I need help

[hsosa]

since u don't have any corals in there . I would start by taking out the rock a small amount at a time . place the rock in. a. hydrogen /RO water mix this will kill the algae and let the rock sit in the bucket for a day. rinse the rock off and put it back in the tank. do this with the rest of the rock. don't worry about ur pods they will survive and u have a sump. on the sump u want to add. some rock or get a glass like a big 16 oz glass fill the glass with sand and cap it with some lie rock pebbles. this will be a sand filter and will help reduce your nitrates.

 

[Ro Bow]

since u don't have any corals in there . I would start by taking out the rock a small amount at a time . place the rock in. a. hydrogen /RO water mix this will kill the algae and let the rock sit in the bucket for a day. rinse the rock off and put it back in the tank. do this with the rest of the rock. don't worry about ur pods they will survive and u have a sump. on the sump u want to add. some rock or get a glass like a big 16 oz glass fill the glass with sand and cap it with some lie rock pebbles. this will be a sand filter and will help reduce your nitrates.

I already said, I am not able to take all the rocks out. Some of them, if i move them I will kill an organism. My fish and feather duster. The feather duster is embedded in the rock and the fish is a ywg that lives under the rock - if i move it i will collapse sand on him or accidently squish him no doubt.

 

[scott11106]

If you want to fix this it will take time, patience and multiple actions on a repetitive basis. Having said that it will not be fixed overnight but hear are my thoughts/steps:

1. black paper on tank and pay attention to any place sunlight hit near the tank
2. clean sump of all detritus and most anything else (make is like new and if there is any algea in there follow steps as per display)
3. remove rocks and clean as previously listed in this thread as this is the quickest and most effective approach (if you lose a couple of fans or microorganisms so be it. Hate to say that but if you have to remove and tear down the tank most will perish anyway. Even if you gave it away next person would have to take drastic action as they would not want the same issues. as far as the fish, since you know where he is just be careful and force him out (he will make a new home later
4. siphon the sand in display, remove any/or syphon sand if any in sump and repeat multiple times.
5. This may be controversial but I would use vibrant daily as per directions as you have a very small bioload and no stony corals and this will help you keep the algae from growing faster than you remove
6. make sure you have a micron sock filtering the water as it goes in sump and clean it daily
7. water changes every day or two after cleaning (at least twice a week for 1-2 months) also make sure you are using good clean RO water.

so this all will help get the tank back but if you do not make sure your system is in balance it will come back quickly and if you do not test water weekly you wont know until it is back in this condition.

 

[Ro Bow]

There is both Bryopsis and gHA. You have to battle each in a different fashion. Important with bryopsis is the most overlooked item - The Roots. You can pull GHA by hand and the Bryopsis . . . YOU MUST REMOVE THE ROOTS AND EVERY ONE OF THEM. As long as there are roots- you will Not get rid of it. To get each root, use a dental pick or small croschet needle to pull them. Once done, reduce white light intensity and number of hours of white lighting and add some snails such as :
Astrea
cerith
turbo grazer
trochus

A Pencil urchin

8-10 Caribbean blue leg hermits

Are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet ?
What is your phosphate level?
Is tank at or near a window?

how long (realistically) would it take to remove each individual root of the bryopsis? That sounds a little crazy because my tank is a 65 gallon and its hard to reach in the back of the tank. If i remove the rocks wouldnt it be harder to remove the roots when its out of the water?

 

[vetteguy53081]

how long (realistically) would it take to remove each individual root of the bryopsis? That sounds a little crazy because my tank is a 65 gallon and its hard to reach in the back of the tank. If i remove the rocks wouldnt it be harder to remove the roots when its out of the water?

Easiest is to take the rock out and place in container of tank water and do this and also time saving

 

[JZ199]

how long (realistically) would it take to remove each individual root of the bryopsis? That sounds a little crazy because my tank is a 65 gallon and its hard to reach in the back of the tank. If i remove the rocks wouldnt it be harder to remove the roots when its out of the water?

It definitely won't be fun or easy! When I was battling algae in my tank (32.5 gallon) I would spend at least an hour or 2 once or twice a week manually removing it. The biggest battle is taking your time and making sure you get it totally out without it floating away into your tank somewhere. That's why I made sure only to do a little at a time, maybe once every day or 2 spend about a half hour removing it. I also had huge success with Mexican turbo snails(I know it's hit and miss with them) but thankfully mine have kept my rocks clean after a massive manual removal. Not sure if it was stated already but if the algae is super long they won't touch it

 

[Thor2j]

If you don't want to do what's necessary, take the animals back to the fish store.

You will never tackle this in that much light. You will never get it under control at this point without removing the rocks and using peroxide. These 2 things are a must. There is no other way.

Sorry to be so rough, but you don't have much choice.

 

[hsosa]

I wouldn't be too aggressive on the water changes if ur on a budget . just do a little at a time you . are u running a skimmer ? also post ur PO4 and PO3 numbers .

 

[Dburr1014]

If you don't have time to fix it, then... June will come.

And if you do fix it, what about next time?
The window is a big factor. They Make room darkening shades. But, sounds like maybe your parents have made there mind up already??
No money, no time, need I say more?

