, and keep the rock in your main system but in the dark. This would keep the rock 'live' in terms of bacteria and retain the benefits, but hair algae would die off (scrub first still). Then you could replace your current sand with some bought live sand and seed with some of your current sand. This suggestion is mostly an attempt to avoid leaving livestock in tubs through a full cycling.
If you take everything out of your tank and scrub the rocks, you're going to have a lot of die-off. Also, it's impossible to get rid of every bit of hair algae. So when you put the rocks back into your tank, you're virtually guaranteed to grow hair algae again.
Have you tried getting a cleanup crew with hermit crabs and snails? My water parameters are perfect, but hair algae grows in my tank if I don't get a new cleanup crew every year or two. I have a tang and two foxfaces, but they won't touch hair algae.
Have you tried getting a cleanup crew with hermit crabs and snails? My water parameters are perfect, but hair algae grows in my tank if I don't get a new cleanup crew every year or two. I have a tang and two foxfaces, but they won't touch hair algae.
Yeah, I know not all hair algae will be gone but it will make it manageable with a new cleaner crew and paying better attention to water quality. Essentially I was a bad reefkeeper and got lazy/distracted once my daughter was born. Now that she's older and more self sufficient things should be better, plus she likes to help with the mag glass cleaner Here's where I'm at: I'm going to the pet store to find out the brand of tank I have to determine if it's tempered. If possible, I will drill and plumb in a sump/fuge under the tank. Going to do a final cleaning inside the tank and put LR back in (I'm thinking of placing a small order of uncured LR to get things going again). The last thing to do is to figure out what to do about lights, order new bulbs or new fixture? I've been using CF's but would like to upgrade if I can find a reasonable price. Thanks again, will update on my progress later.
Here's where I'm at: I'm going to the pet store to find out the brand of tank I have to determine if it's tempered. If possible, I will drill and plumb in a sump/fuge under the tank. Going to do a final cleaning inside the tank and put LR back in (I'm thinking of placing a small order of uncured LR to get things going again). The last thing to do is to figure out what to do about lights, order new bulbs or new fixture? I've been using CF's but would like to upgrade if I can find a reasonable price. Thanks again, will update on my progress later.
ACBlinky
Premium Member
I couldn't agree more. When my sandbed was 3" or so, without much life to move it about, I had issues with detritus building up. The algae blooms were horrific. Now at ~1" with a number of critters (snails, pistol shrimp, sand-sifting goby) working to keep it moving all the time, my sand is CLEAN and the algae issues are a thing of the past.
If your sand is dirty, and I'm willing to bet it is, it's probably your primary source of PO4. You can clean it by rinsing it in tap water with bleach. I didn't believe it until I tried it, but it does work. I've thrown out many pounds of old, dirty sand in the past, thinking they were ruined, but a few people on RC steered me in the right direction before I tossed this last batch. What I did with all my sand before we moved house was this:
- Remove all the sand
- Clean it in buckets under the tap with hot water until the water runs clear
- Add a little bleach and rinse it a few more times
- Spread it out to dry (I used large Rubbermaid bins and put a fan nearby, but if you have a yard or patio, put it out in the sun)
- When the sand is dry, you'll need to clean it under the tap again before you use it - more organics are going to come out at this point.
- Rinse, rinse, rinse, then add some dechlorinator and rinse again.
- Voila, clean, fresh sand!
When you put it back, keep it shallow - no more than 1.5", and IME it's best to have things like nassarius snails in the tank to keep the sand moving and stop it becoming clogged with detritus. If you want a DSB, you need to have particular grain sizes, a particular depth, and specific critters to keep it healthy - I have no idea exactly what's needed, but I do know that it's like a recipe; without the proper ingredients, it won't work and you'll end up with a giant mess.
I feel for your wife - sometimes the life (and dieoff) in our tanks can absolutely stink, and when you're pregnant your sense of smell is so much better than usual. If you're going to 'cook' the rock (I believe this is what you meant above when you said you were going to remove light but keep the rock live by maintaining circulation etc) you may want to do it somewhere like a back room, basement or garage, so it's away from her sensitive nose and stomach.
Thanks AC, I might try the bleach rinse this weekend. Here's where I'm at, LR has been scrubbed and is in fresh SW, been doing daily water changes on the tub with my livestock and so far everything looks fine, with the exception of my Brittle Star's leg tips (got a little too close to the powerhead).
I was able to remove most of the sand last night, will get the rest out tonight. I was hoping of drilling my tank for an overflow or buying one that is or can be drilled. Those options are out since mine is tempered and time is of the essence to order a new one. I've seen posts on here where people have made their own PVC overflows so I'm going to try that, but withought drilling I'm have to plumb a pump to suck out the water from the overflow (Has anyone done that?). Lastly I'm trying to find some sort of a sump that will fit under my tank. Thanks again and I'll update after the weekend.
I was able to remove most of the sand last night, will get the rest out tonight. I was hoping of drilling my tank for an overflow or buying one that is or can be drilled. Those options are out since mine is tempered and time is of the essence to order a new one. I've seen posts on here where people have made their own PVC overflows so I'm going to try that, but withought drilling I'm have to plumb a pump to suck out the water from the overflow (Has anyone done that?). Lastly I'm trying to find some sort of a sump that will fit under my tank. Thanks again and I'll update after the weekend.
ACBlinky
Premium Member
Are you certain the entire tank is tempered? Might be worth a call to the manufacturer to find out - many tanks are only tempered on the bottom, leaving you free to drill the back or sides.
Oh, and you're welcome - actually, thank the person who posted the thread on how to clean sand, since they taught me! I believe it was a mod, unfortunately I can't remember who it was, but you know who you are, so thanks!
Oh, and you're welcome - actually, thank the person who posted the thread on how to clean sand, since they taught me! I believe it was a mod, unfortunately I can't remember who it was, but you know who you are, so thanks!
Your course of action makes absolutely no sense to me. If you manage your nutrients your hair algae will go away. Not sure what you expect a tear down to accomplish. You are going to restart this tank which will have horrible nutrient issues (as all new tanks do) and your hair algae will come back.
Macro export, larger skimmer, less food, phosban, etc.
Good luck though.
Macro export, larger skimmer, less food, phosban, etc.
Good luck though.
Barjam, if I would have posted pictures you would have understood. There was no recovery from the state it was at. Bottom line is I made some newbie mistakes that I have now learned from and can use that knowledge to be a more successful reefer.
Also, I now have my wife's 'permission' to upgrade some things that I've wanted to for a while Thanks for everyone's advice.
Also, I now have my wife's 'permission' to upgrade some things that I've wanted to for a while
Thanks for everyone's advice.
