Little vacation oops

[Justin_92_92]

We went away for 10 days on vacation. Had my brother stop in to feed the fish. I showed him the run down the night before and cranked up the lights to show him how bright they could get. Apparently I forgot to turn it down from 100% and we left....

So for 10 days my 300w led full spectrum was at 100% and about 14" from the water.

I came home to the nastiest tank ever. I assume it's because of the lights that it got so bad. Maybe I'm wrong.

Thoughts?

 

[BostonReefer300]

Could be lots of things that happened especially with someone else taking care of things, but the lights didn’t help! I hope everything is ok other than the algae bloom

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Do you have a protein skimmer? Good flow in the tank?
Id do a cpl back to back wcs. Youll be good. Clean the glass before. Lol
D

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Maybe beef up your cuc for little bit.
D

 

[jphilip813]

I agree...First thing that came to mind is a Protein Skimmer...I leave mine to go to FL for a week or 2 at a time...No issues...However, I am fully automated... Skimmer, ATO, Lights, feeding, dosing, etc.. I think a Good Protein skimmer suitable for your tank and a good water change, and everything should be fine...

 

[Justin_92_92]

I do have a skimmer. She is working over time right now. The skimmer is semi new like maybe 2 months and my first ever so that's been a learning curve for me.

So far everyone seems healthy. I had a camera on the tank so I could see if my auto water top off stopped working in my sump as I purchased it for the trip as I wouldnt be able to be there to add any and I didnt want him to have to bother with it. (But he ended up having to reset it for me a couple times hahah)

Is there a vaccum I can buy that I can turn on and off just to suck the algea off the rocks and not take a ton of water out? Prepping my salt mix now for a couple water changes over the next week or so.

There was good movement when I left. But algea slowed down the movement a lot. Cant wait to have it all cleaned up. What a bummer.

 

[jphilip813]

I do have a skimmer. She is working over time right now. The skimmer is semi new like maybe 2 months and my first ever so that's been a learning curve for me.

So far everyone seems healthy. I had a camera on the tank so I could see if my auto water top off stopped working in my sump as I purchased it for the trip as I wouldnt be able to be there to add any and I didnt want him to have to bother with it. (But he ended up having to reset it for me a couple times hahah)

Is there a vaccum I can buy that I can turn on and off just to suck the algea off the rocks and not take a ton of water out? Prepping my salt mix now for a couple water changes over the next week or so.

There was good movement when I left. But algea slowed down the movement a lot. Cant wait to have it all cleaned up. What a bummer.

Question, what kind of pump you have pushing as your Main Pump?

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Tell us your skimmer. Your pumps. We wanna know! Lol
Im afraid manual removal is best. Reaching in plucking with thumb and pointer finger and throw in a bin or bucket.
Your hob filter or overflow i see will catch a lot too when you clean so clean their after.
D

 

[Justin_92_92]

Here are the components. I added the sump about 4 months ago to be able to do a skimmer. I had a cartridge filter before that for a year or so with pretty good success.

The pump probably should get replaced.
I have two powerhead in the DT.

 

[Justin_92_92]

I wouldnt mind finding a new return pump if anyone has any suggestions.

 

[jphilip813]

I wouldnt mind finding a new return pump if anyone has any suggestions.

I do not know how deep are your pockets? But Have you considered the Neptune COR 15 or 20 (They can be standalone) and when you are ready to upgrade to bigger tank, they can fit as well...also plug right into the Neptune Ecosystem. Other alternatives includes Reef Octopus VarioS (2 or4) DC are my two suggestions...it gives you room to expand later on if you decide to do so without having to shell out more money on a bigger pump