Neglected tank clean up help!?

[CoachS]

Tank: 10 gallon AIO
TL;DR neglected tank, what’s the best way to clean up

so my pump quit working while I was out of town, took a while to notice, order new pump, install, etc. in the mean time, I’ve developed some hair algae, algae growth on the glass, and all kinds of algae along the glass of my semi-deep sand bed. The hair algae I am planning on manually removing as much as I can and giving the glass a good cleaning, but I’m unsure about what to do with the sand bed. Any tips are appreciated to get this tank back In shape!

 

[Rusty_L_Shackleford]

Depending on your tank size, a rip clean might be in order. Nothing like a good reset to get things in order.

 

[CoachS]

Depending on your tank size, a rip clean might be in order. Nothing like a good reset to get things in order.

Oops should have included that, will update but it is a 10 gallon AIO!

 

[Dbichler]

Easy on a ten gallon get two 5 gallon buckets put all water and rock in buckets take tank to bath tub wash out sand completely take razor blade and scrape all algae off glass wash out again. Take rock and scrub as well and then replace water done.

 

[CoachS]

Easy on a ten gallon get two 5 gallon buckets put all water and rock in buckets take tank to bath tub wash out sand completely take razor blade and scrape all algae off glass wash out again. Take rock and scrub as well and then replace water done.

How much should the sand be washed? Any chance I keep my CUC that survived the apocalypse?

 

[JTP424]

If you can grab them throw them in the buckets, I can't see them causing any harm.

 

[brandon429]

Algae Identification

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

www.reef2reef.com

the exact manner to fix the tank

 

[CoachS]

took the rip clean advice and my sand is beautiful again! After getting the rocks back in the water I realized that I probably didn’t scrape them enough as I can still see some algae.

also just fragged my GSP because I could not get it to attach to rock for the life of me so that’s why they look a little angry lol

 

[brandon429]

That sand cross section is mighty clean good job!!

 

[newreef1]

Easy on a ten gallon get two 5 gallon buckets put all water and rock in buckets take tank to bath tub wash out sand completely take razor blade and scrape all algae off glass wash out again. Take rock and scrub as well and then replace water done.

Make sure to scrub the rocks in tank water to prevent killing off of the bacteria, learned this the hard way. But @Dbichler is right it’s easy on a 10 gallon, I would scrub all the rocks in the tank before removing. Remove the sand in a bucket, completely scrub and dry the tank, you could rinse the same several times but that would get rid of the good bacteria, for a 10 gallon you could probably just get new live sand too.

 

[newreef1]

took the rip clean advice and my sand is beautiful again! After getting the rocks back in the water I realized that I probably didn’t scrape them enough as I can still see some algae.

also just fragged my GSP because I could not get it to attach to rock for the life of me so that’s why they look a little angry lol

Is this an acrylic tank?

 

[CoachS]

Is this an acrylic tank?

I’m honestly not 100% sure. I traded my 55 gallon for it when I sold my house bc I hated the thought of moving a 55 gallon lol

I can find out though, why do you ask?

 

[newreef1]

I’m honestly not 100% sure. I traded my 55 gallon for it when I sold my house bc I hated the thought of moving a 55 gallon lol

I can find out though, why do you ask?

Because even after the rip clean there’s still some algae/buildup on the side of the tank. If I did a rip clean I’d get rid of that so I don’t have to worry about it anytime soon. I know sometimes it’s easier to clean glass than acrylic, some people find acrylic scratches more easily so I figured that’s why you might have left it that way.

 

[CoachS]

Because even after the rip clean there’s still some algae/buildup on the side of the tank. If I did a rip clean I’d get rid of that so I don’t have to worry about it anytime soon. I know sometimes it’s easier to clean glass than acrylic, some people find acrylic scratches more easily so I figured that’s why you might have left it that way.

Ahh! I did notice some slight scratching and that is why I stopped so maybe it is acryilic!

I have had luck with pods cleaning minor algae on my glass in the past so I dosed a bottle In hopes that would help! But I’m open to any other suggestions!

 

[newreef1]

Ahh! I did notice some slight scratching and that is why I stopped so maybe it is acryilic!

