New 90 gallon

[bhuamani32]

Alright so should I give the sea hare a try or take all the rocks out and scrub them? Which Is the best option or route to go?

 

[willbratz]

Alright so should I give the sea hare a try or take all the rocks out and scrub them? Which Is the best option or route to go?

That's completely up to you, we just give you options and hopefully good advice.

 

[Grizz]

I would start by cleaning the rock Then try to find whats feeding the algae. How much/often do you feed? what type of filter are you using? How often do you clean it?

 

[willbratz]

I would start by cleaning the rock Then try to find whats feeding the algae. How much/often do you feed? what type of filter are you using? How often do you clean it?

Also, How old are your lights, how long do you run them during the day?

 

[bhuamani32]

I barely clean the tank. Do 10 gallon water changes a week. I scrub walls with the magnet and run halides for 7 hours a day. I havent tried taking out all rocks yet because it will stir up my aqaurium and make a big mess. I Feed them flakes and pellets one to two times a day.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I barely clean the tank. Do 10 gallon water changes a week. I scrub walls with the magnet and run halides for 7 hours a day. I havent tried taking out all rocks yet because it will stir up my aqaurium and make a big mess. I Feed them flakes and pellets one to two times a day.

There's your problem. Feeding flakes that often is where the algae nutrients are coming from. Try some frozen foods in smaller quantities, what the fish can clean up in less than 5 minutes. Drain off the water the food was frozen in as that's loaded with phosphate, if you can, just rinse it in RO water. . And try feeding every other day. I feed small amounts daily, but have huge filtration to accommodate this bio load.

 

[bhuamani32]

Alright what sorts of frozen food should I get. I've never fed the fish anything but flakes before and don't know how this works and how much?

 

[Gregcoyote]

Alright what sorts of frozen food should I get. I've never fed the fish anything but flakes before and don't know how this works and how much?

Mysis shrimp is hard to beat. Krill is also good. Several mixes like Marine Cuisine are good as well. Many of us make our own foods from the grocery store. Several threads on this topic.

As far as feeding, you just want to confine most of the food to where the fish are, not broadcast it all over the tank. So for dried foods like spiralina I use a floating feeding ring. Rule of thumb is to not feed more than they can clean up in a few minutes, otherwise your CUC has to process it or your live rock has to break it down into organic compounds that algae grows on.

 

[duromega]

get a few sea urchin and about 10 mexican turbo snails
those are the best cleaners in my tank, other "cleaners" are always chilling and hanging out with the fish

 

[kdpuffer]

get a few sea urchin and about 10 mexican turbo snails those are the best cleaners in my tank, other "cleaners" are always chilling and hanging out with the fish

Urchins are cool but can be a royal pain. They tend to knock things over. If you get yourself some snails and watch how much you feed you should be ok. You first have to remove the algae and the snails and less feeding well help prevent it growing back. Another good method to try to remove it is to get a tooth brush and scrub it while you do your water change. Keep the syphon close to suck out the algae as it comes free.

 

[bhuamani32]

Alright thanks and I will take all of your suggestions thank. I just ordered a cleanup crew that is coming in this week. I will look into the sea urchins instead of the sea hare. Wi the urchins hurt the fish?

 

[Gregcoyote]

Alright thanks and I will take all of your suggestions thank. I just ordered a cleanup crew that is coming in this week. I will look into the sea urchins instead of the sea hare. Wi the urchins hurt the fish?

They won't hurt the fish, but they knock stuff over , try the blue tuxedo urchins, I like them much better.

 

[Fishman007]

Alright thanks and I will take all of your suggestions thank. I just ordered a cleanup crew that is coming in this week. I will look into the sea urchins instead of the sea hare. Wi the urchins hurt the fish?

Get a snowball urchin. I have one in my 37g, at first there was some hair algae on the rocks but in a day it was all gone. They like to put stuff they find in the tank on there backs and are pin cushion which means they wont stab you. Also try a tuxedo or halloween urchin, which are also pin cushion urchins. They are fun to watch also!

 

[willbratz]

Just make sure you pull the rock and scrub it. Most crews wont touch it once it get to a certain length. I feed my fish every 3 days. I switch it up. I'll even get a couple of uncooked shrimp from the market do a fine chop/mince and feed them that as well. They go crazy.

 

[bhuamani32]

Alright I'll try pulling some off and starting with one to two urchins. I'll pull out the Rocks and try to scrub them. Should I take the 100 lbs of live rock out individually and scrub them or leave it in the tank. And should I do it before my cleanup crew arrives on Thursday or Friday?

 

[willbratz]

Alright I'll try pulling some off and starting with one to two urchins. I'll pull out the Rocks and try to scrub them. Should I take the 100 lbs of live rock out individually and scrub them or leave it in the tank. And should I do it before my cleanup crew arrives on Thursday or Friday?

Treat it like a water change but with a little added maintenance. Yes pull it out before scrubbing it. I pulled mine out, scrubbed it in one 5 gallon bucket of salt water, and then after scrubbing it placed it in another 5 gallon bucket until I was done.

If you pull each one and scrub it and don't have a second bucket to place them in just set it back in the tank.

Do one at a time. Home Depot sells a brush that's bigger and better than a small toothbrush.

Just try not to stir up your substrate.

Another thing, test your water after you scrubbed your rock and replaced your water. Then test it each day for a few days to make sure your parameters are all good. If they start to get out of whack, be prepared to change out some more water.

Also, this is the perfect time to cut your fish feeding down and get your fish started on a new food schedule.

Good luck and keep us posted as to how it's coming along.