Should I start over?

[Mjharless]

Got a 29gal that has been up for about 3 weeks. Overrun with mushroom coral. Three colonies of brown hydroids(that I found so far). Hydroids on the glass. One rock covered with hair algae. Pretty bad diatom outbreak on sand. Looks like my lonely green legged hermit that was helping with the diatom is dying(staying in a cave not moving much).

So here's the question. Should I dump all the rock and start over? Just looking for some educated opinions.

Also, I have decided to drain the tank either way and drill two overflows (because I found out I hate hob siphons) so that may make a mess anyway.

Thanks.

 

[messiah023]

I wouldn't start over.

Dump your rocks into a bucket(s).
Dump your sand into a bucket.

Drill your tank if you want (make sure the bottom of the tank isn't tempered).

Do your plumbing & refill the tank. A good cleaning & scrubbing beforehand may be in order.

Replace your sand (you may want to replace 1/2 and use 1/2 the old).
Scrub the crap off your rocks and replace.

Your tank will probably re-cycle with a mini cycle.

You might want to look at re-populating the live bacteria in the sand & rock with some Garf Grunge.

It would be a pity to lose all your rocks & sand for some algae.

 

[McCrary]

Bacteria is pretty hardy, so you shouldn't have to worry about having to reseed the tank or anything. Just take out the rock and sand, and as mentioned above stick them in a bucket. Let them sit without light for 10 days (make sure they stayed heated and circulated), this will help reduce the algae on the rocks. Use a brush or something and scrub the rocks in saltwater to remove the algae and other stuff you don't want. Then put the stuff back in, its really only a temporary fix as the algae will grow back, as will the other stuff. But, a phosban reactor should help you control some of that hair algae. Algae is part of a new tank and it will even out, just keep posting if you need any help.

 

[dustin_P74]

you said that it has only been up for about 3 weeks, so all the algae growth and diatoms are completely normal since your tank is probably still cycling, and if it is still cycling that would explain why your hermit is dieing

 

[Bifferwine]

Dustin is right on about that, if you have any nitrites or ammonia (which you probably do in a 3 week old tank), that will kill all but the hardiest of animals, and hermits are not one of those.

As for the hydroids, I'd take those rocks out and let them dry out to kill the hydroids. There really aren't any easy way kill just the hydroids. If you just take those rocks out, you should still have plenty of live rock still, right? Once you reintroduce the dry rock to the tank, it will become live eventually again.

As for your algae, there is no way to avoid algae in a new tank. It's gonna happen, and if you start over again, I guarantee that you will get algae again in a few weeks. That's a normal part of the cycle.

So if you want to drill the tank anyways, I'd keep your sand and hydroid free rocks in buckets like others have said, kill any hydroids you can, then put everything back and be patient. Sometimes a cycle can take months to complete.

 

[Mjharless]

Still no real "cycle" since I reused the water from the previous owner of this tank. Nitrate is slightly detectable now though, but I think that is from the wet/dry. I will be taking out the media when I drill.

Hermit is still hanging in there, but he's afraid of me now since I used a pair of tongs to pull him out of a cave. He molted though and I know that's another bad sign. I hate to loose him since he was really putting a dent in the algae outbreak.(BTW, is it odd that the algae seems gone in the am and gets worse throughout the day?)

I have the snowflake hydroids on the glass now and I have read about them, but am not sure I understand what they are. Are they a free swimming part of the life cycle of the hydroids that are on my rock, or are they another kind of hydroid?

If they are the same as the garbage on the rocks, can they come back if any are in the sand when I drain the tank?


Thanks for the help.

 

[Bifferwine]

It's not odd about the algae, throughout the day when they are exposed to light, they are photosynthesizing and "growing". At night, they're not getting any light and are not adding to their biomass at all. That's why it may be a good idea for you to turn off your lights for a few days, and while you're doing that, remove as much of the algae by hand as possible. The algae will start to starve and die off without light, but you don't want it to just rot in your tank, or else it will release all the nutrients it's been using up.

The snowflake type of hydroids are different from the brown ones. They aren't considered as pesky because they rarely live long enough to grow to pest proportions. They usually end up disappearing on their own pretty quickly.

 

[Mjharless]

Thanks for the ideas. As soon as my lfs decides if they want to give me credit for the mushrooms, I'm going to tear it down and kill the hydroids. I guess I was just getting frustrated with finding new problems every day, but I suppose that just comes with it.

 

[yote]

Oh its easy as sin to get frustrated when your dealing with a new system.But like you said,that just another part of the hobby that causes you rethink some things.