 

[hsosa]

u have to make ur reef tank into your daily routine . that will make ur life easier and maybe your parents will see that this reef tank is important to you. otherwise take the tank down and store it away till your ready .

 

[Ro Bow]

I wouldn't be too aggressive on the water changes if ur on a budget . just do a little at a time you . are u running a skimmer ? also post ur PO4 and PO3 numbers .

im running a skimmer (reef octo). My phosphates are reading 0

 

[Ro Bow]

If you don't want to do what's necessary, take the animals back to the fish store.

You will never tackle this in that much light. You will never get it under control at this point without removing the rocks and using peroxide. These 2 things are a must. There is no other way.

Sorry to be so rough, but you don't have much choice.

ive heard about the peroxide. Does that actually work? vetteguy says to remove bryopsis from the roots, should i do that too?

 

[Ro Bow]

If you don't have time to fix it, then... June will come.

And if you do fix it, what about next time?
The window is a big factor. They Make room darkening shades. But, sounds like maybe your parents have made there mind up already??
No money, no time, need I say more?

ive read that UV will go through even room darkening shades and things like that. And my parents do want the aquarium but they want it looking like the ones online and in the lfs. Not like this "disgusting swamp". I added the black cardboard paper as others have recommended in the mean time but not sure about the darkening shades. They probably wouldnt want to invest more money into it after I havent been caring for it for a while. I have some time now but theres been a lot more school work lately and I probably only have 30 minutes minumum per day, maybe 1 hour some days but I have a few hours per day each weekend. This sunday and saturday ill start taking some rocks out - however if I just take out a few, and theres still a rock or two with bryopsis and the gha wont it have been for nothing because it would just grow back on it? ill try devoting a whole day to adding peroxide and plucking the roots of the bryopsis but im not sure

 

[Dburr1014]

@brandon429, how quick could this be knocked out?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I understand time and patience but in this hobby there will be maintenance and maintenance headaches and for the well being of your specimens and appearance of tank- Its not as bad as it sounds. I know of persons who have given the chore to their kids to do and even hired someone.
Prevention is on you- not the fish or the windows. Its your call but the options have been given to you.

 

[Tamberav]

I had reef tanks directly in front of windows... you can get sun without boxes of algae. Some people even set up sky lights for their tanks. Honestly my maxima clam seemed to love the sun from the window.

Anywho... since you can't do it the traditional way in taking out the rocks.. I guess you need to do the chemical way... peroxide or flucanozole or vibrant or what not. Pick your poison. It isn't what I recommend at all but ykno.. people here used to love vibrant till the scandal. Lots of water changes once it starts dying.

I would also siphon out the sand and replace it or honestly just run bare bottom if you are pressed for time in your life.

Once the tank is cleaned up, I would only do soft corals. They grow fast, suck down nutrients and take up real estate so algae can't grow if the rock is covered in soft corals and they won't die if you ignore them. They are what you have time for.

 

[hsosa]

ive read that UV will go through even room darkening shades and things like that. And my parents do want the aquarium but they want it looking like the ones online and in the lfs. Not like this "disgusting swamp". I added the black cardboard paper as others have recommended in the mean time but not sure about the darkening shades. They probably wouldnt want to invest more money into it after I havent been caring for it for a while. I have some time now but theres been a lot more school work lately and I probably only have 30 minutes minumum per day, maybe 1 hour some days but I have a few hours per day each weekend. This sunday and saturday ill start taking some rocks out - however if I just take out a few, and theres still a rock or two with bryopsis and the gha wont it have been for nothing because it would just grow back on it? ill try devoting a whole day to adding peroxide and plucking the roots of the bryopsis but im not sure

it looks like u come to the deciosn of keeping the tank and giving it a go. 30 mins is a good start. don't use school as an excuse . set ur alarm clock for 30mins earlier. use that 30mins on ur tank daily. then extend it to an hour of maintenance on ur tank daily u can even break it up. with time and patience and some elbow grease u will have nice presentable reef . I agree some soft corals and easy fish like some clowns. the PO4 is 0 because the hair algae has become the #1 in ur tank. I wouldn't use vibrant or chemicals . ur going to have to put in some elbow grease on this tank . all of us have gone through this don't give up. later

 

[vetteguy53081]

Avoid chemicals at all costs which is often an alternative and not solution. You must remove roots and chemicals rarely do this. this removal requires time - not expense
Consider relocating the tank from the window area

 

[Steph72]

It’s going to take some work and patience to get the tank in order but I think if your parents see you putting in the effort they will appreciate that and accept that it won’t look perfect overnight.

My own two cents about the windows - room darkening curtains have helped me. My tank is surrounded by windows but I keep the curtains closed during the day.

 

[brandon429]

Algae Identification

Any opinions on what type of algae this is growing on my rocks and sand bed?

www.reef2reef.com

Good morning DBurr

It'll take hours, but there isn't any other method linked so far with multiple jobs in one thread, this is the only method I recommend above. Big big work, but the only way, and complete tank disassembly is required/a rip clean.