trying to get my tank back in shape

[sps]

i have a 90gal tank for about 8 years. but i have not done anything with it for a year now. i also have a 150gal sump with about 50gal a water in it a ets 700 skimmer a 25 watt uv a spectrapure rodi . in the sump is about 50lb of rock oh i also have a lifeguard with about 3cups of esv carbon and a clac reactor that is brand new and never used. in the tank is about 150lbs of live rock the rock has a lot of brown hair alge and cynobacteria and some valogna i also have some aptsias. lighting is 2 175watt mh 14k and 2 48" vho 110watt 1 actinic 1 super actinic . i need some advice on how to get this all back in shape

 

[Deanos]

What are your water parameters? Specifically: nitrates & phosphates?

 

[sps]

sps

havent cheked in a while but i knoe their both high. i have salifert test kits that are about a year old wondering if their still good

 

[Deanos]

The hair algae/cyanobacteria will require several large water changes to reduce the nutrient level in the tank. Doing the changes may also reduce to proliferance of the valonia.

Aiptasia left for over a year may be your biggest headache to get rid of.

 

[sps]

sps

i was going to set up a 55gal tank next to the sump and make about 40gal of salt water and recirculate it back to my sump and then clean each rock with a tooth brush in a 5gal pail of water then put the rock in the 55gal for a few weeks with no light on while i clean the main tank out then put the rock back in the main tank with about 10 to 15 pepermint shrimp does this sound ok

 

[Tonyscoots84]

how about a pic of the system and all the hardware your using ....

 

[sps]

sounds good i will do that as soon as i get home thanks

 

[WaterPlant]

btw do you still have other live stock in it?
if not why don't you cook the whole thing for a month or two?

 

[scarf_ace1981]

btw do you still have other live stock in it?
if not why don't you cook the whole thing for a month or two?

ditto

 

[sps]

i still have a large green pogoda cup coral one clown fish about 20 turbo snails about 40 blue leg crabs a few button pollips one what looks like a strawberry crab. by the way what do you mean by cook it

 

[scarf_ace1981]

maybe someone can hold the pagoda and the button polyps, this way you can keep the lights off for long periods. maybe a phosban reactor?

as for the aptasia you could try some peppermints. the ones that survive you can always kalk

 

[sps]

when i finally get this tank in shape does anyone suggest a deep sand bed or a shallow sand bed or a bare bottom thanks

 

[Wes]

by the way what do you mean by cook it

it's pretty much what you mentioned...keeping it in tubs w/ no light for an extended period of time....

the algae will die off and the rock w/ crap out alot of the nutrients you don't want...

 

[GQ22]

for the aptasia, i recommend joe's juice. used it this weekend, and wow did it work fast. basically stuck the tip into the mouth of the aptasia and let some juice flow into it. very clean.

as for the other stuff, water changes, and heavy skimming.

 

[sps]

hi while i was cleaning my tank i found what seems to be an orange anenome so i think. it's about one and a quater inches round base is solid then the tenicals start about one inch up and they are like asee through orange with little balls on the tips i did not put this in the tank and it is growing upsidown on a piece of rock any idea what it is

 

[Deanos]

Orange Ball Anemone (Corallimorph)

 

[sps]

it looks something like that but the whole thing is orange just a tranparant orange any ideas

 

[Deanos]

Sorry, I'll give you more info:

Pseudocorynactis caribbeorum

Excerpt:

The so-called orange ball anemones that can be observed on coral reefs at night are Pseudocorynactis spp. The column varies in color from cryptic shades of brown to orange, red and magenta. The tips of the tentacles are commonly bright orange, but they can also be white.

 

[sps]

thanks is this anything that i want to keep and can i move the rock it is on

 

[meschaefer]

excerpt

"These tentacle tips are extremely sticky, like flypaper, due to the presence of powerful nematocysts. This fact makes the larger species from the Indo Pacific region unsuitable for aquariums housing fishes, which they readily capture. They also can catch mobile invertebrates such as shrimps and snails, and sometimes "attack" sessile invertebrates growing on adjacent rocks, enveloping them in the gastric cavity through a widely opened mouth"

from: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2002/invert.htm

i have had a small one in my tank for years witout apparant problem. your milage may vary.