Save my tank!

[jason604]

Originally Posted by Reefer Rob

Another BTW:

Be careful! If you have algae as toxic as the strain I had, the dying algae will will nuke your tank. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself. 2 weeks before I used the Algaefix I scrubbed off all the algae with a tooth brush, and caught it in a filter sock, it was everywhere anyhow. The next morning almost all my corals were bleached, and some had almost completely RTNed.

How I avoid that

[Reefer Rob]

Originally Posted by jason604

How I avoid that

Remove as much algae as you can by plucking with your fingers or hemostats, dipping them in a fresh water container after each pluck. If you scrub, only do a small section as a test first. Algae as toxic as the strain I had would seem to be very rare.

[Tn23]

Jason, I'm not sure what kind of hair algae you have but when I went on vacation for 4 weeks and came back my tank was covered in green hair algae .

I bought a yellow foxface and within the next couple of days all my algae was gone again. However I also did do some large W/C as well.

Try using your hands and manually removing as much as you can. If it's just on a few pieces of rock, remove the rocks and treat or care for them outside your aquarium to avoid harming all your corals.

[Masonjames]

I agree the op has an issue to correct. And there are many tools at his disposal to do so. Debris (poop/food) removal at this point may not be enough. So I support any sound advice that is offered to aid him in doing so.

I do find it amusing however that far to often we side step such simple and basic ideals and practices. We do a find job of offering up corrective measures but dispute such simple practices as picking up a siphon hose and removing debris. Debris is crap, uneaten foods, all the junk of the system. Who cares what stage it is in or the correct terminology of the word. If it's gotten to the point of becoming inert then maybe it's time to question why we're allowing it to remain in our systems long enough for it to get to that point.

No op, debris (poop/food) is not your problem. Don't blame yourself because you didn't clean up your pets s**t and by doing so created an environment you did not wish for.

We've learned in our civilized way of life we cannot keep our own crap, or uneaten foods around for very long. We have learned we must flush the toilet, tend to uneaten foods, pick up our dog crap etc. Why do we bother though? Nature has a way of processing crap and spoiled foods. I mean there are flys, and bugs and all types of critters and scavengers after all that can process that for us in nature. If a bear craps in the woods I'm sure no one will notice or care. If my dog craps in my yard. I'm going to clean it up. Why, because we have learned we cannot keep these things around. Despite what nature does.

So why do we justify keeping it in our tanks?

Do what you have to do to correct this issue your facing. You may in fact need an arsenal of corrective measures to do so at this point. But I hope all you take from anything I've said is a slightly different look at your husbandry practises going forward. Keeping poo as a pet in your home aquarium is by far the most expensive, challenging and frustrating creature you can keep. A quick and regular siphon can take minutes and your tank will be the better for your diligence and you can keep more money in your pocket and more time to invest in the things you really want to keep. Your fishes and coral.

[Reefer Rob]

If you have fish waste accumulating in your tank you need more flow to keep it in suspension so it can be removed by your skimmer.

[Masonjames]

Originally Posted by Reefer Rob

If you have fish waste accumulating in your tank you need more flow to keep it in suspension so it can be removed by your skimmer.

Am I seriously the only one who siphons? Lol. I feel like I'm doing something taboo...

I have massive amounts of flow. Yet I still get settling and debris accumulating. I still need to siphon. Id bet my money you yourself have debris accumulating someplace.

[Reefer Rob]

Sure I siphon once in a while. It's more for aesthetics, I like to keep my bare bottom clean Otherwise basting occasionally to blow detritus out of the inevitable dead spots.

[jason604]

I vacuum my sand on each water change to get as much debris that falls down as I can but I really think it's my noob rock work that causes so much Ditris to accumulate and cause a giant algae bloom. Here's a pic of my tank in its prime but it also shows u novice rock work and why I really want to change my rocks. It's 3 boulders on the bottom that supports 1 large plate piece from 1 end of my tank to other and a ton of small fist size pieces with corals on top. So all the garbage gets trap under the small pieces and sits on top of the large plate. Flow can't get to it.



This layout also does not allow my sps to grow and I can't fit much. What I want to do now is build 2 or 3 towers with a bridge. That way there's ton of space for things to grow and fishes to swim.

[input80]

Originally Posted by Reefer Rob

Remove as much algae as you can by plucking with your fingers or hemostats, dipping them in a fresh water container after each pluck.

+1 for sure