Neglected Tank, algae overload

[genesis]

So my 12 year old son has an IM Nuvo 16 in his bedroom that we have seriously fallen behind on the maintenance and now has GHA everywhere lol. What is the best method to get rid of it and to keep it gone?

Corals- softy tank
Fish- 1 clownfish, 1 damsel

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[dball711]

Hi Brandon, YUCK...I've seen this before. Looks like most is isolated to patches and the rock can be scrubbed and may some peroxide rinse. Looks like a lot going on int he sand bed, any thought to going bare bottom? I did this after my last (yes last and no outbreaks more since then) outbreak and keeping things clear and clean has never been easier. No substrate, more random current and better nutrient removal has helped me keep things in check (and lots of hermits - I usually keep 3 per gallon in my tanks).

 

[catgirl29]

I housed and then passed on sea hare when I had a hair algae outbreak. That thing ate every bit of it in less than a week. Wish I could have kept it because it was fascinating. I also did scrub some of the rock with peroxide but there was a large amount I couldn't get to without dismantling the rock stack.

 

[snowmansnow]

Because that is such a small tank...
IMO forget trying to "fix" the existing algae.
New live rock.... 75% water change..
Kinda start over IMO. Make sure stuff is in line and go from there.
If anyone had a cure for HA they would be rich by now haha.
It's probably not what others would do... But I'm not "others"
B


So long, and thanks for all the fish.

 

[genesis]

So I think I'm going to remove the corals and put them in the frag tank temporarily and remove the rocks that are covered in it and scrub them/ do a peroxide treatment. Clean up the other areas in the tank, do a large w/c and see what happens. Can someone elaborate on how to use the peroxide?

 

[camellia]

Remove rock if it's convenient, use a turkey baster or syringe on the algae (straight strength) let it sit several minutes then scrub it and rinse in RO or salt water.
You can pick up a half dozen bottles (for the next time needed) $1 for large at the dollar store.

If you don't want to kill everything on the live rock just try to isolate it and hold the rock in the direction you want the peroxide to drain over the sink and squirt the heck out of it. If you get it inside the crevices of the rock it will kill the pods and brittle stars etc.


For the algae on the sand bed you could scoop it out with a net or large spoon into a glass holding it down on the bottom so that it doesn't go everywhere... Or use a very large diameter/ neck & hose, vacuum the sand and algae out. Then use new sand or clean sand ( not easy) and add back.

Large WC a few times this next week youll be good.

 

[timstrk]

Pluck as much off the rocks as you can and turn off your white lights. Sounds strange but it worked for me. My tank looked like green shag carpet after being out of town for almost a year. Son did his best but just didn't know. Water changes cure ills.

 

[genesis]

So we manually pulled out as much as possible (yuck). Took some of the rocks out and gave them a good scrub down. Did a large w/c and increased flow. Removed the corals and did a 1 week black out. And here it is, back in business!

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[russ-iv]

great work. love the extra week black out. probably really socked it to whatever left was in there.

 

[genesis]

Russ-IV;1072555 wrote: great work. love the extra week black out. probably really socked it to whatever left was in there.

Thanks Russ, I thought this tank was going to have to be a complete redo but we made it work.

 

[boosting99]

great work

 

[bkostuch]

Drop a seahare into it and it will go to town on it. Worked wonders for my tank, had about the same length GHA in my 120 and you saw how clean the rocks got

 

[bulkrate]

I suggest you add a clean-up crew now to keep it in check. Banded trochus (if you can find them) will eat practically anything a turbo will yet stay much smaller & not knock over frags. otherwise a handful of small blue leg hermits or Reefcleaners' Caribbean mix will mop up whatever's left.

 

[genesis]

bkostuch;1072575 wrote: Drop a seahare into it and it will go to town on it. Worked wonders for my tank, had about the same length GHA in my 120 and you saw how clean the rocks got

Not enough for the sea hare. Going to just add some more snails and crabs

 

[genesis]

BulkRate;1072597 wrote: I suggest you add a clean-up crew now to keep it in check. Banded trochus (if you can find them) will eat practically anything a turbo will yet stay much smaller & not knock over frags. otherwise a handful of small blue leg hermits or Reefcleaners' Caribbean mix will mop up whatever's left.

That's the plan

 

[KrisDeitz]

Get a lawnmower Benny also.

 

[genesis]

PFCDeitz;1072663 wrote: Get a lawnmower Benny also.

Totally forgot about those. That's on the list as well