Help!

[maxdantonio3]

I have a dirty 29 gallon bio cube and I have finally realize its time to clean it up.
It just has some hard algae the glass and tons of coralline on the back.

I almost want to restart the tank and have crystal clear water but I want to save money by keeping the fish and the rock and gravel.
What would be the best way to completely clean the tank and get it crystal clear.

 

[Reefing Madness]

What are you water parameters?
Carbon should help clear up the water some. Running a micron filter would also help.

 

[duke4130]

In a small tank like that run some chemipure elite and seachem purigen. Also use some filter floss... That will have your tank cleared up quickly

 

[bobstir]

check this out: Eheim PowerCleaner Battery Operated Algae Scraper

A bit pricey, but it does indeed work as in the video (on coralline too)

 

[IdahoFledgling]

check this out: Eheim PowerCleaner Battery Operated Algae Scraper

A bit pricey, but it does indeed work as in the video (on coralline too)

I like Eheim but that just looks like a gimmicky waste of money... Do you have experience with it? I would think a razor blade would be more effective and WAY cheaper. Just keep it away from the corners of your tank so it doesn't remove the silicone.

As for the ops post however-- he said it was a 29 bio cube which I'm assuming is acrylic. I don't think you'd want to use either method on acrylic tank.

 

[IdahoFledgling]

Op, you can always do a massive water change. If it's really in that bad of shape you can remove the rock and fish into a cooler(maybe with a powerhead and heater) while you scrub and remove maybe 50% of the water. Make a few gallons extra and you can add more as you acclimate your inhabitant cooler to the new parameters. Keep a 5 gallon bucket of the old stuff and before you put the rock back in just dip it in the 5gallon bucket, shake it around/scrub it just with your hands should be enough.

I think running a sponge/felt filter along with carbon would be a good idea.

The exact process might depend on what exactly is in your tank. But I can't imagine a tank being completely unsalvageable.

 

[bobstir]

I like Eheim but that just looks like a gimmicky waste of money... Do you have experience with it? I would think a razor blade would be more effective and WAY cheaper. Just keep it away from the corners of your tank so it doesn't remove the silicone.

As for the ops post however-- he said it was a 29 bio cube which I'm assuming is acrylic. I don't think you'd want to use either method on acrylic tank.

Yes, I have the eheim scraper. It actually does work quite well. The blade vibrates very fast and it really does work like it shows in the video. You're right, it's not for acrylic, but the op said "It just has some hard algae the glass and tons of coralline on the back".