Wanting to turn tank around

[Jason Collins]

I let my tank go for close to a year now. I had good corals that started to die, i lost hope sold all the good corals off.. I basically am down to just a hippo tang a few snails that have survived in the 210g tank and ALOT of hair algae... I started today by pulling some hair algae out.. making water for water change to start tomorrow. And started scrapping all the corraline off the glass so I can see in the dang thing again. Since I dont have any coral left really that I care about, theres still some red monti in there. Should I think about using Vibrant or something to help kill off the hair algae? I planned on removing handfuls.. scrubbing rocks with tooth brush and all that. But I know some of the rock will be hard to clean off. Some of the rock is cemented together so I can easily take it out of the tank so ill be scrubbing those rocks in the tank.

Just looking for tips on how to get rid of all the hair algae and try to turn the tank around. I was thinking about completely shutting it down but since I technically still have Corraline all the bacteria from running for a couple years I wanted to see if it was possible for me to try and turn this thing around. I didnt bother taking any tests today since I know its all out of wack and I plan on doing a few water changes. The main question is should I consider using Vibrant if I dont have corals Im worried about harming? Or just keep scrubbing the rocks in the tank with a tooth brush when all that hair could technically just get lodged into other rocks and what not. Here it what my tank currently looks like! I still need to scrape the sides and back of tank and start grabbing as much hair algae as I can to take out.

 

[brandon429]

I have a thread on that
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/old-tank-syndrome-is-vanquished-in-reefing-now.801247/Please work it with us

**we can siphon off and reuse most of your water, saving great cost if you like.

The right way is all new water, but I can reinstate the oligotrophic balance in that tank, here's a few just like it. Please read and consider. Big job, big results too.

Your job requires the tank to be taken apart and skip cycle cleaned, our way, not the common path partial way.

We then specifically adjust downward your light power, after cleaning. We put back as much new water as you can muster, along with some old water drawn off at the start to reinstate the tank in the fast- flowing, opened surfaces oligotrophic condition.

That above is the eutrophic condition. Exporting of blanketed mass is what works, what produces results viewable. This has nothing to do with your tank's chemistry on a home test kit. No testing is required for those results above: we asked for nobody's testing at all. They all simply agreed to run the rip clean, we used no bottle bac. No prime, no vibrant

You don't kill that mass and leave it in the tank, that's the work- avoidant way and it'll mess up the tank as leaking waste compounds circulate.

Tank surgery is what produces the results for sure. Command response, don't ask and hope. Forced compliance reefing makes the after pics :)

 

[brandon429]

There are specific biomarkers in that pic that give remarkable detail that separates your reef from other jobs.

Blue lighting is shown, not heavy white, excellent spectrum balance your lighting isn't a cause other than lowering power set points a bit after the rocks have been given reef dentistry outside the tank to lessen growback

Look how there isn't a bunch of waste stored at the bottom, with cyano blanketing the tank walls etc and bearding off all the glass etc
This growth is focused on the rocks by missing grader action only, everywhere else is really clean and sharp/ good tank chemistry.


This tank will respond well to exporting all that mass forcefully off the rocks one by one, outside the tank, using saltwater jet rinses (Those huge water guns work no joke we do this) and a steel knife tip, washcloth to rub off scraped areas, use whichever combo of tools scores those plants off the rocks. Set the rocks back into a tank taken down, cleaned, the lines washed out. Any filters washed out, reconnected. No bioslicks left on glass, a cleaned tank.

Fill it back up with 60 new 40% old water for a nice cost benefit balance, worked rocks, over clean glass. Drop light power -20% and keep there. Keep the current spectrum. The reef will be fixed and skip cycled, plant some corals

 

[Jason Collins]

I sold off my LED lights when I was feeling like I was throwing in the Towel. I kept the T5 fixture though i used to run Kessil AP900's and the T5 Blue plus bulbs. So I could always add LED lights again if I do turn this thing around if needed. So the pictures of the tank are just with (4) T5 bulbs. When I get closer to maybe wanting to put a couple corals in I'll atleast replace the T5 bulbs with fresh new ones.

 

[brandon429]

What about the tank fix/ physical part from the thread, are you going to begin work this week/ how much delay time is there

 

[Jason Collins]

I pulled out and scrubbed some of the rocks I could get off the left side today. I used a net to scoop out a bunch of the old snail shells and crap as well. I will be doing a water change tomorrow. I do not have the ability to do 60% at once so Im going to have to do a few water changes. I have alot of work to do but I am doing it alone and cant spend a crapload of time on it at one time. So doing it in sections so I atleast see progress each day. in a perfect world I'd be able just take all day and clean it all but gotta work and have family and all that.

I also cleaned some of the left wall. So cleaned rocks on left and cleaned some wall on left.

 

[brandon429]

This leaves swirling waste mass inside the tank, as it relocates around during the moving. The reason there aren't studies on that mode is because that's the cause, not the cure. Not running the cure after seeing it becomes the cause

A thorough, decisive action is what you hinted in the title. This fallback mode was always the option, you wanted to see results?



This tank is too big for the will. If you owned a nano it would be fixed by tomorrow, truly the tank is too big.

 

[brandon429]

One day there will be an article on how invaded reef tanks are a matter of human psychology, not biology, and that will sound crazy initially.

The rationale: is this tank a biology challenge after seeing the results a rip clean gets? Nope. The fix is certain.


But this is 200 gallons. I don't blame anyone for not wanting to flip surgery that bad boy.


The getting there is human will, the cost, the time, that's not biology. That's motivation as the sole driver of outcome...not biology and chemistry.

The article doesn't sound as baseless now.


The secret of that whole thread is psych

What ID did we discuss (help threads are always so big on ID, do we need it?)

What grazers did we discuss? Perhaps a little ecology: we apply eutrophication fixes there. But the results were based on sheer will to comply (and practicality of system size)

What chemistry did we test and assess there? None. To talk chemistry is to hesitate on my after pics :)

That thread is simply those who were dealing with tanks where they could practically run the method without question. results above are psychology, not biology. To fix a tank we need only an accessible tank + will. That's psych v biology

We have all been taught to have an invaded tank until we know how to prevent it. That's reverse of the truth. We clean until we get to where we don't have to, but the tank looks the same quality the whole time.

What we earn over time is less work to get these results. The right size reef tank is the largest size available that still allows total access at any moment. Anything bigger is asking to be invaded.