Something is so very wrong

Ok here is my life story of my sw tanks... and im not going to include the fish only and freshwater tanks... I had a 20 gallon long, bought an overflow, and bought a sump. Then, i hated the idea of an overflow and i really wanted an all in one tank like a biocube but better. So like 2 months later, i finally convinced my dad to let me order a cadlight. i got what i wanted (i still payed but...) So now i have this 5 month old cadlight and i really really really really want a regular tank with a cool drilled overflow and siliconed sump... what is wrong with me!!!! I guess my cadlight wouldnt be as bad if i could add on a sump to it but i cant even do that without drilling and im not about to drill this tank.

There are 2 dilemmas: 1, I have a massive hair algae problem in this tank and it hasnt gone away since july... 2, i love saying my tank is 5 months old and cycled and everything. It took a lot to get to that point and i would hate to tear this tank down after all that but i truly want to. Its also a pride thing... I know all of you are going to tell me to trash it because you wanna see a build thread but try to convince me otherwise ;D it cant get much easier than this... im telling you what to say to me!! LOL

Ps: humans (at least me) want what they cant have... theres only one solution! keep the cad running and buy a drilled tank! NOT!!!!!

for some reason i have a desire for everything to be complex... for instance, i want my tank to have pvc tubes everywhere and everything really sophisticated... i cant have that with a cadlight!!!! cant really explain it...

but please help!

- ryan

 

Heres my 20 gallon long thread (pre-coral)
http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-off-your-fish-tanks/20-gallon-long-20-gallon-sump-65601.html
and here is my CAD:
http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-off-your-fish-tanks/22-gallon-cadlight-67236.html

My cad has come a long way... looking back at the thread.

and to make matters worse, you have all these people who have aquapods like 2 years old still running perfectly and that kinda stops me in my tracks...

 

ok i am offically confussed.

what are you getting at here?

you want a new tank or not?

if you dont want a new one then i would first start by addressing the hair aglea and that may be lights or parameters or both.

if you want another drilled tank start by shopping craigslist and go from there.

dont know what else to tell ya

 

Thats the whole point!! ;D i dont know what i want...

 

Get what we all want..... a BIGGER tank....LOL

 

IMO sump is the only way to go on any saltwater tank... i would go with a drilled tank

 

Figure out what you want, then figure out what you can afford. An algae bloom on a 5 month old tank is no reason to panic and tear it all down. A cycled tank is not the same as a mature tank. I am at about 4 months and fighting cyano and I have thought about just tearing it all down and going bigger but thankfully I cannot afford that right now so I am forced to be patient and learn good reefkeeping habits along the way as well as learn what I have done wrong. If I could afford to start over and go bigger right now I would spend the next 4 to 5 months doing the wrong things on a larger scale and then end up with a bigger tank full of algae.

 

Very nicely put. It isnt just the algae, its all the other temptations of a bigger, drilled tank. The algae is just a contributing factor. I know the main reasons why i have it. Its simple. I use tap water and i have no phosphate reactor. Of coarse im going to have algae i just dont have the guts right now to ask my dad to use his credit card. Its ok for christmas or my birthday i will ask for some visa gift cards so i can buy some stuff online and get everything under control. For instance, and RO/DI unit, a refractometer, and a phosphate reactor... until then ill just keep scrubbing my rocks...