I need help saving tank

zoie2

zoie2

Active Member
I joined in 2005 with a 12 gal tank. and had great success for years. To make a long story short, life got crazy and my tank did not get the attention it needed. In 2011 I came back on the forum for help with a huge hair algae problem. I got it a little under control, but we moved to a new state in 2012, I lost some good corals in the move, then soon got a briopsis outbreak. I felt overwhelmed and defeated every time I looked at the tank. I wanted to give up and donate my tank. My husband told me to buy a new tank and start again.

So I'm here trying to save my tank and have a few questions.

I am going to buy a 12 gal JBJ nano cube with LED lights. I read it has 3x the light as the old compact florescents.

in 2005 I cycled my tank with LR, LS and a shrimp, should I do it the same way?

In the 4-6 weeks it takes to cycle the new tank, I will work on the briopsis in my old tank. I would like to use the LS, LR and I have some of my original corals from 2005. BUT I don't want to introduce the hair algae and briopsis into my new tank so I have to make sure it is completly gone.

Sorry this is so long, but I really want to save my tank. I really miss my beautiful tank and want it back. Any help and advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
zoie2

zoie2

Active Member
I am going to the store today to get new supplies. I can't remember what the stuff I used was called. It was like nano A and B?

Can I go back to 2005 in the archives? I can't remember exactly what I did, and I know I postedevery step here. And what ever I did worked great because I never had any issues, everything went smooth.
Any help would be great.

*the LFS is about an hour drive
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
zoie2 said:
in 2005 I cycled my tank with LR, LS and a shrimp, should I do it the same way?
Click to expand...
This way works and is a very common method.

For me it spikes the ammonia too high in some cases and this harms the animals residing in the live rock.

This is the method I developed over the years and it works best for me ---> Bang Guy's Cycle Method
 
zoie2

zoie2

Active Member
When the briopsis got so bad, I started taking out the LR that didn't have coral, hoping I could get it under contoll better (less briopsis, easier to keep from spreading)

I kept the rock, can I use it in my tank? It actually still has the briopsis on it, I have tried pulling it off with tweezers but I swear someone superglued it on there.

Hope I loaded the photo right, still not use to this new forum set up.
 

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flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Hi,

The smaller the tank, the harder it is to keep. If you have the space and money, maybe try getting a larger tank. 20g or smaller, are much harder than 30g to 55g, size really makes a difference.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
zoie2 said:
Thanks Bang guy. How come you use dead sand and not LS?
Click to expand...
Dead sand is many times less expensive than live sand. I see no reason to have all of the sand be live sand. So, I wait until after the tank is cycled to add some high quality freshly harvested live sand. There will be more sand bed diversity this way since nothing will die during the cycle.
 
zoie2

zoie2

Active Member
Hi Flower,
I appreciate all advice, so thank you for your input. I do know smaller tanks are harder to keep. In 2005 I did all my research BEFORE buying a tank, and though it was my first salt water tank, I went VERY slowly, listened to all the advise given here, kept reading and doing more research, fixed problems as they arose and had a VERY successful tank.

I am sad and ashamed of how bad my tank got, but I really like the 12 gal. Without going into a sob story, I am in a better place and I know I can do this with the help of everyone here. I am excited to have a beautiful tank once again.

Thanks again. =)
 
zoie2

zoie2

Active Member
Thank you Flower for looking into that, the link did not work. I did find some old posts from 2011 when the hair algae broke out, but I was looking for my original posts from 2005 when I first joined. I could have seen what I did way back then with pictures and everything. I feel like a noobie.

I just got back from the LFS and they did not have dead sand, they only had 5lb bags of LFS so I got 2 bags. They did have purigen so I got a bag of that.

I have PhosBan, but it's more than 3 yrs old so I'm thinking of calling the company and seeing if it's still good.

Thanks again guys
 
zoie2

zoie2

Active Member
I got all the hair algae/briopsis off my back wall today. Still a little cloudy. Every one is mad so I think I will let it be for a bit. I thought with all the moving things around my nitrates/nitrites might go up, but still 0.
20151112_152519.jpg
 
pegasus

pegasus

Well-Known Member
Once hair algae becomes established, it's a PITA to ever get under control, much less eliminate. How is your Phosphate level? HA can survive on barely detectable levels of Nitrate and Phosphate, and aggressive removal may simply slow it down. Does the tank still have compact florescent lighting? If so, are the bulbs fresh? Is that all the live rock pictured above? What is the gray stuff covering the rocks and sand? Sorry about all the questions. Is it okay to ask questions? Opps... that was another question... wasn't it? LOL!
 
zoie2

zoie2

Active Member
I had my water tested at LFS (not a dip strip) amonia, trates, trites and phosphates were all 0. PH was a little low and salinity was fine (1.02). But if I remember corectly the algae feeds off the phosphates so it's normal for that tobe 0.

I have been doing water changes and got a new cleaning crew.

So I got my new tank and set it up.

20151118_155259.jpg
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
Looks really nice.
Personally, I'd slowly raise salinity to 1.025 which is closer to natural sea water especially if you want corals.
 
zoie2

zoie2

Active Member
Ahh, thanks. I should be getting my calibration solution soon. I don't dare do anything until I can test it accurately.

thanks for all the help everyone
 
zoie2

zoie2

Active Member
Tank is comming along nice. Briopsis is dying and I'm still tweezing it off. My fish is happy and my corals are getting happy. They are opening up more than they have in a long time.

20151121_122239.jpg
 
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