Nasty Old Reef Tank

[rja]

Hey all,
I have a “reef tank” (all kenya trees and toadstools) that is in my house which has been running for years without any fish in it. It is remnants of my tank transfer to my current and beloved 110 gallon mixed reef. That tank is doing great but I am curious what I should do with my 29 gallon biocube— the “nasty old reef tank” in question. It is literally a forest of cyano, algae, and planaria. However, I have the luxury of having no fish or coral in the tank aside from little bits of leathers who have emerged from fragments of the pieces I tore out and transferred to the new tank. I am considering turning it into a neat leather tank or at least conditioning the live rock to be clean. There are no aiptasia or other pests. Just algae, Cyano, and the dreaded Planaria.

Would it be a semi decent idea to nuke the flatworms with flatworm stop, get rid of the cyano with chemi clean, and get rid of the bryopsis with flux? Then do a 100% water change? I believe at that point it would sort of be a new but mature tank would it not?

Then, if all works out, what do you suggest I do with it?

 

[Rjukan]

Eh.. sounds like too much work lol. Why not marry up to the ugly old reef tank theme and embrace those things that normally send everyone into fits of rage?
I would clean it up slightly, find some focal point that you enjoy about it, and revolve around that. Maybe watch the eb and flow of the nasties based on minimal maintenance input. Test out low effort ways of battling some uglies and share if they work. If they don't work, then.. oh well, who cares lol. Either way good luck with it and keep us posted. Oh and where is the obligatory nasties pic?

 

[rja]

Eh.. sounds like too much work lol. Why not marry up to the ugly old reef tank theme and embrace those things that normally send everyone into fits of rage?
I would clean it up slightly, find some focal point that you enjoy about it, and revolve around that. Maybe watch the eb and flow of the nasties based on minimal maintenance input. Test out low effort ways of battling some uglies and share if they work. If they don't work, then.. oh well, who cares lol. Either way good luck with it and keep us posted. Oh and where is the obligatory nasties pic?

Too ashamed to post them honestly. But I could get behind doing some low effort experiments. Typically low effort types of control involve organisms, though, IME. I have heard of saltwater conditioned Mollies eating flat worms though so that could be a cheap and interesting experiment.

Give me some ideas on how I could experiment with this tank. Currently all I do is fill the ATO bucket. It is quite the eyesore but the tank itself is nothing I would be able to morally sell for any amount of money due to the scratches and rimless modifications. The only thing that is worth any money is the Kessil that lights it.

Maybe I could see what turning off the lights for a couple weeks would do? If the leathers survive and all the algae dies off that would be a really interesting find for those scared of losing their coral by doing a lights out.

 

[fish farmer]

Too ashamed to post them honestly. But I could get behind doing some low effort experiments. Typically low effort types of control involve organisms, though, IME. I have heard of saltwater conditioned Mollies eating flat worms though so that could be a cheap and interesting experiment.

Give me some ideas on how I could experiment with this tank. Currently all I do is fill the ATO bucket. It is quite the eyesore but the tank itself is nothing I would be able to morally sell for any amount of money due to the scratches and rimless modifications. The only thing that is worth any money is the Kessil that lights it.

Maybe I could see what turning off the lights for a couple weeks would do? If the leathers survive and all the algae dies off that would be a really interesting find for those scared of losing their coral by doing a lights out.

Look at my build thread, some pics have more hair than Woodstock.

Do you have a sandbed? Maybe needs a good vacuuming.

A sixline wrasses would make quick work of the flatworms.

I'm assuming you haven't kept up on water changes, with no fish are you feeding the tank at all?

 

[littlefoxx]

Hey all,
I have a “reef tank” (all kenya trees and toadstools) that is in my house which has been running for years without any fish in it. It is remnants of my tank transfer to my current and beloved 110 gallon mixed reef. That tank is doing great but I am curious what I should do with my 29 gallon biocube— the “nasty old reef tank” in question. It is literally a forest of cyano, algae, and planaria. However, I have the luxury of having no fish or coral in the tank aside from little bits of leathers who have emerged from fragments of the pieces I tore out and transferred to the new tank. I am considering turning it into a neat leather tank or at least conditioning the live rock to be clean. There are no aiptasia or other pests. Just algae, Cyano, and the dreaded Planaria.

