Want to add new rock

[drejkanator]

Hello I have a 14.5 fluval evo and I’d like to know how I can best go about replacing my old rock that is hard to get clean with new caribsea life rock. I’ve had the same rock in it for over 2 years now. There is no coral in the tank just a small snowflake eel. Will I have to introduce the rock slowly while keeping the old rock in the tank? I don’t want to mess my parameters up because of the eel of course but would really like to have a nicer aquascape to look at. TIA.

 

[Spare time]

What do you mean hard to get clean? Do you not have a clean up crew?

 

[drejkanator]

What do you mean hard to get clean? Do you not have a clean up crew?

Yes I do but they don’t get all the hair algae and there is a brown algae (I assume) that won’t scrub off.

 

[Spare time]

Yes I do but they don’t get all the hair algae and there is a brown algae (I assume) that won’t scrub off.

Hmm I mean yes you can swap the rocks out but that algae will just come back if not worse than before.

 

[Spare time]

PS you have sand right?

 

[drejkanator]

PS you have sand right?

Yes I have live sand. I understand that the algae could come back but I plan to prevent the the brown scum from being so permanent. Also I want the new rock to be more of an aquascape than what I have now.

 

[CoralFarm]

Yes I have live sand. I understand that the algae could come back but I plan to prevent the the brown scum from being so permanent. Also I want the new rock to be more of an aquascape than what I have now.

It sounds like you have a few things going on. First, your excess algae is due to excess nutrients. Have you ever tested your water? If so, what are the results?

As for your question regarding adding additional rock, if you replace your rock with new rock it will just get additional algae on it. The nutrients in the water are like fertilizer to your garden, and the algae are the weeds. If you keep feeding the weeds, they'll just sprout up somewhere else.

Before you spend money on new rock, try doing a month of water changes. Replace 15% or so every week for a month. You should start to see the algae subside on its own. Remove as much as you can with your hands and allow the nutrient reduction to handle the rest.

If you do decide to remove the rock, keep in mind that you're also removing any biological filtration that may have built up over time. My advice would be to try my suggestion of water changes above, and then slowly replace your old rock with new rock if you're worried about the stains.