restarting neglected tank

[saltcreep1025]

First a little backgroung... About a year ago, i moved to a new house. My tank was about half a year old when i moved it and after the move i was attacked viciously by hair algae. EVERYTHING in the tank was covered in algae and I could berely even see the rocks. This developed for about 3 months after the move until there was so much algae there couldnt even be any more. At the time, I thought I would be going away for college in a few months, so I basically just gave up on the tank because i wouldnt have anywhere for it (I ended up going to a college I can drive to from my house, so im going to continue living at home now =/ ). I gave away the inhabitants, covered it up, and didnt think about it until now. Well, now that i know im going to be staying here i want to start the tank back up again. I just need some advice on how to clean everything so that it wont cause any problems. As of yesterday, the water had evaporated down to about 1/3 and everything was still covered in algae. So far, I used a wet/dry vac to drain all of the water and I took out all of my old LR and used a brush to scrub off the algae on it. Right now it is sitting outside drying. What should i do to further clean the live rock? how should I clean out the inside of the tank?

thank you for your help and reading my long ass post,
rossv

 

[SALTYDAWGY]

Well the first thing I would be concerned about is what caused the scourge of hair algae in the first place. Excessive phosphates, direct sunlight, not enough water changes, maybe you need a couple of algae munchers like a kole tang or squirrel fish. From there I would begin with RO water, maybe your tap water is off. Starting again is frustrating but worth a shot with such a really cool hobby. Can you give me some details on your system. Tank size, lighting, filtration, live rock etc?

 

[Phyl]

I wouldn't let the rock dry out. There's probably some bene bacteria in there that you'll want healthy to start your tank. Continue to wash and scrub the rock in tank water. Once you have it all washed off and the tank clean, substrate changed (use sand or bb) and ready to go put new water in (mix salt with RO/DI outside of the tank first) and see what kind of cycle you get with the existing die off.

Good luck restarting. Hopefully the second time will be the charm!

 

[saltcreep1025]

Saltydawgy:
as for the cause, it started after i moved so i think i stirred up the sand be too much and it realesed a lot of built up nitrate or what have you. I also used silica sand (breaking rule #12 of aquaria, dont go the cheap route) which seemed to cause a lot of problems in general and just looked ugly. Im sure the problem would have been fixable if I had worked on it, but as I said i thought i was going to be going away for college so i just gave up on it basically knowing it was doomed in the first place. I have ALWAYS used ro/di water and will contine to do so. Im actually not frustrated at all starting over, because when I first started i didnt really know much about it and this time i can do everything perfectly how I want. I am also making much more money now so I will be able to invest. It is a 55 gallon tank, BakPak skimmer with airstone mod, will be buying an overflow and setting up a refugeum, about 25-30 lbs live rock (will be getting abouit 30 more), 6x55 watt power compact lights.

phyl:
too late, already let the rock dry out. My reasoning for doing so was i wanted to kill off all the algae on it so it wouldnt start back up. Im going to be using the dry rock (which still is very nicely colored with old coraline suprisingly) as base rock and buying about another 30 lbs to add to it along with some critter packs from inland aquatics. What exactly is barebottom considered? I definetly dont want a DSB in the display tank, but i do want a small amount because I love watching all the pods, worms, ect. If im only going for a shallow sand bed, what depth should I aim for?

Thank again,
ross

 

[SALTYDAWGY]

Sounds like you are off to a good start in the right direction. I would probably let the rock dry out and reseed with additional premium rock. Silica sand sounds like it had a lot to do with the problem canceling out the work of the Ro/Di. A new trend in the hobby is to go with a scattering of sand, just enough to cover the bottom. It is not my taste as I like a deep bed, but hey to each his own. Good luck, and give an update with pics to see how it is coming along.

 

[saltcreep1025]

Thank you for the advice. Im going to try out scattering the sand and then put a DSB in the fuge. Should have the tank fully cleaned and refilled by the end of the weekend, so Im sure you will be hearing more from me soon =)

 

[Phyl]

That's what I have 1-3" in my main and then a 4+" DSB in my fuge. Sounds like you have a good plan. Good luck getting back into the swim of things.