15g Ghettotastic Algae Garden... please help!!!

?????huh??????

 

I agree, Hold a party, and charge 5 at the door to raise money for skimmer

 

ahhhhhhh from eyes to brain it didn't make it......

 

Don't feel bad, I had no clue either.

 

Sorry guys.

In addition to the skimmer, check alk and mag.
Watch feeding. Read all sticky threads on this board. Tons of info.
Good luck!

 

Thanks so much for your offer, that was nice of you. But I think I'm down to my last resort option: replacing the sandbed, and somehow cleaning the LR that's in there.

I've tried everything that has been suggested here. This stuff just won't go away.

The extra fish and crabs have been removed. The bio rings are gone, I pulled out the parts of the sandbed that had it, and the pieces of LR that had it. Guess what? It's back...and I give up.

So, my question is, if I take out the infected sandbed that's in there now, get some new LS and put it in there, am I able to clean the LR that I have that's covered with cyano and put it back in?

I'm going to have to buy more LR anyway, but I'm trying to keep my costs down. (as if that were possible)

 

Just ran across this thread been out for awhile before you remove the sand bed how deep is it ? and as mentioned before post the Alk or Carbonate levels as well as the calciums and magnesium levels and the NO3 levels Cyano is fixable in several ways .. What it likes the least is hot K bulb values and oxygen and water movement and doxycillin and thats all it is in the commercial cyano products all are great products and will work . But unless you fix the problem the bacteria will come back. So I'd find the cause first. I have no problems treating any of my tanks with any antibiotic to save a coral or fish but this cyano problem is like I said approachable in several ways..

 

Ok, well it looks like I'm not doing the total breakdown today.

I scooped up the cyano from the sandbed (again), and took out all of the LR. I'm going to try scrubbing that (again) and put it back in the tank.

I also have some of the stuff that Brandon suggested 'UltraLife Red Slime Remover', so I'm going to put some of that in too.

If this doesn't work, I'm going to break the whole thing down, and start over with fresh rock, sand, and water, and let it cycle. I'm trying to avoid that, though.

 

You can tear it down and start all over and I bet you hit the very same wall . you can use this as a learning process and find and fix the simple problem or just keep fighting it.. Matters not to me but I'd hate to see anyone get frustrated and quit. What you have is nothing many of use have dealt with a fix many many many times Its a very simple fix if you want to fix it ?
If interested in killing the cyano off Tell us what the DKH or Carbonate levels are and the Calcium and Magnesium levels also and the PO4's I saw you have NO3 at 20ppm Not good or bad But that will need to be dealt with . Filtration and less feeding and a few less fish tank is to new and small for a huge load and is it a DSB system how deep is the sand ?
What type sand did you use .. I am positive your ca and DKH are very low I can see the water also you have lots of DOC causing that yellowish look also a skimmer is a must and you are feeding to much frozen meat stuff and little or no carbon or not enough carbon L/R will not fix the problem but will only add to it..