Thinking of giving up SW

[Mrbill]

Hey guys,

I'm getting fed up with my 46 gallon, the hair algae just has me totally bummed and I'm sick and tired of battling it. I've tried everything, RO water, new pc bulbs, phosphate sponges, hermits, snails, less feeding, less light, carbon, no carbon, canister filter, no canister filter, skimmer, tang (didn't touch the algae, killed by a powerhead), a lawnmower blenny (didn't touch the algae, also killed by a powerhead) more flow, less flow, etc, etc.

So anyway, I'm not looking for pointers on how to get rid of the algae, I'm looking for pointers on tearing down a SW tank and converting it to FW. I hate to be a quitter, but the tank is just becoming a burden and not much fun anymore. I have had FW tanks successfully for years so I know what I need, but what SW stuff could still be used for FW? Of course the canister filter, and the heater. But what else? I have a dsb, any way I can keep that? I always had stones in the past. Are powerheads or a skimmer useful at all for FW? Is there anything special I need to do to "de-salt" (or de-algae!) the tank for use as FW?

More importantly, what can I do with the fish and LR? I have two clowns, two chromies, assorted snails and hermits, a large brittle star, a feather duster and a blood red fire shrimp. They all seem healthy, do you think a reputable LFS would give decent store credit for them and about 60lbs of algae-covered live rock, especially if I will be getting FW supplies with the credit?

Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks,

Bill

 

[Scatcat]

I'm sorry Bill, I hate to hear you are having problems. I keep waiting for the same to happen to me and I'm sure it will. My husband can't understand why I'm so picky about everything in the tank. I've read to many stories like yours. But I agree it's not much fun when you're having to go through what you are. It's like my stressing so much over everything. I can't be enjoying it when I've having nightmares of waking up to a floor full of water.

Good luck and I'm sure that someone here will have some good advise for you.

Rachel

 

[electrikat]

Most good mom and pop stores will give you credit, but it won't be near what you paid for it. But it's better than nothing unless you would want to sell and ship them.

 

[Fluff]

I've sent you a PM on your location. I'm sorry to hear of your frustrations and that you want to quit. Just clean the tank super good. You can probably use the powerheads for more flow but the skimmer won't be any good to you on a fw tank. I wouldn't risk trying to keep the sand. Most lfs will give you credit on healthy livestock.

 

[maxamillion]

I would say sell the sand to someone, dont try to re-use it, you would be wasting that bacterial gold that people love... just my 2 cents.. and I as well am sorry to hear that, I also dread that, However I have recently over come 6 inch long hair algae, it took a lot of scrubbing and some additions of crabs shrimp etc... but finally its under control and stable... good luck with freshwater, I hope someday you will return to the art.

 

[macman7010]

a uv sterilizer would solve your SW algae issues

 

[Clown Monarch]

I know you didn't ask for this - but my algae issue completely disappeared when I replaced the bulb in my UV sterilizer. I was actually worried that there wasn't ENOUGH algae in the tank.

 

[Brisc0]

*Warning: LONG A** POST about why not to quit because of hair algae*

Okay, I got a 105G tank. Its basically my second child. When I started out green I bought stuff for it left and right, went through four or so sumps, anyhow I have this thing up in the one hundred and teens $/gal. So not only is it my second child, its tied up some serious dollars. Now to the point, about 7 months ago I started to notice hair alage. I do all the precautions like you have, maybe not quite as quickly as I should, and it just gets worse and worse. Around 5 months ago my tank is choked in green. My corals are bleaching and fading away, I lose some great fish, no amount of work will fix it. At this point I tossed up my hands and said "I quit".
So now we fast forward to about 2 months ago, I have just started a new business, so I haven't had time to break the tank down. The hair algae is there, and im doing what I have to do to keep the tank from getting nasty like the skimmer cup, etc. Haven't dosed a thing, haven't fed a thing, haven't changed water in about 3 months. I have really QUIT at this point. Days go by and as quickly as the hair alage came on, it starts to die off. It dies off in sheets. I can pull it off the rocks like wet tape because its dead at the root.
My tank over the course of about six days does a 180 degree turn around. So now here I am about 2 months since the hair alage died off. Some of my best corals and fish are lost, others are fighting off brown outs and bleaching, but the reef is bouncing back. At the bottom of this post is a link to pics of it that I have just taken this week.
Okay so I have been rambling on and now I will get to the point. Keeping a reef tank is hard VERY frustrating work sometimes. Its easy to forget when we have a nice 10 month stretch of cystal clear water and smooth sailing, but hard times will happen and you just have to ride them out and rebuild. All the reefs of the world cycle that way, and sometimes regardless of all of our work, our captive reefs have to do it themselves. Stick with it, keep your hands out of it a little more, if you do something to the tank, give it time to work. Anyway, *end of motivational discussion* but that is my story, and I tell it to anyhow who is going crazy about hair algae. Please check out my link, granted these pics wont blow you away, but its getting better and better as each day passes. The point is if I had given up, these pics would have never been taken and this tank would be sitting out in my garage right now collecting dust.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=50673&highlight=
Good luck.