I have had luck with pods cleaning minor algae on my glass in the past so I dosed a bottle In hopes that would help! But I’m open to any other suggestions!

Luckily with your tank you can manage to do many things in case you need to work on your tank. I believe but am not sure that you can restore acrylic using some sort of sanding and polishing technique. If you really want you can move any fish or lifestock and rocks into the smaller buckets while you polish your tank before putting them back in. But your tank would need to be empty and cleaned before restocking it with water and livestock.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Tank: 10 gallon AIO
TL;DR neglected tank, what’s the best way to clean up

so my pump quit working while I was out of town, took a while to notice, order new pump, install, etc. in the mean time, I’ve developed some hair algae, algae growth on the glass, and all kinds of algae along the glass of my semi-deep sand bed. The hair algae I am planning on manually removing as much as I can and giving the glass a good cleaning, but I’m unsure about what to do with the sand bed. Any tips are appreciated to get this tank back In shape!

A razor type scraper, and siphoning sand and loose particles afterwards will do wonders. Most of this is algae and spirobid worms. Reduce white light intensity a few days and assure phos-nitrate- salinity are not elevated. Keep feeding at a minimal during this period and I used to do tank maintenance via my LFS and saw worse.

 

[CoachS]

A razor type scraper, and siphoning sand and loose particles afterwards will do wonders. Most of this is algae and spirobid worms. Reduce white light intensity a few days and assure phos-nitrate- salinity are not elevated. Keep feeding at a minimal during this period and I used to do tank maintenance via my LFS and saw worse.

The 55 I downgraded from was my first tank. Had a minor hair algae problem when I received it and I didn’t do a good job of taking care of it. It took over EVERYTHING and was part of the reason I downgraded. As easy as this rip clean was on my 10 gallon it was enough to make me glad I didn’t do it with my 55 lol can’t imagine taking care of some LFS tanks if they were as bad as my 55!

also what’s your opinion on the spirobid worms? I’ve heard people say that they can just be a pet of my ecosystem which I am fine with as I don’t mind them on my rock. I scraped them off of my glass and as much of the intake that I could but they were almost impossible to get them all off rocks

 

[CoachS]

The 55 I downgraded from was my first tank. Had a minor hair algae problem when I received it and I didn’t do a good job of taking care of it. It took over EVERYTHING and was part of the reason I downgraded. As easy as this rip clean was on my 10 gallon it was enough to make me glad I didn’t do it with my 55 lol can’t imagine taking care of some LFS tanks if they were as bad as my 55!

Luckily with your tank you can manage to do many things in case you need to work on your tank. I believe but am not sure that you can restore acrylic using some sort of sanding and polishing technique. If you really want you can move any fish or lifestock and rocks into the smaller buckets while you polish your tank before putting them back in. But your tank would need to be empty and cleaned before restocking it with water and livestock.

If I have to resort to another rip clean I will do this. Water clarity finally stabilized and the acrylic is pretty scratched up. Can’t tell unless you’re up close but I’m a big night time watcher and I like to get close to see the little bristle worms and other creepy nighttime critters lol

 

[vetteguy53081]

The 55 I downgraded from was my first tank. Had a minor hair algae problem when I received it and I didn’t do a good job of taking care of it. It took over EVERYTHING and was part of the reason I downgraded. As easy as this rip clean was on my 10 gallon it was enough to make me glad I didn’t do it with my 55 lol can’t imagine taking care of some LFS tanks if they were as bad as my 55!

also what’s your opinion on the spirobid worms? I’ve heard people say that they can just be a pet of my ecosystem which I am fine with as I don’t mind them on my rock. I scraped them off of my glass and as much of the intake that I could but they were almost impossible to get them all off rocks

For the first time, I have them although dwindling. They do filter feed off algae which would otherwise be on the glass, but I have scraped them away do to the ugly appearance

 

[CoachS]

For the first time, I have them although dwindling. They do filter feed off algae which would otherwise be on the glass, but I have scraped them away do to the ugly appearance

Think I’ll just continue scraping the glass and let them live their lives on the rocks then lol