Rebuilding Tank with "Old Tank Syndrome"

[ikarus]

I've had a 45 gallon tank for about two years now, and I've been neglecting it (water change once every 3 weeks to a month), with dire consequences. A while back, I started getting green hair algae all over the tank, and now it is a red slime/hair algae that just keeps coming back. I've also been getting coralline algae (the red "circular" algae that gets really hard and pink) on the glass, which I've never gotten before.

I can't add many fish or inverts to my tank because my green spotted puffer is super aggressive and has killed most fish and inverts I add to the tank. He's left my tomato clown alone since she is just as aggressive and fearless. My puffer is also a huge waste producer, which I'm sure contributes to the toxins in the tank.

I've done quite a few things: 50% water changes (got better for a day), 25% water changes biweekly (isn't lowering my nitrates by much), added PhosBan in my filter (did nothing), added activated carbon in a two little pouches into my filter (did a little but only works for about a week), and added nassarius snails and hermits to eat the detritus that's accumulated in the sand bed (they all died or are suffering in the high nitrates).

At this point, I'm scraping algae off the sides of the glass every week. At first, there started to be algae build-up on the live rock, but the live rock is clean and looks OK right now.

I'd like to move my fish into a quarantine tank, dump the substrate in the affected tank, and start anew. I'm planning on getting some sort of live sand and could use a lot of help. I don't want to be dumping a lot of money into this tank right now, but I'd like to do a few things to make it better for next time. How long will I have to cycle the tank for if I'm using wet live sand? Are there sand sifters that stay pretty much hidden in the sand that I can get to help clean the waste? I'm planning on getting a phosban reactor as well. Do you have any advice for efficiently filtering waste out of a extra-deep tank? I feel like the waste accumulates on the bottom because the eheim filter doesn't suck it off the bottom of the tank.

Please be gentle. I know I don't have a great tank like many of the ones I see on this forum. Again, I'd like to spend no more than $400 on rebuilding this tank. Thank you for your time.

My specs:
45 gallon extra-deep tank
coralife actinic/10,000K light strip
glass tank cover
2 hydor koralia circulation pumps
1 green spotted puffer fish
1 tomato clownfish
2 hermits
2 or 3 nassarius snails
crushed coral and sand mixture for substrate, about 1.5 inches deep
about 40lbs. of live rock
eheim 2213 canister filter (media: carbon pad, biological ceramic balls, filter pad, small pouch of activated carbon)
CPR bak-pak 2 protein skimmer with combo box
ball of macroalgae
seaweed

water: ammonia 0, pH8.0, nitrates about 50~80, don't have a phosphate test kit yet

 

[Killerdrgn]

ooof, get rid of the canister filter and crushed corals. Go with sand, get more rock, and get a better skimmer. shake out macro algae in a seperate bucket to see if it is trapping detrius.

 

[ikarus]

so no canister filter whatsoever? i'm definitely getting 2 inches of sand this time around. i have been shaking out the macroalgae in clean saltwater when i clean the tank. it's been clean. what kind of protein skimmer would you recommend?

 

[Killerdrgn]

i'm guessing you can only have a hang on back unit, if that's the case i would get Aquac Remora pro, or the Octopus hang on back filter like a 300s (looks kinda nice)

 

[masterswimmer]

I agree with tossing the canister filter and everything in it.
I agree with tossing the crushed coral. Don't add sand on top of it. You need to remove it and add ONLY sand.

Do you have room to add a sump underneath your display? If you do (very advisable) you can add an in-sump protein skimmer.

Add a couple of Phosban Reactors. One with Phosban and one with carbon. Running carbon or Phosban in a media bag is pointless. The effectiveness of the media is wasted on water finding the path of least resistance and 'channeling' around the media.

Russ

 

[duke62]

you need to read up on salt water keeping first.get rid of canister filter and either drill your tank for a sump setup or get overflows for sump setup.u need to rid yourself of that crushed coral.get yourself filter socks a phosban reactor carbon reactor a good skimmer and some good powerheads for flow in that tank.get a nice clean up crew some snails some hermits.put your fish in a qt tank for awhile and let your tank cycle.hope this helps

 

[Paul B]

