Massive Algae Eradication?

H

Hiker4twenty

Reef enthusiast
I'm buying an existing 75g tank complete with LR. The tank has been let go and not maintained for quite some time. I went to see it last night and 100% of the LR is covered in cayno and this short stubbly algae. Not sure what color the other algae is because it's covered in cayno. How would I go about getting rid of that much algae. I was thinking about boiling each rock to completely kill everything. I'm not really worried about killing all the good bacteria because I'll be seeding it with 60LBS of LR from my current tank. Any suggestions or thoughts on this one? Also, all the powerheads are completely covered in cayno. Would vinegar soak do the trick to kill everything?
 
I would get a new scrub brush and scrub the :pooh: out of the rocks. Then keep them in the dark for a couple weeks under water with it sirculating. Soaking the power heads in vinegar will clean them pretty good. It might be more work than boiling, but it wouldnt smell nearly as bad.
 
My problem is getting this done quickly so I can get the tank set up. I'm not worried at all about the smell because I'd be doing it outside in a big pot with the burner from my turkey fryer. My neighbors might hate me, but oh well. If I do go the boiling route, how long should I boil for?
 
Personally, I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.
It's not worth all the hassle, work and risk of it all coming back some day.
I've had bad algae problems and it sucks, so I wouldn't be doing anything that would up my chances of it being in my tank again.

Keep the tank but I'd toss the rock.
 
Boiling the rock should get rid of the algae. I boiled 600 lbs of live rock when I moved tanks last year. IT STUNK SOOOOO BAD! I did each rock for 15 to 20 minutes. I got one of those giant soup pots at the store, and tied shoelaces around the rocks so I could easily pull them out of the pot. If there are any corals or inverts on the rocks that you want to keep, pull them off before you boil the rock.
 
d2mini said:
Personally, I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.
It's not worth all the hassle, work and risk of it all coming back some day.
I've had bad algae problems and it sucks, so I wouldn't be doing anything that would up my chances of it being in my tank again.

Keep the tank but I'd toss the rock.
Click to expand...


See the rock is such a great deal. I got it for $1.50 per pound which is saving me a ton of money. Plus its really good quality rock from Marco Rocks with some large size pieces. I think I'll try my luck at boiling it. I can't see how the algae can live through those temps.
 
When i had my massiv algea bloom i just scrubbed all the LR in RO water. It doesnt kill the LR and it only took me a couple hours to scrub 125lbs of LR. I just dont like boiling it cause it kills everything.....
 
bjohanson1234 said:
I would get a new scrub brush and scrub the :pooh: out of the rocks. Then keep them in the dark for a couple weeks under water with it sirculating. Soaking the power heads in vinegar will clean them pretty good. It might be more work than boiling, but it wouldnt smell nearly as bad.
Click to expand...

I think if it were me, I'd go this route as well. Boiling will take a couple hours I am assuming. Maybe scrub the rock as you pull it out of the tank to transport it home. Dump the crap water, and scrub again in fresh when you get them home. Just an idea.
 
Hiker4twenty said:
See the rock is such a great deal. I got it for $1.50 per pound which is saving me a ton of money. Plus its really good quality rock from Marco Rocks with some large size pieces. I think I'll try my luck at boiling it. I can't see how the algae can live through those temps.
Click to expand...

Totally understand.
I'm just looking at it from a long term point of view.
Sometimes saving money upfront means paying more down the road.
I would just be worried about what's creating the algae in the first place.
What if the rocks are leaching phosphates or something? Or storing them up now to leach them later?
Just something to think about it.
I'm also impatient and don't want to wait for the rock to become "live". :D
 
lol Mini.... im impatient to but good things are worth waiting for. Besides i think whats creating the algea bloom is in the water more so then on the rock.. Since the tank hasnt been taken care of for months the prams are prob jacked up lol...
 
d2mini said:
Totally understand.
I'm just looking at it from a long term point of view.
Sometimes saving money upfront means paying more down the road.
I would just be worried about what's creating the algae in the first place.
What if the rocks are leaching phosphates or something? Or storing them up now to leach them later?
Just something to think about it.
I'm also impatient and don't want to wait for the rock to become "live". :D
Click to expand...


I really hope that's not the case. From what I understand she's had the rocks for a few years and they were good when she was keeping up the tank. She said that she hasn't done a water change in 3+ months. I'll test my fate and see what happens. I do run GFO so I would hope that would help with any leaching phosphates.
 
Personally I would try just getting the tank running under adequate conditions... Maybe after running a good skimmer on the tank for a while under good lights and all the Cyano would go away on its own. Or even do a couple day black out with a good skimmer running.

Cyano lives off from organics, poor light, and phosphates I believe mainly. If she doesn't have a skimmer(working properly) or anything else oxidizing the water that could be the cause right there.

Since its a neglected tank, it might just be quicker/easier to just start running it under adequate conditions and keep the current life on the rocks. Just having Cyano I would think would be a pretty easy solution. Not sure about the other stuff.

If she was running it using the right equipment then the battle might be much more difficult >.<

Just my :twocents:
 
I'm with BJ.

There is no possible way of not introducing bad algae and cyano.If the condition is right then it will come.I would scrub and recycle the rocks in a holding bin for several weeks wit no lights.If the rocks are leaching phosphate then do water changes.
 
I'd go the scrub brush route too.Especially since you need it it ready to go fairly quick.
Once you boil the rock,you could end up with a long drawn out cycle from all the dead stuff inside the rock.
 

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