Should I Tear Down Tank?

[Tristan]

I have this 25 gallon tall heavily planted freshwater tank that has gone neglected for a while. It has hair algae covering all the plants. BB algae and stag horn algae too. There's detritus everywhere.

So I wanted to ask you guys if you think I should tear it down and restart it as a reef tank?

Or try to save the tank?

Or tear it down but still restart it as a freshwater tank?

 

[NanaReefer]

Depends if you're going to be taking better care of it second time around.

 

[Tristan]

Depends if you're going to be taking better care of it second time around.

Definitely am. If it's saltwater I'll have it part frag tank so I'll be able to make some money for this expensive hobby.

 

[nervousmonkey]

Definitely am. If it's saltwater I'll have it part frag tank so I'll be able to make some money for this expensive hobby.

Well, if you'll be able to take care of it long term, and make it a successful, though small, frag tank, you may be able to sell something in a few years. Typically, I'd say that reefers aren't going to like hearing that you want to build a frag tank so you can make money off of them though... Just my opinion, but there are already SO many online stores now and garage front stores that are really successful, that it will take you a few years to even catch up, much less compete. I'd keep it as a frag tank/grow out tank, but making money off of it will be a tough sell at best unless you are established with expensive or hard to get pieces that cost a lot anyway, so just bite the bullet and realize, like the rest of us, that you are going to spend a lot of money on this hobby. Just my $0.02
Lloyd

 

[Diesel]

I assume the tank ain't RR?
Are you going over the top or drill it for a sump?
Hang on the back or in-sump skimmer or none and rely on WC twice a week?
You have to swap out the existing light for RR lights!
Will you go LED or MH or T5?
Post some pics for what you have?

I know this all might scare you a bit but these are basics things to consider be successful.
What we don't want is that you spend money and won't keep up, as results that you shut it down and be out your hard earned money.
A lot of us on R2R are here to help you and be successful as many of us and yes we want you to get some money in return to pay some of your expenses and maybe even upgrade.
Heck, some of our successful sponsors on here started out like you.
I assume you're a youngster and have many dreams and that what it is all about.

 

[nervousmonkey]

Well put @Diesel

 

[Tristan]

I assume the tank ain't RR?
Are you going over the top or drill it for a sump?
Hang on the back or in-sump skimmer or none and rely on WC twice a week?
You have to swap out the existing light for RR lights!
Will you go LED or MH or T5?
Post some pics for what you have?

I know this all might scare you a bit but these are basics things to consider be successful.
What we don't want is that you spend money and won't keep up, as results that you shut it down and be out your hard earned money.
A lot of us on R2R are here to help you and be successful as many of us and yes we want you to get some money in return to pay some of your expenses and maybe even upgrade.
Heck, some of our successful sponsors on here started out like you.
I assume you're a youngster and have many dreams and that what it is all about.

What's RR? I forgot.

I will be using a canister filter. I know what many of you are probably thinking right now but it will be filled with marinepure with a polyfilter changed every 2-3 days.

20 lbs of reefsaver in the display

No skimmer probably or a DIY skimmer.
Current lights are T5 4x 24w 6500k
Going to switch out lights for LED

Will be doing 10%-25% water changes every week

I'm 12.

 

[Brian Kim]

What's RR? I forgot.

I will be using a canister filter. I know what many of you are probably thinking right now but it will be filled with marinepure with a polyfilter changed every 2-3 days.

20 lbs of reefsaver in the display

No skimmer probably or a DIY skimmer.
Current lights are T5 4x 24w 6500k
Going to switch out lights for LED

Will be doing 10%-25% water changes every week

I'm 12.