I am going to save you a lot of money. I wouldn't dump anything but I would get a proteim skimmer and you could use more rock but thats not as important as the skimmer.
Your biggest problem is that you are feeding way too much. Your water changing schedule is fine, You change way more water than I do. Take out the animals and rocks. Leave in the sand/coral mixture. Stir everything up and suck out the crap with your canister filter with some floss in it. keep doing that until the gravel is clean then change about 75% of the water. Put back the animals and don't put your light on for a few weeks. Just put on a temporary small light so the algae dies, you can turn on the big light to feed the two fish very very little. A fishes stomach is as large as his eye and it does not have to be filled at each meal.
That puffer you have I am very familiar with. I had one for 12 years. They eat a lot but you don't have to stuff the thing. Two nice bites of clam a day is enough and your clown can get by with the same thing or five or six flakes if that is what you are feeding it. You have cyano because of what you are feeding.
I have over 25 fish and I feed a small cube of mysis to all of them.
Remove the canister and put it away. Use it every couple of months or "before" a water change for a day with some carbon, then put it away. Clean it after you use it and don't keep it on the tank.
You should not have any detritus with 2 fish.
Remember, whatever you are feeding, it is way too much.
Good luck

 

[CHEMCHEF]

Listen To Him!!!! Soon You'll Understand Why

I am going to save you a lot of money. I wouldn't dump anything but I would get a proteim skimmer and you could use more rock but thats not as important as the skimmer.
Your biggest problem is that you are feeding way too much. Your water changing schedule is fine, You change way more water than I do. Take out the animals and rocks. Leave in the sand/coral mixture. Stir everything up and suck out the crap with your canister filter with some floss in it. keep doing that until the gravel is clean then change about 75% of the water. Put back the animals and don't put your light on for a few weeks. Just put on a temporary small light so the algae dies, you can turn on the big light to feed the two fish very very little. A fishes stomach is as large as his eye and it does not have to be filled at each meal.
That puffer you have I am very familiar with. I had one for 12 years. They eat a lot but you don't have to stuff the thing. Two nice bites of clam a day is enough and your clown can get by with the same thing or five or six flakes if that is what you are feeding it. You have cyano because of what you are feeding.
I have over 25 fish and I feed a small cube of mysis to all of them.
Remove the canister and put it away. Use it every couple of months or "before" a water change for a day with some carbon, then put it away. Clean it after you use it and don't keep it on the tank.
You should not have any detritus with 2 fish.
Remember, whatever you are feeding, it is way too much.
Good luck

 

[ikarus]

thank you, everyone, for your comments and suggestions. paul b, i think i have been feeding my puffer way too much. i generally give him krill or clams every other day until his belly is pretty bloated. it's hard not to feed him because he "begs" every time i walk by the tank. i shall change my (feeding) ways.

at this point, i'm thinking of changing to an all sand bed anyway since i'm going to have to do a major cleaning of my substrate and tank, and my substrate is looking really crappy. my puffer and clown should be fine together in a small quarantine tank for a month or so. i'll invest in a better protein skimmer and maybe a phosban reactor (i had a remora pro HOB but i sold it b/c the mag 3 made so much noise... should've kept it) and if i feel like taking on another project, i'll set up a sump.

i'll put away the canister filter after i use it to clean the tank. when you say "floss", i'm assuming you mean the cotton-like filter pads/material.

thanks again for your advice.

 

[Paul B]

Yes thats what floss is, but then throw it out, don't re use the floss.

 

[fredro]

careful when you take out your crushed coral bed, you dont wanna stir up all the crap under it, siphon it out dont stir it up and scoop it out, that could poison the whole tank.

 

[jaymo]

I had done the same thing you did when I first started so don't feel bad

 

[luie]

hello im new here , i have a canister running 24/7 with carbon and phos . should i chuck it ?
run a reactor .... will this better the system ?

 

[anthony27]

I would junk the canister filter and just run a reactor. It is much safer and you can see when you have to change over the media in the filter. Also you want to run a sump as well.

 

[CHEMCHEF]

The bottom line is,, /Any filter media you use, needs to be kept clean, meaning, changed every week.
So the less media you have to trap foating particles the better. However I feel the DT appears much cleaner if you do have floss, filter sock,,whatever. So make it very convenient to change. Like an aqua clear hob filter. You can put carbon in that also, and whatever other chemical media you wish too.
This type of filter also makes it less easy for the water to take the path of least resistance. This filter wil play the same role as the canister,, but it will be much easier to keep clean.
The top pops right off you pull out the media basket. replace media put back in filter,,, Done, you dont even have to turn it off.
With a skimmer running you we be fine.
Clams rot pretty toxic in your tank. So until the tank is really stable I would stay away from feeding with it.
I would feed mysis once a day 1/2 a cube.
I have 5 med size fish in a 72 and i spot feed corals & the fish are the clean up crew.
The fish are not starving & growth is good
I would and, I have listened to paulB's advice since I started doing this about a year ago. I have had good success so far.

 

[Awibrandy]

Listen to PaulB!