JasonH Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 Recently I took a job in Corvallis - I live in Portland. So, I'm basically commuting down to Corvallis during the week, and home on the weekend. Which means my tank maintenance is suffering a little bit. I've been (for a long time) planning a tank upgrade, so I really haven't set my tank up the way I should have. I have a 29gal tank, no sump and a (I'm embarrassed to say) prizm skimmer - even though I have a PM Bullet in the closet awaiting the upgrade (whistle). I had a hang on back refugium that was great, but had a pump problem with it a while back and (stupidly) just tossed the thing rather than fix it and get it cleaned up. So, my tank is in pretty bad shape. Hair algae (or bryopsis) is running rampent and corals are suffering - losing color and polyp extention. I've got some high end corals, so I don't want to be stupid for too long and loose them - I've already lost one very high end acro. DOH! Since I'm really just treating the tank as a frag tank until the (eventual) upgrade, I'm thinking of just making it official. I'm considering taking out all of the rock that doesn't have a coral attached (which would still leave some pretty big pieces) and taking out the few (3) fish I have. Then just build some frag racks and get the sump set up with skimmer and cheato. It's not really my first choice, but at least then it would be easier to maintain. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefboy Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 well if you remove rock you will need to slow your feeding if fish population if any stays the same as you will be removing part of your biological filtration even if its getting choked by hair algae at the moment its still helping to clean.Also when were your lights switched out? that may be a issue as well but it should do fine if done gradually but you will still need to keep up on the maintenance for it to work properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonH Posted June 12, 2010 Author Share Posted June 12, 2010 Thanks for the input. The bulb is only about 6 months old I think. I have a 20K in the closet (currently 10K - was going for growth) so that is another option to reduce the algae. You raise a good point on the feeding. However, if I go this route, I'm talking about getting rid of fish all together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfisher Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 Set it up at work so you can let others enjoy it, get infected and they can get tanks too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackaninny Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 What are you running for a CUC? Maybe the CUC needs an upgrade? Maybe cut down on the feedings a little? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeFit Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 i stick any rocks with hair algae in with my light foot sally, purple spiny sea urchin, lawn mower blenny and hermits. they eradicate it in a matter of days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrgreenthumb Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 switch to the 20k if you have less time. That will definitely help with algae growth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.