Disaster tank

[unionfishguy]

Ok, this is a total shot in the dark, just letting you know. At my college there is a saltwater tank, 99% sure the corals in there are fake (pics below). It has a Blue hippo, yellow tank, purple tang, 4 yellowtail damsels, and one Clarki clown. The Blue has what appears to be a type of a skin disease. The substrate is crushed coral, the lighting is sub par, and as you can see there is almost no live rock.

My question is what could feasibly be done to fix this, if anything. What species could be added, would it be worth gradually switching the substrate, yards yada yada, etc etc etc. if there is any way that this tank can be saved, please share it. There is a number posted on the tank that I can contact with my concerns, but I would prefer to have a full blown plan to present before I go that far. Please help!!!

 

[Redseadragon]

Well if your going to make a reef tank you will need to start by buying the equipment.. skimmer, lights, refugium.... Fish only? nothing really needs to be done. maybe add a skimmer treat, treat the tang, and upgrade the lighting for visuals.

 

[saltyphish]

Figuring out what is afflicting the livestock first would be best. I cant really tell what is wrong with those pics but you could try to take better pics and post them in the forum for an ID. But most people are going to want to know what the water parameters are first to help. You might see if you can get a sample of the water and take that to a lfs and they can test it for you and advise you of issues. The only concern with that is be careful with what advice you listen with lfs. Better than going out and buying your own test kits though. Once you have the parameters you can repost with a better pic and I am sure someone on this sight can provide you with better guidance. Good luck. Also calling the number may be best since they probably service the tank and can have a faster response time since some illnesses can rapidly lead to death. Good looking out though, it's a shame to see or hear of a tank being neglected.

 

[saltyphish]

Also someone must be caring for it ( feeding fish ect.) so they may already be aware and doing something about it so might check first.

 

[Bluelobstor]

I wouldn't make it a reef unless there was a dedicated person to keep it up as in daily. Hard to tell in that pic but that tang is known for HLLE which often times can be cleared up with proper nutrition and a stress free environment. What are they being fed? They really need a vegetable diet and seaweed is good for that.