Biocube 29 Build Thread. Reset after hair and cyno algae

[Msteven1]

Well I’m a new reefer, having started my first tank during the Winter of 2016. I chose a biocube 29 because I promised the wife I would start small just in case I lost interest, or failed miserably. Well all was going well then life got in the way and a knee surgery in November brought about neglect of the basics. No water changes, no testing, over feeding, and a loss of interest took its toll.
Hair/Matt algae on all rocks and my zoas, acans, palys . Aptasia everywhere. Dirty tank glass. Then the kicker, cyno on the sandbed and working towards the rock.

So I started to research hair algae and cyno removal in the forums. I stumbled on a thread that where the approach is to tear the tank down, replace the sand with rinsed new sand, treat the hair algae with hydrogen peroxide to kill the algae, clean the tank and all equipment with peroxide. This got me fired up and excited about the hobby again. (Seeing all the beautiful tank pictures does it every time!)

That’s exactly what I did last weekend.

I still have some hair algae on a couple corals, which I’m going to treat tonight, and still need to deal with the aptasia, but I have a new aquascape, and a new vision. So excited I decided to start my first ever thread.

I don’t have any pics of the tank at its worst, but I will take some pictures tonight and post to show the start of the reset.

 

[Msteven1]

I did find some before pics. These were taken long before things got ugly.

 

[Msteven1]

Here is today

 

[Msteven1]

Sorry for the poor quality pics. I’m still learning.

Equipment and stock list soon to come

 

[jk_s124]

I like the new aquascaping! Sounds like you have a good plan and I hope it turns out. Was the tear down and peroxide treatment pretty hard to do?

 

[Msteven1]

Thanks! It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I prepared my sand the day before tear down so that saved quite a bit of time. Just follow the came plan and take your time. I will admit that I was worn out at the end of the day, and that's with the wife helping carry water from the basement and cleaning up. The peroxide treatment is easier if you take all your corals off the rock first, if possible. I had the bathroom vanity set up so I could take a rock at a time in there and spray, let sit a few minutes then take back to rinse in bucket then put in tank.

 

[Msteven1]

Just a quick update to all. After 3 weeks still no cyno! I have some patches of GHA on a few rocks, but I haven't mounted my corals yet, so tomorrow is another scrape and spray treatment. I'm also designing a DIY sump/fuge just because I like to tinker. Maybe and algae scrubber instead. Or both?
I haven't lost any corals or fish since the clean out.

 

[Msteven1]

Update. I’m about done with my sump design. Lots of examples in the forums. Installed a slide out shelf for my power bar that hides wiring. Tearing down my gravity fed mixing and going side by side with transfer pump. Spots of algae required another out of tank treatment last night. Done in less than an hour. Came home today and algae is white and cuc going to town. Guys and gals, I had to spray my gsp, and an Acan and blasto frag completely with peroxide. Sat for 3 min and back in. By this morning when I went to work, the Acan and blast had sweepers out like I’ve never seen. Lol
Pics to come

 

[Msteven1]

Having a tough time taking pictures with my Iphone. Time to read some photography threads. Never ends, lol.

 

[Msteven1]

Well I've made the leap and decided to put the sump in the basement utility room with my water station. Tank is doing ok, hair algae sprouts back in places on the rock that I'm sure is collecting detritus. I need to keep up on cleaning of the rock. Bought I filefish last weekend to see if the aptasia disappears. Emerald crab to help on algae. Starting to dose Alk and Ca to help promote some coralline growth. Love the challenge of this hobby!

 

[Msteven1]

Started to work on the sump today. Bought a used 20 high for $10. Disassembled the tank easily after reading several threads. Cut top rim off with a few dremel tool cuts around perimeter. Then razor to cut into the inside silicone. Used a cheap tape measure blade to cut down the corner joints. Few bends and all done. Time to cut the glass to size for the sump. Pics coming

 

[Msteven1]

 

[Msteven1]

Also, turf algae popping up in spots so I’m spot treating 2ml peroxide and watching clumps disappear after a day. Phos zero and nitrate .75, haven’t done a water change since the rip clean.

 

[Msteven1]

Update. the 20 gallon high was made of 100% tempered. Wondered why I couldn't snap with just one pass of the cutter............:mad:

1/4" Acrylic baffles it will be. I'll post design for feed back on the sump system.

 

[Msteven1]

Two tank sump in basement. Top right will be a 10 gallon fuge fed by powerhead located in first chamber of the 20 gallon skimmer sump. Gravity return to return chamber. Bubble tower and media racks in the skimmer sump.