Tank is a mess - How can I redo it?

[Rob_Reef_Keeper]

Hello,

It has been a while since I have been here and to be honest I have not kept up with my reef tank a I should have.

The tank: 60G Cube, skimmer, AI SOL BLUE LED light, 2 x Ecotech MP-10' s alternating, auto top off,

Livestock: one psuedochromis (4 years now), a few SPS and some hammer/frogspawns. No cleaners (snails/crabs) remain.

The tank is a mess. Lots of slimy, soft, white/tan foam algae all over the rocks. Covering every inch. I can use my hand and generate allot of water movement by it and some comes off but would need a good scrubbing I guess. When I do this it clogs the overflow openings. The corals have not grown in over a year. I have neglected this tank due to lack of time. I am debating to just dump the tank or resurrect it.

If I resurrect it how should I go about doing it? how do I get that algae out? Water changes are obvious but how aggressive? Should I dump the rock and get new LR?

I need some motivation to keep the tank. I like the colors of SPS but I dont want to have to maintain the tank that closely (calcium, alk, etc) and dont want to get a reactor. Besides green and brown soft corals what can give the tank color and dimension? What type of corals (non-sps) would be colorful besides zoas/acans? Anyone in Rockland or close by that wants to help resurrect this tank?

 

[Rookie2reef]

Big water change do 40 percent then wait like 3 days then do another 40 percent then in a week I would do a 50 percent water change, all using or ro water, dose calcium and alk and keep checking your levels every other day

 

[Rob_Reef_Keeper]

Would you remove the rock and scrub? Replace the rock all together? Do you think the tank is really salvageable? I do have some corals left so I dont want to cycle the tank.

 

[Rookie2reef]

I had a brown slime looking issue and I did what I said also bought to 2 conch snails, about 8 turbo snails and 20 hermit crabs also turkey blaster would help with rocks I didn't scrub them or anything just kept doing water changes every two weeks after the big water changes and it went away

 

[masterswimmer]

Rob, welcome back. Why not resurrect it with a FOWLR to get you back into it? After you've gotten a good handle on it you can then start adding the coral you feel most comfortable with.

 

[Rob_Reef_Keeper]

Not a bad idea but since its only a 60G cube how many fish can I actually have? Since the tank is only 24x24 not allot of swimming room.

 

[masterswimmer]

A nice yasha haze/pistol shrimp pair. A pair of clowns. A bangaii/PJ cardinal.

That's a nice start to get you comfortable with maintaining the system again. Then add some LPS for color

Russ

 

[thirty6]

I agree with Russ, seems like a easy transition back into it

 

[Rob_Reef_Keeper]

Should I remove the sand at all? Its not a DSB rather 1/2 inch maybe.

I should probably get a new RO membrane, prefilters and DI resin. I think I have enough for one more DI refill in the garage.

 

[masterswimmer]

The proliferation of algae, as you describe, would prompt me to discard the sand if it were my tank. YMMV

 

[rambler67]

yae i would change out the sand scrub and do water changes after you scrub. you can also take the rock out and scrub it in a pal of salt water. fowlr is a good idea if you want coral later you can add what you want

 

[jenny]

Major water changes always help(40-50% change 3 times during a week) but u need to make sure there are not anything dying without your knowing in your tank.otherwise will be doing everything for nothing.