Repairing a neglected tank.

[Keith A.]

I have a 75 gallon reef tank that is in need of some good repairing. Its been about a year since I've been on this site and about as long for doing any serious maintenance with my tank. My wife has been having some medical problems so other things were taking priority. Needless to say, the tank was not one of them. Surprisingly, there is a lot of things still alive and seem to be doing......OK. I still have most of the corals (soft corals, SPS, LPS, etc.) that are still alive but some look like they have seen better days. I've lost a couple fish in the process as well. The water changes have been done about once every 8-10 weeks which I'm sure pushed the skimmer to its limits. I use to do them religiously every other week. I replaced most of the bulbs in my light fixture about a month ago but still need to get the halides replaced. I'm also considering getting a new skimmer that may be able to handle the algae that has grown in the tank so any recommendations (as far as brands) for an in-sump skimmer would be great.

There is significant macro algae (purplish, red bubbles) growing on the rocks as well as other types of, what looks like, a type of hair algae (brownish, green fuzz), and brown algae that grows a lot on the glass. That has been scraped off the glass. I would like to rebuild/repair the tank but I don't want to do too much to "shock" the system. If anyone would have any tips, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Keith

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

Could we see how the tank looks as of now? I think that would help alot

 

[Keith A.]

I'll put some up when my camera is done charging. Sorry...

 

[BallinCrew10]

First, I hope everything is well with your wife.

As far as the tank, are you using RO water? If not getting a ro/di filter would be a great first step. The next step would be doing a significant water change. The algae growing on your LR sounds like cyano or red slime. Usually caused by a lack of flow and excess nutrients caused by over feeding. The green fuzz sounds like green hair algae, again usually excess nutrients. What do you have for a clean up crew? Emerald crabs do wonders on the hair algae, the cyano however needs to either be removed by hand or chemically. Your tank doesn"t sound too bad and with proper water changes and a little attention your tank could be back up to par.