Throw it away or clean it on a resbuild?

[Rench]

I have a 58 gallon with $200.00 worth of rock and a hundred worth of live sand and it’s covered in algae. I’m thinking instead of trying to clean it all just throwing it all out and starting over. I really liked my rock scape and the rock I have but seems like I may just be leaving possible future issues by keeping it with the algae even if I clean the rock. But it may be next to impossible to get the tank and sump so clean it will never come back. Any advice or ideas would be nice to receive. I spent a lot on this tank and it crashed on me a few times and I threw in the towel but I want to bring it back now. Probably keeping it simple for as long as I can.

 

[Jdadams]

Clean it and keep it. Algae can be delt with with a good clean up crew and nutrient management

 

[Lowell Lemon]

I have a 58 gallon with $200.00 worth of rock and a hundred worth of live sand and it’s covered in algae. I’m thinking instead of trying to clean it all just throwing it all out and starting over. I really liked my rock scape and the rock I have but seems like I may just be leaving possible future issues by keeping it with the algae even if I clean the rock. But it may be next to impossible to get the tank and sump so clean it will never come back. Any advice or ideas would be nice to receive. I spent a lot on this tank and it crashed on me a few times and I threw in the towel but I want to bring it back now. Probably keeping it simple for as long as I can.

I would remove any live fish and inverts and simply turn off the lights for a month and make some water changes to get rid of the excess nutrients. Make sure you have a good RODI filter for your water to mix up salt water for the water changes. I have battled thick hair algae mats on live rock I have rescued and reset into very nice displays. Don't waste the beneficial organisms on the live rock and sand to battle the algae.