New here!! and have a couple questions

Hello everyone!

For starters i have a bowed 30gallon tank with a external filter and a Protein skimmer ( the one that hangs on the back)/ filter also bought the current high out put lighting( only far as soft coral). I got this set up for a 100 bucks which i thought was a killer deal. the guy said he had it for about 2 years. When i received this tank it was covered with hair algee about 3 to 4 inches long. had only hermit crabs and a couple snails.( said he sold all the fish). anyways i scrubbed and cleaned every bit of the hair algee off. its been a good 4 months since it was clear of hair algee but about a month ago i got the new light system once i put the lights on the hair algee came right back.so i got my water tested at a local fish store and they said my phosphates were reading off the scale so they told meto buy Phosguard. and put about half a cup in the external fiter. did that but the phosphates are still off the scale and its been about 3 weeks since ive had it in they checked it and it is still way to high. now my question is should i just completely remove all the old live rock and the sand and start with fresh everything... oh and the guy who sold it to me was putting city not RO water which i have been doing. so do i need to get new live rock and live sand ? sorry for my writing not a english major.;D anyways thank you for your opinions on how to solve my phosphate issue.

 

Are you doing water changes regularly? What are your water parameters? Just post the readings of everything you can possibly test for.

 

Yeah, you should have started with new LR and LS or nuked it. If you do that now, you will go through a full blown cycle. If theres a way that you could take your livestock to a friends tank or a LFS to fish-sit while you cycle again, that would be your best bet. Or if you have a Q tank. Sounds like the ex-owner's LR and LS is "leaking" Po4 into your tank. Luna

 

Welcome to 3reef.

That probably means the rock has soaked up the PO4's and will continue to release it for a long time. The new spectrum of light you put on the tank kicked it in gear. I would buy some base rock and start over without that rock or as little as possible. Buying cured LR is just silly to pay that went you can get base rock and bring it alive with time yourself.

I bleach all my rock before it goes in the tank but am not sure it will remove the PO4's.

This is all just my opinion though.

 

I would start by testing the source water and changing to RO if you can. Not sure if you meant you were or weren't using RO. I would take a look at what you are feeding and how much. Flakes and pellets are notorious for leeching PO4. I would cut feeding back a bit. Also I would start doing more and larger volume water changes. If you are using RO test the TDS. Also I would check into what salt you use as some DO contain PO4.
Crabs and snails will eat hair as well, but at the end of the day you need to get to the root of the problem
Live rock can be swished around in tank water to remove trapped detritus which can also be a source of PO4.

Good luck

 

kole tangs, lawnmower blennies,and there is alot of other fish you can get to help. i wouldnt tare down yet. get books, read online, and, read read read. i studed 14 months ruffly before i switched from freash and havent stop reading. i belive the 1st. 10 years are experimental anyway. a tank i still have had that problem a long time ago and fish where my awnser. it took some time but i never had the problem again. i also use for awhile now is phos. media in my filters and i have made it work in all my different kind of filters. and it cheap.R/O water helps to. but dont do nothing drastic to fast take your time. big mistake people do is rushing stuff. you have the rest of your life to fill your tank. youll win some and loose some.take your time make a your choise on what you want to do to solve your problem. sit back and watch and learn. if it didnt work move on to something else.start small before you go big well good luck and keep on reefing

 

all i have is a turbo snail about 6 or so hermit crabs a emerald crab, a clown and a dottyback. And a star fish that came with the tank..( he said he got it from the ocean diving ?!?!). And yes i use RO water but the owner before me did not. So i can bleach all the live rock?? and live sand? PO4's stands for? the hydrometor reads at 1.024. yes i do water changes regularly i use instant ocean. i tried using one of those vacuum siphoning tools to get all the dirt in between the LS.

Also i feed very little just for the clown and dottyback to eat and thats it once a day some times i miss a day

 

nuke it? using bleach? do explain plz

 

i had a 45g discus fresh water tank for 4 years now but about a month or 2ago my heater went haywire and boiled all 4 . so ive decided just try the salt alone.