Would it be a semi decent idea to nuke the flatworms with flatworm stop, get rid of the cyano with chemi clean, and get rid of the bryopsis with flux? Then do a 100% water change? I believe at that point it would sort of be a new but mature tank would it not?

Then, if all works out, what do you suggest I do with it?

Have you thought of doing a complete re start?

 

[vlangel]

Too ashamed to post them honestly. But I could get behind doing some low effort experiments. Typically low effort types of control involve organisms, though, IME. I have heard of saltwater conditioned Mollies eating flat worms though so that could be a cheap and interesting experiment.

Give me some ideas on how I could experiment with this tank. Currently all I do is fill the ATO bucket. It is quite the eyesore but the tank itself is nothing I would be able to morally sell for any amount of money due to the scratches and rimless modifications. The only thing that is worth any money is the Kessil that lights it.

Maybe I could see what turning off the lights for a couple weeks would do? If the leathers survive and all the algae dies off that would be a really interesting find for those scared of losing their coral by doing a lights out.

A sixline wrasse might take care of the flatworms and some ornamental macroalgae species could both add some beauty and color while utilizing nutrients given off by the wrasse. Maybe add a small water change like 3-5 gallons a month to replenish elements and see after a few months if anything positive happens. If not keep and/or sell the wrasse and macros and try something else.

 

[rja]

Have you thought of doing a complete re start?

Nope, I dont think I would on this tank. I have it because it is zero maintenance. My large tank is my center of attention and I do not feel any drive to restart it. If I had drained the tank and cleaned it out completely, odds are it would end up for free on the FB market.

 

[Rjukan]

Too ashamed to post them honestly. But I could get behind doing some low effort experiments. Typically low effort types of control involve organisms, though, IME. I have heard of saltwater conditioned Mollies eating flat worms though so that could be a cheap and interesting experiment.

Give me some ideas on how I could experiment with this tank. Currently all I do is fill the ATO bucket. It is quite the eyesore but the tank itself is nothing I would be able to morally sell for any amount of money due to the scratches and rimless modifications. The only thing that is worth any money is the Kessil that lights it.

Maybe I could see what turning off the lights for a couple weeks would do? If the leathers survive and all the algae dies off that would be a really interesting find for those scared of losing their coral by doing a lights out.

I wouldn't be ashamed of posting pics, it's not even your main tank. I've posted some pretty sad ones of my tank, but it is what it is. If anything I hope it helps others who don't have "show tanks" feel like its ok to have a work in progress lol.

I'm not experienced enough to offer many ideas when it comes to experimenting with the tank, and it's problems. But my idea was to just put a little effort into it to get a starting point, then watch what happens over time. Just bc its filled with nuisance life, doesn't take away that it's mature, and full of life.. It can still be a pretty tank with hair algae, and flatworms.

 

[Gregg @ ADP]

This is the kind of thread that @brandon429 dreams about at night

 

[Minifoot77]

This is the kind of thread that @brandon429 dreams about at night

This is the most true statement on r2r... #ripclean

 

[Nate Chalk]

No pic no proof. Let's see that thing

 

[littlefoxx]

Nope, I dont think I would on this tank. I have it because it is zero maintenance. My large tank is my center of attention and I do not feel any drive to restart it. If I had drained the tank and cleaned it out completely, odds are it would end up for free on the FB market.

Makes sense! I like the algae suggestion someone else had, that sounds cool

 

[rja]

This is the most true statement on r2r... #ripclean

this might honestly be the best option. might do this !!

 

[Rjukan]

this might honestly be the best option. might do this !!

What did you decide to do?

 

[rja]

What did you decide to do?

I did a water change and yanked out every bit of crap I possibly could, tank looks like crap still so I plan to do it again soon. It’s nice to do water changes on a tank that could not really crash at all. Back when I had a ton of coral in this thing I was reluctant to do water changes because of how small it is and its potential for big param swings. Anyway, I also turned the lighting down a lot. I went from 65% peak intensity to 35% and brought out a whiter spectrum. Hopefully this slows the algae growth down. Might throw in an excess amount of CUC after I do a flat worm x treatment once I chef up 10-15 gallons of water to change.

Seems like the tank actually still has a ton of potential as a softie only tank.