Restart or Revive?

[Arsalan]

Hey all,

I have a 55g cube that i’ve regrettably neglected for that past year and it’s over grown with bubble algae and aptasia. It was a pretty nice nem tank with over 50 nems of different types and colors (nothing super fancy, nicest was a couple black widow), a buncha GSP on the bottom with some leathers and just 2 gold stripe lightning maroon clowns which are breeding.

I want to do an overhaul and replace the nems and clowns with LPS and softies and Anglers and seahorses.

The tank is running over 3+ years and has tons of pods, so i’m hesitant to do a full breakdown and start fresh. I love the rock work as is and intend to keep it.

I’m also in no rush.

looking for opinions. would you guys restart? or treat the tank, bring it back to health and swap livestock?

 

[TPhan]

I would try to revive it to optimal level since it already have a stable ecosystem and you are happy with your scape. Starting over may lead to more unforseen issues.

 

[DylanCameron]

I would slowly bring it back to where you want. 5 peppermints, 5 emerald crabs, and some TLC every weekend and you’ll get there sooner than you think. Probably a lot of new reefers who would be grateful for softie donations

 

[Chris.sturgis]

I agree with what others have said. Slowly bring it back, If it were me i would work on one section at a time.

 

[Arsalan]

i like it. i got inspired, so i started with the sump, gonna empty it and get it cleaned up, and actually redo the wire management (nicely this time) while i'm at it, so i’ll actually start loving the tank and not wanna neglect it anymore.

Also love @DylanCameron’s idea on softie donations to newbs. i’ll start separate posts for that.

 

[thrillreefer]

Wow is that bottom right rock covered in Aiptasia?? Impressive! If it’s removable, anyone breeding Berghia nudis would be ecstatic. (Or you could get a few yourself)

 

[Arsalan]

Wow is that bottom right rock covered in Aiptasia?? Impressive! If it’s removable, anyone breeding Berghia nudis would be ecstatic. (Or you could get a few yourself)

that’s an older pic, but yeah. at that point there was more aptasia than i’ve ever seen in any other tank. it’s calmed down a bit since then but bubble algae has def taken over which is prob why aptasia reduced. nems also shrunk and reduced too.. just took these:

 

[Arsalan]

Wow is that bottom right rock covered in Aiptasia?? Impressive! If it’s removable, anyone breeding Berghia nudis would be ecstatic. (Or you could get a few yourself)

rocks are all cemented, otherwise i’d try to find someone breeding those slugs

 

[Duds]

Pitho crabs are supposed to be the ultimate crab don’t harm corals and love bubble algae. I got rid of mine as I wasn’t sure what was eating my corals at the time turned out to be my emerald crab and foxface. I’ll be getting more but tough to find seem to have to order in. If you ever make it out my way I’m sure we could work something out for a couple of those slugs to help out with the aiptasia, I have some taking care of a problem for me.

 

[aresangel]

If my tank looked like that I would revive. But mine is on far worse state livestock wise .

 

[Cpage101]

If my tank looked like that I would revive. But mine is on far worse state livestock wise .

let’s see a pic Tim

 

[Mixed Reefer]

Hey all,

I have a 55g cube that i’ve regrettably neglected for that past year and it’s over grown with bubble algae and aptasia. It was a pretty nice nem tank with over 50 nems of different types and colors (nothing super fancy, nicest was a couple black widow), a buncha GSP on the bottom with some leathers and just 2 gold stripe lightning maroon clowns which are breeding.

I want to do an overhaul and replace the nems and clowns with LPS and softies and Anglers and seahorses.

The tank is running over 3+ years and has tons of pods, so i’m hesitant to do a full breakdown and start fresh. I love the rock work as is and intend to keep it. View attachment 201124I’m also in no rush.

looking for opinions. would you guys restart? or treat the tank, bring it back to health and swap livestock?

I would clean it up slowly and bring it back. Better off that way because I believe the revive will kill off microfauna from what I read somewhere. Natural is the way to go. Three years sounds like the tank is is just started to come into its own. I wouldn’t mess that up. Especially when you’re thinking of raising delicate sea horses. In my reefing experiences I’ve been able to take care of the problems in my tank with good maintenance and research. I personally have not used any chemicals to kill off pests algae. But if you decide to blast it I know where you can get some some nice copepods Hope this helps you decide. Good luck

 

[Edward]

I'd revive it as long as you're pest free. You're not going to get stable biology like that for a while with a restart

 

[WetPets]

If you add some berghia they will clean it up and breed for you. It will take them a little while but they will get it taken care of.

 

[aresangel]

let’s see a pic Tim

It’s comming in a for sale post .