You had your tank neglected for such a long time and now you think you will be changing your polyfilter every 2-3 days and water change every week?
I do have my doubts

 

[Zane]

either way, and ugly saltwater tank is always better than an ugly freshwater tank

 

[Brian Kim]

Sorry, missed the part where you said you are 12.
You must have a lot going on at your age...homework, lessons, friends, sports, etc...
It is tough to have a successful reef tank, it takes whole lot of dedication, as you already know...but are you really ready to commit?
If so, then give it another try...I think everything at your age is a worthy life experience and something for you to look back to as reference when you grow older

 

[nervousmonkey]

Well congrats then @Tristan for being such a cool little dude!!! When I was 12 I wasn't thinking about a reef tank, so good on you man! I hope you get everything you want and need for a successful tank. You'll learn over time and you'll get there man. Congrats and welcome to the club! You'll be a reefer for life!!

 

[Tristan]

You had your tank neglected for such a long time and now you think you will be changing your polyfilter every 2-3 days and water change every week?
I do have my doubts

I was arrogant and thought that having a heavily planted tank would take care of everything. But then I stopped dosing the plant supplements and the plants weren't thriving as well.

I'm more well versed now in the aquatic community and know that just having plants to take care of the water quality I can't happen. And the tank was overstocked because of fish fry and I was not able to sell the fish. This added to the bioload so. Even though I did 25% PWC's every 3-4 days my ammonia was 1-2 ppm. I didn't want to flush the fish down the toilet and I had no one to give it away to. They were livebearers so they bred like crazy.

 

[Diesel]

@Tristan, I would do first a lot of reading and asking here on R2R how you can do the system the best.
We have a few threads that can tell you about a DIY skimmer.
I would not do a canister filter better go filterless (is that even a word? )
Doing more small water changes will be a better solution.
Start a build thread for your tank, explain what you want to do and what your goal is, listen and learn from Nations best reefers here on R2R and succeed over time.
If you see some wrong info given at you don't go in a argument and say thank you and move on, only than you will be successful.
Looking forward to your build thread and your soon to be reef tank.

BTW, RR is Reef Ready.

 

[Pfisherman]

Honestly I can say that multiple tanks are a time consuming commitment. If you have a reef tank already then you should focus your resources on that, and if you don't you should definitely stick to freshwater until you have more experience successfully maintaining that. Good luck on your future endeavors.

 

[NanaReefer]

either way, and ugly saltwater tank is always better than an ugly freshwater tank

Seriously? [emoji57]

 

[Zane]

Seriously? [emoji57]

you don't think so

 

[NanaReefer]

you don't think so

Nope [emoji2]

 

[Zane]

Nope [emoji2]

I love you anyway.

 

[nervousmonkey]

Great advice from everyone here @Tristan . Please read what everyone says, ask a ton of questions, let us know what you plans are and everyone here will help you out. Even if you don't have an ideal setup, please listen to what the people here say to you. There are some people here who have tanks that could be your tanks great grand-daddy.
I agree with @Diesel on the advice to not use a canister filter. Your tank is small enough that frequent water changes (WC) will be your best option. A canister filter requires so much more work than just doing WC's. Please heed our advice on that. If you do use a canister filter, it should only be though of or used as a very minor addition to your system, like using it once a month for one day. Think of the canister filter as a piece of equipment that you do not need to ever use again in a reef system.
I look forward to your build thread, it will be great to see you get things up and running; listen to what people say and please don't think we are being too critical, listen and learn, follow advice and you will have a successful tank.
Good luck Tristan!!

 

[Pfisherman]

Great advice from everyone here @Tristan . Please read what everyone says, ask a ton of questions, let us know what you plans are and everyone here will help you out. Even if you don't have an ideal setup, please listen to what the people here say to you. There are some people here who have tanks that could be your tanks great grand-daddy.
I agree with @Diesel on the advice to not use a canister filter. Your tank is small enough that frequent water changes (WC) will be your best option. A canister filter requires so much more work than just doing WC's. Please heed our advice on that. If you do use a canister filter, it should only be though of or used as a very minor addition to your system, like using it once a month for one day. Think of the canister filter as a piece of equipment that you do not need to ever use again in a reef system.
I look forward to your build thread, it will be great to see you get things up and running; listen to what people say and please don't think we are being too critical, listen and learn, follow advice and you will have a successful tank.
Good luck Tristan!!

I would love to have a canister filter to vacuum my sump.