Major help and advise

[teresaq]

I am having major problems with my 150 gal. Hair algea, micro bubbles, corals not growing. I hate my sump, its a 55 gal and too tall for under my tank.
I have a 40 long I would like to use as a sump instead-so I can have a proper skimmer. (cant fit one in the 55, too tall).
my question is, am i going to have to drain the whole tank to take the pipes off the bottom of the tank to get the sump out?? I plumbed this my self, and prob did a really bad job. I didnt add any quick disconect fittings. I will have to unscrew the pipes form the bulkheads. I also think my standpipes are a little too tall. sometime I get a sucking sound from them.
I have been putting this off for a while, and will prob wait until the kids are back in school, but will be working on putting the baffels in the sump.
Specs on tank
150 gal
55 gal sump
3 250 mh and 2 t5 actinic and moon lights
set up since nov of 06
All fish seem healthy and my clowns have been laying eggs for several months now.
lots of hair algea and the tank just looks dirty. I have to clean all the powers because they get clogged with gunk. I know this is because I dont have a proper skimmer.
T

 

[wattsupdoc]

You shouldn't have to completely drain in order to change out the sump. Also, I know there are many tanks that don't run skimmers and are algae free. I'm not saying that you shouldn't have one. But some people get away with it. The lack of the skimmer is not the problem. The presence of nutrients are. While a skimmer will definitely help with this, it's not a sure fire guarantee it will cure it. Do you have a refugium? That may be the single most beneficial item on a tank IMO. Anyway, if we have more info, we might be able to find the source. What are your trates at? How often and what do you feed , as well as how much and how do you deliver the food to the fish? Do you run any chemical filtration? I would if I were you. Do you test for phosphates? Use RO? What do you have that eats it? How do you harvest it? What about diatoms on the glass? How do you handle that? I have found that using paper towels once a week or as needed to remove the film from the glass is the most effective way of dealing with diatoms. I rarely use my mag float any more. Just let the glass get good and mucky then start wiping. Using many towels and trying to get every thing/where. I have gone from needing to wipe the glass daily to only once a weekish.