Frustrated.....Gonna nuke it.

[xabo]

I've been battling problem after problem with this tank for the past Two years. Bryopsis, Aptasia, Dinos, Red Turf Algae, etc. Think I'm gonna pull the rock and give it a acid bath, clean the sand and start anew with fresh water.

 

Started the tank dead live rock which I feel is the root of the problem. Plan is to acid wash the rock, citric acid wash the the tank and equipment, restart with TurboFritz 900.

Thoughts?

Rock as of today:

 

Rock before cleaning:

 

 

 

 

Edited January 20, 2023 by xabo

[howaboutme]

Sorry to hear this. Is this 1 rock, a few rocks or the entire tank? If not the entire tank, doubt you'll need the turbo start. The beneficial bacteria will still exist on the other surfaces. Sometimes, starting over may be the best course of action. I assume you've tried it all.

[epleeds]

Have you tried fluconazole?  It worked wonders for me back in the day. Only thing that took care of the algae I was dealing with. 

[xabo]

14 minutes ago, howaboutme said:

Sorry to hear this. Is this 1 rock, a few rocks or the entire tank? If not the entire tank, doubt you'll need the turbo start. The beneficial bacteria will still exist on the other surfaces. Sometimes, starting over may be the best course of action. I assume you've tried it all.

All of the rock. You name it, I've tried it. It's my understanding that the muriatic acid will kill any and everything on the rock including the beneficial bacteria. Forgot to mention the rocks are leaching phosphates. I can lower it to 0.08 with LC and 3-4 days later phosphates are back to 0.39.

 

13 minutes ago, epleeds said:

Have you tried fluconazole?  It worked wonders for me back in the day. Only thing that took care of the algae I was dealing with. 

Yes I have. Had the owner of a LFS (longtime sponsor here) tell me it was coralline algae.

Edited January 21, 2023 by xabo

[ReefdUp]

This is very sad to hear - and I can relate all too well. It's always hard to decide what is more work: fighting so many problems or just starting over. I hope you've considered how to prevent these challenges with your new start.

[howaboutme]

During your restart, how about skipping the fritz and trying the old school method of ghost feeding? Give it shot! Who knows? It just may work out okay.

[p3rmafrost]

Do you have a microscope? You might be able to ID the dinos and run a UV sterilizer. If you're in VA you're welcome to borrow mine. 

[DaJMasta]

It wouldn't help with the aiptasia if that's still a problem, but what about getting the coral out and turning off the lights and blocking up the sides for a month or so (or at least preventing any sort of intense light).  Still would be a big shift in the biome, but it would likely retain a lot of your biological filter and microfauna.

 

Have you tried urchins on the turf algae?  They usually don't shy away from much, though they won't likely polish it off entirely - just a management solution.


I don't think I've faced down the gigantic heap of problems all together before, but a hard reset undoes a lot of positives even if there's a heap of negatives, so it's at least a weighty choice to make.

[xabo]

14 hours ago, ReefdUp said:

This is very sad to hear - and I can relate all too well. It's always hard to decide what is more work: fighting so many problems or just starting over. I hope you've considered how to prevent these challenges with your new start.

I'm thinking starting with the uncured dead rock is the root of the problem. Previous tank split and had to wait nearly 2 months for the replacement. Stored the rock in a brute with no heater or circulation pump. After a quick wash down put it in the tank to start the cycle.

14 hours ago, howaboutme said:

During your restart, how about skipping the fritz and trying the old school method of ghost feeding? Give it shot! Who knows? It just may work out okay.

Was thinking about that but I have a couple of Tangs I would need to rehome to go that route.

13 hours ago, p3rmafrost said:

Do you have a microscope? You might be able to ID the dinos and run a UV sterilizer. If you're in VA you're welcome to borrow mine. 

Yes, clear ostreopsis dinos. Uv will keep them at bay but doesn't eradicate them.

10 hours ago, DaJMasta said:

It wouldn't help with the aiptasia if that's still a problem, but what about getting the coral out and turning off the lights and blocking up the sides for a month or so (or at least preventing any sort of intense light).  Still would be a big shift in the biome, but it would likely retain a lot of your biological filter and microfauna.

 

Have you tried urchins on the turf algae?  They usually don't shy away from much, though they won't likely polish it off entirely - just a management solution.


I don't think I've faced down the gigantic heap of problems all together before, but a hard reset undoes a lot of positives even if there's a heap of negatives, so it's at least a weighty choice to make.

Tried the urchins and just about every snail you can think of...........

[howaboutme]

4 hours ago, xabo said:

I'm thinking starting with the uncured dead rock is the root of the problem. Previous tank split and had to wait nearly 2 months for the replacement. Stored the rock in a brute with no heater or circulation pump. After a quick wash down put it in the tank to start the cycle.

 

I started my current tank w/ dead rock that was previously live from an older tank. The rock had been dead for years. I cycled them (by ghost feeding) in a trash can for a few months before putting it in the tank. Don't get me wrong, I've not avoided all of the problems but have not had any one of the bigger ones like dinos, turf, hair, etc (yet) and tank is over a year old. Given that you have inhabitants that need a tank, you don't have time to wait so that's understood.