cleaning live rock

[stumpy]

I've got about 30 lbs of live rock that is not as bright and pretty as it once was 10 months ago. It has alot of browm algea on it. Is there a good way to take it out of the tank and give it a good cleaning. I've tried using a turkey baster but that just blows the "dirt" around in the water and it settles back on the rocks.

 

[darb2]

I siphon off the rocks when doing a water change. Is it time to add to your cleanup crew?

 

[Anemoneman]

To restore the colors of your LR don't clean it. You want to get the coralline algae to grow and encourage the various sponges, tube worms, and corals to grow again. You may not have adequate lighting or are not supplying the nutrients the corals/sponges/worms/etc need to thrive. Excessive diatom or other nuisance alga are caused by nutrient overload (overfeeding, nitrate, phosphate, etc). Are you using RO/DI water? Using homemade food is a good way to know what you are putting in your tank. darb2 has given you good advice to add to the clean up crew - snails to eat the algae.
Good luck.

 

[phases99]

Your LR should not have diatoms on it after 10 months unless there is a problem with your water chemistry and/or lighting regiment. Please post some more details so we can take a look.

 

[stumpy]

I use distilled water. I change 10% (3 GALLONS) once per week. The bulbs I use are all-glass triple light strip. I had some problems back in the spring and lost all 4 of my fish. The only thing I've had in my tank since March has been 2 crabs and 2 snails. I'm ready to start putting fish back in my tank and just wanted to clean some things up. Also, I am having algea trouble. Brown film on the glass. I can clean it off one day and its back the next. The water also stays cloudy looking.

 

[Anemoneman]

The water also stays cloudy looking.

Classic symptom of overfeeding. Try cutting WAY back on feedings until things clear up.

 

[stumpy]

With only 2 crabs and 2 snails for the past 6 months I have only been feeding a very small amount once per week!