[jmreef]

how would u start on cleaning a 75g reef tank, which has been neglected for awhile, has lots of slime and hair. It doesnt have too much coral left what should i do? thanks

[Ninong]

Does it have any fish?

What about snails or other clean-up-crew critters?

Does it have a sand bed? If so, how deep is it and what is it composed of? Aragonite sand? Crushed coral? What does it look like (first impression)? Really crappy or just somewhat crappy?

Besides hair algae and cyanobacteria (slime), do you see any other obvious problems, such as Aiptasia or Majano anemones? What about Ventricaria (bubble algae)?

What sort of lighting does it have? Are the lamps in need of replacement?

Does it have a sump? If so, what sort of return pump does it have?

Does it have a protein skimmer?

What sort of powerheads does it have for water movement in the tank?

Is this your tank that you have sort of let slip or is it a tank you are adopting?

Have you taken any tests to see what the current water parameters are?

What brand of salt mix has been used in this tank?

What are your goals for this tank?

[Lance]

Well its not that easy. You need your water test kits from nitrate and phosphate and others to see where you need to start. This will help with the dirrection to go.
Then your water source and your water flow and amount of LR and LS and type of equipment used is helpfull.

Just going in and changing to much water and stirring up all the debris can be very bad.

[jmreef]

it has a smanll sailfin tang, marine betta, and a alardi clown, it looks really crappy. It just has a hair and slime in it, i have 5 flourscents on it. It has a tidepool sump on it with a protien skimmer in it, which is a berlin, and a 1200 gph return pump. i got it from a friend about a month ago, i just have whatever salt he had left over, so i dont know what type of salt, for the future I just want something nice to look at, maybe mushrooms, leathers, or just some soft corals

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by jmreef

it has a smanll sailfin tang, marine betta, and a alardi clown, it looks really crappy.

Looks like you still have the marine betta that you had nine months ago. Looks like you added a lionfish and a toadfish eight months ago but it looks like they're gone but you still have the hair algae?

It just has a hair and slime in it, i have 5 flourscents on it.

I assume this is the same lighting you described five months ago as follows: "rite now i have a dual strip, a single strip fluorescent lights and a 24" compact on it." That's OK for a fish-only aquarium but inadequate for a reef aquarium. You might be able to keep some low-light soft corals, such as mushrooms, but that's about it.

It has a tidepool sump on it with a protien skimmer in it, which is a berlin, and a 1200 gph return pump.

Did you ever remove the bio-balls? If you have a reasonable amount of live rock in your tank, you really don't need the bio-balls that usually come with these sumps. I assume the berlin skimmer has been working for you and you have been removing stuff from the skimmer cup at least once a week? If the skimmer is in good working order and you have live rock and a sand bed in the tank, then those are the basics for good filtration right there.

i got it from a friend about a month ago, i just have whatever salt he had left over, so i dont know what type of salt,

Josh, if you're talking about your tank, I think you've had it more than a month. The brand of salt isn't all that important at the moment. I was just wondering in case it turns out that you have problems that we know are related to certain particular brands of salt mix.

for the future I just want something nice to look at, maybe mushrooms, leathers, or just some soft corals

Josh, I don't think your lighting will support anything other than mushrooms at the present time. In order to step up in the lighting department, you will need to get new lights. Either build a canopy that will hold either 4-ft long VHO fluorescents or 4-ft long HO T-5's, with a couple of small built-in fans for ventilation, or buy a ready-made fixture that will probably cost at least a few hundred bucks. Until then, I think you will have to stick with what amounts to basically a fish-only with live rock tank, except for maybe some mushrooms.

In order to get started on "fixing" your present situation, you need to test the water to see what your water parameters are. That means buying test kits for nitrate, calcium and alkalinity. You can probably get by without test kits for ammonia and nitrite right now. You should really test for magnesium, too, but you can skip that if you do frequent water changes and don't get into corals.

You also need to know exactly what your salinity is. You can measure this with either a cheapy swing-arm hydrometer or a nice refractometer. Either way, you absolutely must keep track of salinity. It can be measured either as specific gravity or as parts per thousand salinity. Most cheapy refractometers measure salinity as specific gravity. You need your specific gravity to be somewhere between 1.023-1.026. For a reef tank, 1.025-1.026 would be better but if it's just a FOWLR tank, then 1.023-1.024 would be acceptable, too.

You can't get by without knowing what your salinity (specific gravity) is. I'm pointing this out because I'm not sure from your posts over the past several months if you have been testing this or not.

