# Dumb Algae Question



## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

So I have had this most ridiculous algae outbreak in my tank for some months now. If you search you may find my previous posts. It has included diatoms, that whispy green algae and most notoriously cyanobacteria. I have decided it is time for allllll the plants, decor, and substrate to go; in which you may also find previous posts. I have maybe 2-3 more water changes before it is all gone and it becomes bare bottom for a while. My question is........what is the best way to clean the algae off the glass walls and bottom and get it to leave the tank? In the same respect; do I need to completely change the filter media due to some of the algae and cyano living in the media baskets? What is the depth or reach of this algae? The last thing I wanna do is add new substrate and plants, etc and have this crap come back again. Thanks in advance for the help.


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Does your tank receive direct sunlight?


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

If you don't want to tear the whole tank down, you could try treating the cyano with maracyn, I know a lot of people have had really good results with that. I just pulled out all the sand from my 75 and replaced it with new stuff -- I had a cyano outbreak earlier this summer and after a few weeks of removing as much as I could every day, cutting back on lighting, increasing the frequency of water changes, and hacking back plants, I finally had it under control. Since then, it kept coming back in a couple small spots in my sand so I just decided that I needed to start fresh.

If you decide to tear things down, I'd replace the substrate, boil or bleach dip all your driftwood and rocks, and really scrub down the glass. Once the tank is set up again, ease back into a normal lighting routine and keep up with tank maintenance, should be fine.


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

The tank is not in direct sunlight. I dont want to tear it down but I fell it is my only option. I would prefer to not dose the antibiotics simply because of the said side affects it could cause and plus it kills off some of the beneficial bacteria. If I am going to kill of goo bacteria I am going to do it on my own account, not because of some meds. Idk if that makes sense but somehow in my head its rationalized. All the decor, well the one piece of driftwood and the 2 medium sized rocks are going in the garbage and the plants are soon to follow. I have a few water wisteria left in the tank with maybe 20 lbs of sand.

Joe how did u start fresh?? What did you do with the fish? Did you go through a new cycle? did you use the same filter media? I appreciate the help.


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

Sorry, I didn't this again until now... To start fresh, I just tore the tank down. I netted out my rhom and put him in a 5 gal bucket, drained all the tank water, pulled out all the driftwood, plants, and equipment that was in the tank, then I removed all the sand, and then scraped and scrubbed down the glass. I scrubbed down my driftwood and equipment, put new sand in, and refilled the tank, then I drip acclimated my rhom and called it a day. I didn't worry about my filter media because I run a wet/dry and it's in my stand so it receives no light, without light, cyano can't survive. As long as your filter media isn't exposed to light, I wouldn't worry about it.

I probably could have gotten rid of it by just removing about half the substrate and cutting out the lights completely for a couple weeks, but I was tired of dealing with it and wanted a fresh start. All in all, it took me about 2 hours total to tear the tank down and set it up again, so it was definitely worth it for a nice clean tank.


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

Okay cool. I am almsot done taking out the sand. I have been gradually doing so for a couple weeks now. I take some out with every water change. I have a wet dry, a cannister, and a HOB on that tank and none of them are exposed to light so I should be good with that. In terms of having new water in the tank, I am assuming that the filter media will cycle the tank almost instantly? I dont want to use the meds bc I fell like it just is too risky. I would rather just start fresh, plus now I can aquascape it properly and start with some fresh new plants; not to mention, I can now have a black substrate.


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

That was my thinking behind starting over too, I was spending all my time battling cyano instead of enjoying my tank, so I figured it was better to spend a couple hours starting fresh with something I was happy with instead of spending a few hours a week removing that nasty stuff.

Your filter media should stay cycled as long as the filters aren't shut off too long, just make sure you refill the tank with water of the same temp and use dechlorinator. You'll most likely have some bacteria die-off, so I'd go easy on feedings for a bit after you get everything set up again, but it shouldn't cause any big problems.


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

Okay cool. Yea that sounds like the best plan for me. It will also be good too as now I can really get in there and scrub the tank down. Did you do anything special to clean the tank?


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

Nope, just used paper towels and a couple wash cloths to get everything off the glass.


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## 65galhex (Nov 5, 2008)

good deal, I will most likely be doing this within 2-3 weeks


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