To scrub or not to scrub. That is the question.

[Gary Majchrzak]

IME the Emperor MUST be well fed or it won't develop properly.
Turf scrubbers are not as effective as GFO, LaCl3 and/or a propely rated and operating skimmer at SG 1.026 IME
(You have a skimmer, right...what type?)

Keep Mg pegged at the high end to promote coralline growth.

Forget removing rock and scrubbing it because until the nutrient problem is solved, it will return. In the meantime it's a good constant food source for the Emperor, Foxface and Tang.

 

[ggdowski]

I had a problem with this recently and I went to war on it when our house went back on the market and I couldn't have a tank looking like that in the house.

Diligent water changes. New filters in the the RO/DI unit (which were really needed). New PC lights. Followed with using GFO in a reactor. It took about a month, but I have won the battle.

Of all those things, I think the GFO component was the ticket. Are you sure you are using enough GFO (and/or phosban) and have enough flow through the unit for that size tank?

I did not supplement with Mg, but concede that its a good idea for increasing Coralline growth.

I added critters but that never touched the problem.

 

[ggdowski]

I:deadhorse1: sorry the text duplicated

 

[Conesus_Kid]

IME the Emperor MUST be well fed or it won't develop properly.
Turf scrubbers are not as effective as GFO, LaCl3 and/or a propely rated and operating skimmer at SG 1.026 IME
(You have a skimmer, right...what type?)

Keep Mg pegged at the high end to promote coralline growth.

Forget removing rock and scrubbing it because until the nutrient problem is solved, it will return. In the meantime it's a good constant food source for the Emperor, Foxface and Tang.

Not to derail, but I think it's applicable to this thread...

Gary- what would you consider to be an appropriate feeding regimen to meet the imperator's needs? Obviously this depends on its size, but can you provide some "rules of thumb"? For example, "a juvi emperor needs X amount of food/feedings per day; a 3" emperor needs Y ..."

Also, is it possible or likely that decreased feedings in this aquarium might result in the current fish eating the nuisance algae, depending on the species?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

feed as much as possible

feed as much as possible

:fun4:

seriously... if he wants a nice looking adult imp be more concerned with feeding this fish well at this point

 

[block head]

The rock is suspect IMO. I 'd aggressively remove the algae by hand. Anthony or i should have mag if you need it. I wouldn't underestimate the amount of crap that potentially maybe trapped in the sand. Lathium is probably the way to go with your volume. Anthony has hundreds of pounds of really nice rock if you wanted to work something out. I don't think he has plans for it. He also has those sick lights. I know you like equipment, he 's got a bio pellet reactor if want throw money into the tank. For my money, i'd start with Lacl3 and aggressive manual removal.