I know, I know. There are a million threads on cleaning rock. I've read a ton of them and have yet to find one with the information I need.
I have a crashed biocube. It went down over a year ago but I've left it as it was and just topped up RODI as needed. It is a green algae utopia, but that is it. Just thick mats of dark green algae covering the substrate and live rock.
Today I am going to rinse new substrate until clear, put the rock into a bucket of new salt water, then strip the tank. Pump, tank, power heads, etc., will all get a thorough soak and wipe with Isopropyl, then a good rinse in the tub (we are on a well), then a final rinse with new RODI. I'm keeping my bio gems, after a quick rinse in RODI, but the rest of the filtration stack will be new.
Okay. Back to the rock. I don't want to nuke all the bacteria as I want this tank to be cycled and ready to go once all is done. I'm thinking about going to town on the rock with brushes and manually removing as much as possible. Would this be ok? Anything else I should consider to help that won't wreck the biological filtration? I knrow there are some tank additives around for some things, but I don't know enough about them and possible side effects.
I had a similar algae overgrowth in a 5G Evo a while back. A 80% water change, substrate siphon, and a light rock scrubbing with toothbrushes cleaned most of it. Four female emerald crabs were added and the tank has been spotless since.
I have a crashed biocube. It went down over a year ago but I've left it as it was and just topped up RODI as needed. It is a green algae utopia, but that is it. Just thick mats of dark green algae covering the substrate and live rock.
Today I am going to rinse new substrate until clear, put the rock into a bucket of new salt water, then strip the tank. Pump, tank, power heads, etc., will all get a thorough soak and wipe with Isopropyl, then a good rinse in the tub (we are on a well), then a final rinse with new RODI. I'm keeping my bio gems, after a quick rinse in RODI, but the rest of the filtration stack will be new.
Okay. Back to the rock. I don't want to nuke all the bacteria as I want this tank to be cycled and ready to go once all is done. I'm thinking about going to town on the rock with brushes and manually removing as much as possible. Would this be ok? Anything else I should consider to help that won't wreck the biological filtration? I knrow there are some tank additives around for some things, but I don't know enough about them and possible side effects.
I had a similar algae overgrowth in a 5G Evo a while back. A 80% water change, substrate siphon, and a light rock scrubbing with toothbrushes cleaned most of it. Four female emerald crabs were added and the tank has been spotless since.