Tank Make Over

[discretekarma]

My dad has a tank that he set up around last Christmas. He put the rocks and fish in and never really did anything else because he was too busy with some things that came up. He's been wanting to redo the tank so for Father's Day I wanted to give him a "we'll help you redo your tank" gift certificate. The rocks and glass are covered in algae. It's kind of a stringy algae. I assume the first thing would be to pull out all the rocks and scrape the glass. Next would be a HUGE water change. I'm not sure if anything is still alive. It may be better to change all the water. I'm not sure. I want to know what to do about the rocks. Is there any way to get rid of this algae? Close them in a dark tub for a month? Do they have to be manually scrubbed? Thanks.

[gmubeach]

You could recycle it or you could scrap it the probablem with recycling it is that all the stuff thats on the rock is going to die:( anyway If it was me I would take it out scrub it and fix whats causing the algee, but thats my opinion

[jason the filter freak]

let a bunch of ble leg hermits go, they'd take a lil bit but they do the job well.

[discretekarma]

I think the problem is my dad's lazyness/being busy that's causing the problem. I'm not sure I can fix that problem. I think we'll scrub them.

[gmubeach]

Hows the back? and defently look into a cleaner package!

[discretekarma]

The back continues to decline which is why I'm pushing to sell off my setup as soon as possible. Thanks for the info. Would a regular toothbrush work for scrubbing?

[lanman]

My dad has a tank that he set up around last Christmas. He put the rocks and fish in and never really did anything else because he was too busy with some things that came up. He's been wanting to redo the tank so for Father's Day I wanted to give him a "we'll help you redo your tank" gift certificate. The rocks and glass are covered in algae. It's kind of a stringy algae. I assume the first thing would be to pull out all the rocks and scrape the glass. Next would be a HUGE water change. I'm not sure if anything is still alive. It may be better to change all the water. I'm not sure. I want to know what to do about the rocks. Is there any way to get rid of this algae? Close them in a dark tub for a month? Do they have to be manually scrubbed? Thanks.

 

Salt or Fresh??

 

bob

[gmubeach]

Well feel better and yea I would use a toilet scrubber a tooth brush will take forever just make sure theres no soap you know the plastic kind?

[steveoutlaw]

I wouldn't take the rocks out and scrub. If your dad is lazy about cleaning the tank and busy, the problem will just come back. I would get a rabbitfish/tang that is known for eating hair algea......that way the problem will not return. Also, get a major cleaning crew. This way if he over feeds you don't have problems arise from that.

 

As for the aquascaping, I'm assuming this is the corner tank? I've always been a fan of the ampitheater look. Dan Lichens did this on his 54g corner and I had it when I had the tank set up. Something like this:

 

 

Good luck.

Edited June 13, 2008 by steveoutlaw

[discretekarma]

That's a great reference. That is the tank. He was just really busy before with extra classes to teach but is now back to normal. I think having it redone will spark him to keep it nice. I will also recommend a rabit fish.

[Brian]

Would have to agree with getting a good cleanup crew. That way when he does get busy again the tank won't go too bad. A strong clean up crew can make a worlds of difference.

[discretekarma]

I completely agree.