RavenSF
Active Member
My tank is nearly two years old and I've had reef tanks for 6 years now. Things were going along fine in my tank, when out of the blue I was hit with Bryopsis. I don't know where it came from, but I haven't been able to get rid of it. It's on the rocks, the sand, frag plugs even my MP40. I tried elevating my magnesium using Kent's Tech-M for several weeks and it withered the algae but the only thing it actually killed were my snails and some SPS. I even pulled rocks out and dipped them in hydrogen peroxide, this seemed to work but some got left behind and it quickly returned.
I have been wanting to redo my aquascape and change my sand anyways, so I figure this is a good time to redo things. I was originally thinking I'd take all rocks and sand out, put in fresh dry rock (it was once live man made rock, but has been dried for several weeks before I got it). I would use one of those nitrifying bacteria in a bottle products to speed the cycle and use water changes to keep ammonia levels down for the fish during this period. I do not really care about losing the corals at this point, I lost a lot between the hydrogen peroxide and the magnesium; however, I do not want to lose any fish. If anyone out there has done this, I'd love to hear how it went.
My other fear is that I'm going to do all this, stress the fish out and then have the algae come back because there were spores or something left in the plumbing. Will draining the tank and wiping off everything that's accessible be sufficient? I'm very short on space, so I don't have the ability to set up a second temporary system to house the fish. The best I can do is keep the livestock in a large brute container with heat and circulation while I work on the main tank. I could cycle the new dry rock in a brute container for a few weeks, if that's required.
Thanks in advance.
I have been wanting to redo my aquascape and change my sand anyways, so I figure this is a good time to redo things. I was originally thinking I'd take all rocks and sand out, put in fresh dry rock (it was once live man made rock, but has been dried for several weeks before I got it). I would use one of those nitrifying bacteria in a bottle products to speed the cycle and use water changes to keep ammonia levels down for the fish during this period. I do not really care about losing the corals at this point, I lost a lot between the hydrogen peroxide and the magnesium; however, I do not want to lose any fish. If anyone out there has done this, I'd love to hear how it went.
My other fear is that I'm going to do all this, stress the fish out and then have the algae come back because there were spores or something left in the plumbing. Will draining the tank and wiping off everything that's accessible be sufficient? I'm very short on space, so I don't have the ability to set up a second temporary system to house the fish. The best I can do is keep the livestock in a large brute container with heat and circulation while I work on the main tank. I could cycle the new dry rock in a brute container for a few weeks, if that's required.
Thanks in advance.
