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tlk
Member
75gal approx 80lbx of live rock. No substrate. right now there are only 5 small damsels. I have an emperor filer(hang off the back) and one powerhead (other one just dies on me). (I am new here. Should I put that stuff in the signature line?)
Tank was over-run bygreen hair algea. I took out all rocks, cleaned them off, scrubbed down the tank and did around a 95% water change. I want to get on a regular schedulle so I dont have this type of problem again.
Tank was over-run bygreen hair algea. I took out all rocks, cleaned them off, scrubbed down the tank and did around a 95% water change. I want to get on a regular schedulle so I dont have this type of problem again.
azeritis
Member
You just freaked me out here!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What do you mean 95% water change??????????????? Where were the fish?
Are you aware that your live rock may not be all the live now?
Rule number 1 for saltwater aquaria:
Bad things hapen fast, good thing take time. You can screw up your system in no time, but it takes a long time for a system to reach a balance and stay there.
You should try to find why your tank was overrun by green algea. Find the problem and deal with it, otherwise it will simply happen again.
Changing all that water is the wrong thing to do, at least in my opinion. It is far better to gradually change water in order to balance your system. Sock therapy is not for marine organisms.
And I am aware that dealing with nitrate (I am suspecting that is why you changed all that water) is not the easiest thing to do, but it is better to do many water changes and slowly slowly dilute it. (it takes time)
How exactly did you clean your rock?
How long do you have the set up?
Post levels (amm. nitrite, nitrate, pH, PO4, temp. sg)
What do you feed, how often?
What lights do you have, how long per day are they on?
What kind of water do you use?
What do you mean 95% water change??????????????? Where were the fish?
Are you aware that your live rock may not be all the live now?
Rule number 1 for saltwater aquaria:
Bad things hapen fast, good thing take time. You can screw up your system in no time, but it takes a long time for a system to reach a balance and stay there.
You should try to find why your tank was overrun by green algea. Find the problem and deal with it, otherwise it will simply happen again.
Changing all that water is the wrong thing to do, at least in my opinion. It is far better to gradually change water in order to balance your system. Sock therapy is not for marine organisms.
And I am aware that dealing with nitrate (I am suspecting that is why you changed all that water) is not the easiest thing to do, but it is better to do many water changes and slowly slowly dilute it. (it takes time)
How exactly did you clean your rock?
How long do you have the set up?
Post levels (amm. nitrite, nitrate, pH, PO4, temp. sg)
What do you feed, how often?
What lights do you have, how long per day are they on?
What kind of water do you use?
fulcrum
Member
As to whether or not to put all of your specs in your signature I would say no. You will learn pretty quickly what information you will need to give when asking a question.
Azeritis makes a good point about acheiving a balance over time (ahh the wisdom of the greeks). Be patient, and try not to do drastic things when stuff happens to your tank.
I would recommend a substrate of some kind, preferably a deep sand bed. That is up to you.
I'm guessing the hair algae came in as a hitchiker on the liverock. You may not have eliminated it with your scrub down. You need to figure out why it happened in the first place. Lighting and water qualitiy are going to be the places to start.
Azeritis makes a good point about acheiving a balance over time (ahh the wisdom of the greeks). Be patient, and try not to do drastic things when stuff happens to your tank.
I would recommend a substrate of some kind, preferably a deep sand bed. That is up to you.
I'm guessing the hair algae came in as a hitchiker on the liverock. You may not have eliminated it with your scrub down. You need to figure out why it happened in the first place. Lighting and water qualitiy are going to be the places to start.
tlk
Member
Let me start from the beginning......
A long time ago, I had a beautiful fish only tank. a few docroative rocks and a Puka (?) shell base. Basic lights that come with the first hood you would buy. Never had one problem. I move to a new house. I take my 10 or so fisha nd put them in a small 20 gal tank at a freinds house so I could move the tank to its noew location. During the move, the friends house as an electric surge (we think) but all the fish die. I set back up the tank, get it going again, and then take a job where I was on the road mon-fri. No one at home to take care of tank..it goes to hell. With the little time that I have during the wekends, i decide that I want a coral tank and start buying those. ( I upgraded the lighting and brought in the live rock in the process). Travel some more, and again, everything goes to hell. (I am no longer at that job anI am no longer at that job and starting to get back in to this hobby again.)
The short answer to your question is that there were NO fish, and two small mushrooms in the tank. I was so frustrated at how it looked that I just broke it down and cleaned it off and am basically starting from scratch. i just added in the five fish so the water could start to cycle.
Now that I have found this web site, I am hoping to learn how to do things the right way by talking to all of you. I want to slowly build up my tank again so it looks the way it did when I first started.
Truth be told, I never paid any attention to things like water tests. It has been a VERY expensive lesson for me, but now that I have time to build it back up again, I plan on listening to my new found friends here on this site.
A long time ago, I had a beautiful fish only tank. a few docroative rocks and a Puka (?) shell base. Basic lights that come with the first hood you would buy. Never had one problem. I move to a new house. I take my 10 or so fisha nd put them in a small 20 gal tank at a freinds house so I could move the tank to its noew location. During the move, the friends house as an electric surge (we think) but all the fish die. I set back up the tank, get it going again, and then take a job where I was on the road mon-fri. No one at home to take care of tank..it goes to hell. With the little time that I have during the wekends, i decide that I want a coral tank and start buying those. ( I upgraded the lighting and brought in the live rock in the process). Travel some more, and again, everything goes to hell. (I am no longer at that job anI am no longer at that job and starting to get back in to this hobby again.)
The short answer to your question is that there were NO fish, and two small mushrooms in the tank. I was so frustrated at how it looked that I just broke it down and cleaned it off and am basically starting from scratch. i just added in the five fish so the water could start to cycle.
Now that I have found this web site, I am hoping to learn how to do things the right way by talking to all of you. I want to slowly build up my tank again so it looks the way it did when I first started.
Truth be told, I never paid any attention to things like water tests. It has been a VERY expensive lesson for me, but now that I have time to build it back up again, I plan on listening to my new found friends here on this site.
fulcrum
Member
First I would recommend reading a book. The Consciencious Marine Aquarist (you can find it on any book site).
Second, I will tell you that you do not need fish to start your cycle. If the store will take them back, then do so. You can use a raw shrimp to spike the ammonia in your tank.
Learn how to search the threads on this site. If you go the bottom of each forum you will see a blank ine for search terms. Look under "cycling"
Since you are starting over, take the opportunity to do it right. Look into adding a deep sand bed.
Is your live rock cured? Is it even still alive? You may need to get a couple of pieces of LR to seed the rest of your tank.
Buy some test kits. Perform water tests, and keep a little diary of the numbers. I know it sounds geekey, but when you come in here to ask questions it will help immensely.
Good luck starting over. You have a great opportunity to do things right from scratch.
Second, I will tell you that you do not need fish to start your cycle. If the store will take them back, then do so. You can use a raw shrimp to spike the ammonia in your tank.
Learn how to search the threads on this site. If you go the bottom of each forum you will see a blank ine for search terms. Look under "cycling"
Since you are starting over, take the opportunity to do it right. Look into adding a deep sand bed.
Is your live rock cured? Is it even still alive? You may need to get a couple of pieces of LR to seed the rest of your tank.
Buy some test kits. Perform water tests, and keep a little diary of the numbers. I know it sounds geekey, but when you come in here to ask questions it will help immensely.
Good luck starting over. You have a great opportunity to do things right from scratch.