You need to perform water changes at least once a month. The size of the water change should be somewhere between ten to twenty gallons. You need to measure the salinity in your tank so that you can make the new saltwater's salinity the same. I haven't mentioned pH but you should also know what your pH is and keep track of that. This is less important if it just a fish-only tank. The pH should stay between 7.9-8.5, with 8.1-8.4 being ideal.

If your sand bed is really bad, you may want to consider removing it entirely and starting over with fresh sand. This would require removing all of the live rock and fish to holding tubs or something while you removed the sand from the tank. I can't tell you whether you need to do that or not but it's something that might be considered. On the other hand, you could just concentrate on keeping your water parameters in check, doing regular water changes, and waiting to see if the live rock and sand bed improve.

Before you do something like that, you would need to make up a lot of fresh saltwater. If you remove the live rock, you should also scrub off the hair algae at the same time. Just physically remove it from the rocks any way you can. You would need to do this in a separate saltwater tub and then place the cleaned rock into a different saltwater holding tub waiting to be returned to the tank. The fish, of course, would be kept in a holding tub of their own.

If things are really bad, then that's something to think about. Removing the sand bed entirely and throwing it away, especially if it's crushed coral. If it is crushed coral, then that would be a good reason to start over with a new sand bed. If it's not crushed coral, then maybe you can leave it alone and see if it improves.

In order to keep the hair algae under control, you have to control your water parameters. That means you have to keep the nitrates down as low as possible. You could test for phosphate, too, but I wouldn't bother at this point, especially since it's not a reef yet until you improve your lighting.

We need to know (mean you need to know) your pH, salinity (or specific gravity), temperature, nitrate, calcium and alkalinity. If necessary, you will need to purchase test kits in order to be able to keep track of those. Have you been doing water changes at all over the past few months? How did you measure the salt mix for the water changes? Did you do it simply on the basis of 1/2 cup of salt mix per gallon of freshwater or did you have a hydrometer to check the specific gravity?

Let me know what your test results are for pH, salinity, nitrate, calcium and alkalinity, then we'll go from there.

Good luck!

[jmreef]

i have crushed coral and how much is better is the sand bed? i have been us a hydrometer and it usually about 1.025, i have a 35 gallon trash can which i make up saltwater in and let sit for a couple a days and then use that for water changes. what would the best test kit to get that is sum what inexpensive?

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by jmreef

i have crushed coral and how much is better is the sand bed?

I don't like crushed coral for reef tanks. I think it has a tendency to trap detritus unless it's very shallow (~1/2") and vacuumed on a regular basis. I would suggest removing all of the crushed coral and replacing it with about a 3" deep sang bed of sugar-sized aragonite sand. That's up to you but that's what I would do.

i have been us a hydrometer and it usually about 1.025,

That's okay. Specific gravity between 1.024 to 1.026 is okay.

i have a 35 gallon trash can which i make up saltwater in and let sit for a couple a days and then use that for water changes. what would the best test kit to get that is sum what inexpensive?

I like LaMotte's test kits for calcium and alkalinity but the Salifert test kits are cheaper. I used Salifert's test kits for nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, magnesium, phosphate, etc.

You definitely need to know your pH (they sell cheapy test kits for that), your calcium, alkalinity, nitrate, and magnesium. You can forget about the others for now but you really do need those. Salifert is probably your best bet for being acceptable and yet not as expensive as LaMotte. There are some cheaper test kits that are a waste of money.

After you know your calcium, alkalinity and magnesium, then you will know what needs to be done to get those into the correct range. Calcium needs to be approx. 425-450 ppm, alkalinity needs to be somewhere between 8-12 dKH, and magnesium needs to be around 1300 ppm. Your pH should be between 8.1-8.4. Anything below 7.9 or above 8.5 is a problem.

[jmreef]

im going to buy a test kit tomorrow, but im going to setup a 60gal tank and put my fish in it, and get some tubs for my rock, what size of tubs should i get and do i need to filter those tubs or not?

[Ninong]

You don't really need a filter for a temporary holding tub for your live rock. You should have something to keep the water in motion, like a powerhead or even an airstone might work. You don't even have to worry about the temperature of the water all that much this time of the year.

You would need to be more careful if you were holding corals for any length of time in a temporary container but not all that careful for just live rock.

If you have a hang-on filter available and you can get it to fit on the tub holding the live rock, then go ahead and use it.

You need to exercise more care if you have any snails or sea stars that you want to transfer. These guys cannot tolerate changes in salinity. So you have to be careful that the salinity is the same every time you move them.

P.S. -- The size of the tubs isn't important. You just need something large enough to hold whatever you need to hold temporarily. Almost anything will work, even those polyethylene containers that they sell for storing blankets under your bed, etc.