 

[Mrbill]

Thanks for the replies. Love that avatar BrisCo (or should I say Quint)

I'm leary of getting a UV sterilizer because I have heard others say they are useless, and I don't want to make any more large purchases in case I do end up throwing in the towel.

As for this algae, the tank has NEVER been nice and clear since I started it about a year and a half ago. First it was the diatoms, no problem. Then the cyano. BIG problem, but I fought it and eventually won with the help of RO water and red slime remover. That was a loooonnng battle and it took a lot out of me! I guess I got rid of it completely about 4 months ago. Since then the tank has just been a never ending hair algae farm. It's very nasty to look at with hair algae everywhere. It's even on my hermits, they look like little Don Kings crawling around. I just cannot get rid of the stuff!



However, your post is inspiring because it sounds like I am at the stage where you were when you said "I quit"! Maybe I'll just kill the lights completely for a week and see what happens. But at this point, a cichlid tank and it's relative lack of maintenance sounds VERY appealing to me.

 

[Fluff]

You seem to be having a change of heart and I'm glad. I know you said you didn't want suggestions but, I'm gonna throw this out to you anyway. Have you tried redfoot snails? Before tearing everything down and taking a loss on the last year and a half of work you've put into the tank, I would get a hand full of these snail. Remove what you can manually (give it a trim) and throw a couple of these snails in there for a few weeks and see what happens. Just a thought.


http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=570

Oh, and note the size of these snails. They get quite large so a little can go a long ways.

 

[XXFirefighter]

ask a LFS if he has a "extra" UV light to try... tell him if it works you'll buy it, if not he can have everyting in the tank...

 

[maxamillion]

Woah, thats a great idea.... well I mean it will make that lfs owner really want to loan out that UV sterilizer... well I hope everything works out.

 

[Phyl]

I had hair algae on my pond and very green water and adding a UV sterilizer cleared it up very quickly. I would say it is worth a try. If all else fails you can sell that when you sell the rest of the SW-essentials that won't go FW with you. Good luck.

 

[lando]

I would really hate to see you give up on SW. Especially with what you have invested. If the hair algea is too much for you , start over. You would be starting over with FW anyways, why not stick with SW? Honestly, it sounds like you are doing everything right and I have no explaination for the hair algea. Maybe starting over would help. Using what you have now learned from the being may be the key.

 

[NewInTown]

just keep at it! the harder you work at it the more satisfaction you will have when
it all comes together.

the hair algea could be from a million diff things.

I had a tank that I fought with for over a year to try to get rid of the hair algae.

The hard part for me was that I had two other tanks that used the same water lights food, etc. and they had no algae problems at all. I tried everything.
then one day I was at the LFS and overheard someone talking about lava rock releasing minerals in the water. I remembered that I used some old lava rock from
an old FW tank as base rock.

I raced home and pulled the rock out. I was desperate for an answer. low and behold two weeks later no more hair algae.

 

[cougaran]

Actually a u/v sterilizer isnt a huge purchase. An 18 watt turbo-twist will run about $140 shipped. I went with the bigger one because I keep it at about 100GPH and it kills algae,bacteria and parasites. You can get a smaller 9watt for $79.
I started running mine temporarily on my 38 gallon, which was cloudy. The water is crystal clear in 1 day! You may want to buy one anyway for the FW tank. Alot of fish in the pet stores have diseases, parasites and other problems. A good QT tank and a U/v sterilizer on your main tank will help. So if you do buy one for your SW tank for one last try and if it doesn't work you'll have it for the FW tank. I dont believe they are a waste of time.

 

[TXclownin']

it says that snail (page 1) is for cold water only....less than 74

 

[Jason]

take the rocks out.

get a wire brush and scrub the hair algae off of them.

put them back in the tank.

get a UV sterilizer.

Load the tank with life.

I watched a tank that was cycling and almost totally green turn to crystal clear when the guy turned his uv on and scrapped the big tufts of hair algae off his rocks.......

 

[Mrbill]

Hey thanks!

Thanks for all the replies! This site rocks.
I am sticking with it for at least a little while longer.

I went to a different LFS than my usual one last night and it got me inspired. (they have sharks! I mean, like 4 foot sharks! Cool!) They also had a beautiful FW Cichlid tank that got me inspired to go that way...

Anyway, I went there to get some carbon and an air stone to boost my CPR Bakpak skimmer. After adding the stone it's definitely pulling more out of the tank. While I was there, I asked the guy for any pointers on hair algae. He suggested sea urchins. I said to myself, this guy is full of it, I've never heard that before! Stupid LFS guys...

So, I got home and put the two new urchins in my tank and they seem to be doing their thing. I don't know if they really will eat the stuff or not, but if so, they have their work cut out for them!

He suggested killing the lights completely (I have no corals) and he also suggested a MAJOR water change. We're talking, replacing all the water in the tank. Taking everybody out. Changing all the water, scrubbing the rocks and putting in all new water. So, I think I might be doing that in the near future. If that does not work, I'll say scr** it, and get an oscar or something.

I'll let you know what happens.

Bill