Help with tank re-build or other options please

Clairestef · Apr 14, 2021

Hi All,

I need some help please......... Aqua one 275litre 2.5 foot cube
Im battling GHA (i hate the stuff i wish somebody would invent a underwater lawn mower!!! haha)
I have tried a few methods using razor, vibrant, pulling out the hair algae and water changes.
Have clean up crew red leg hermits blue, leg hermits, turbo snails, tomini tang and convict tang.

I also need to move my tank slightly.

I would like to re-scape my tank. I have read up on a few threads but cannot make my mind up...

I have brought a couple of large storage boxes - one for the fish ( will put heater and blower or air bubbler in there too) the other container for my corals. Also how long can they stay in the containers for? as i know this will take a few (or more) hours!

Can i replace all my rock with new rock? have been looking at the caribsea reef rock. or should i take all the rock out and scrub the hair algae off?

With some corals the have a bit of hair algae on should i just scrub these or is there some thing i could dip them in?

With the sand do i need to clean completely i.e.; take all out and rinse, or can i use gravel cleaner and siphon out dirty water?

I was going to keep around 50% of my water and replace 50% with clean natural sea water. ( i use natural sea water for my water changes)
We also have a 6x2x2 tank and a redsea nano reef tank all get the same regime and they don't have GHA.

Once i have changed everything and refilled the tank i will wait maybe a few hours before i put the fish back in.
Sorry if the photos are not very good.

Any thoughts please?

Thanks in advance

Clairestef · Apr 14, 2021

My lighting is a kessil 360x which is only running 45% intensity.

MamaLovesHerReefTank · Apr 26, 2021

Personally, I would get some fluconazole and treat the tank first. It may take a few weeks.

BostonReefer300 · Apr 26, 2021

I’m looking at the photos on my phone and having a hard time. Are you sure that isn’t bryopsis and not GHA? If the former, the fluconazole suggestion could help, but with that much algae you’ll get a huge die off that will itself cause problems. In this case, The first thing I’d do is identify the root(s) of the problem. Otherwise, you’ll just go through a bunch of work and be right back where you started in a month. Once the sources are figured out, then I’d recommend a partial tear down for this tank. I’d remove all coral that you can from the rocks. Ideally put coral, fish, and any other inverts in a QT for few months while you totally rehab the DT and “cook” your rocks, but it doesn’t sound like this is an option. If not, then a quick and dirty reboot protocol is my suggestion. Put the livestock in a bin like you suggested with a heater, gentle power head, and an appropriate dose of Prime. They’ll be fine in there for a few hours. Take the rocks out and scrub the heck out of them. While they’re out of the tank, thoroughly vacuum your sand bed. Give rocks a fresh water rinse, then put back in tank. Clean out your sump and equipment. Do as big a water change as you can. Dose Prime and a bottle of biospira or other nitrifying bacteria. Give tank a couple hours to settle and test for ammonia and nitrite. Acclimate all livestock back to tank with fast drip or similar protocol. Check ammonia and nitrite every few hours to make sure watch for spikes. Be ready with Prime just in case. That’s it. Make sure you have more new salt water on hand than you think you need that is pre-heated to your desired temp. There is a more involved intermediate reboot that involves bleaching rocks, but that requires either a QT setup or something that can support your biological filtration in your DT while you’re dealing with your rocks for a few days

MamaLovesHerReefTank · Apr 26, 2021

BostonReefer300 said:
I’m looking at the photos on my phone and having a hard time. Are you sure that isn’t bryopsis and not GHA? If the former, the fluconazole suggestion could help, but with that much algae you’ll get a huge die off that will itself cause problems. In this case, The first thing I’d do is identify the root(s) of the problem. Otherwise, you’ll just go through a bunch of work and be right back where you started in a month. Once the sources are figured out, then I’d recommend a partial tear down for this tank. I’d remove all coral that you can from the rocks. Ideally put coral, fish, and any other inverts in a QT for few months while you totally rehab the DT and “cook” your rocks, but it doesn’t sound like this is an option. If not, then a quick and dirty reboot protocol is my suggestion. Put the livestock in a bin like you suggested with a heater, gentle power head, and an appropriate dose of Prime. They’ll be fine in there for a few hours. Take the rocks out and scrub the heck out of them. While they’re out of the tank, thoroughly vacuum your sand bed. Give rocks a fresh water rinse, then put back in tank. Clean out your sump and equipment. Do as big a water change as you can. Dose Prime and a bottle of biospira or other nitrifying bacteria. Give tank a couple hours to settle and test for ammonia and nitrite. Acclimate all livestock back to tank with fast drip or similar protocol. Check ammonia and nitrite every few hours to make sure watch for spikes. Be ready with Prime just in case. That’s it. Make sure you have more new salt water on hand than you think you need that is pre-heated to your desired temp. There is a more involved intermediate reboot that involves bleaching rocks, but that requires either a QT setup or something that can support your biological filtration in your DT while you’re dealing with your rocks for a few days

I actually agree with this 100%.
My reason for suggesting fluconazole is it will give a fresh start.
We had a huge battle with hair algae 2 years ago. Nothing we did put a dent in it. We were cleaning and scrubbing rocks constantly(twice a week) only to watch it get worse by the day. We were doing 30 and 40% water changes weekly. Took out all the sand and rinsed it till the water ran clear. Hair algae continued to get worse.
Finally tried fluconazole. Didn't notice much in the first week. By the second week, the hair algae started turning lighter then white, starting at the tips. Third week we finally saw rock again where it had been covered in hair algae.
We knew why we had the hair algae. Tap water only treated with prime. Needless to say, we only use rodi now.
I was able to rescape the tank to help with flow and haven't had an issue since.

Clairestef · Apr 27, 2021

Thanks for your replies.

With the corals is there something i can dip them in and scrub them as these have some hair algae on too?

BostonReefer300 · Apr 27, 2021

The only thing I can think of would be do dip in an algaecide --- or fluc if you have bryopsis. HOWEVER, I definitely do not recommend doing either unless you get advice from someone who knows what they're talking about here. I definitely do not. Maybe post a question in one of the coral forums about dipping corals to get rid of algae?