150g turnaround

[akando]

And my 72 gallon...still want a scrubber for it. no cash for one though. cant seem to build a diy one that will work worth a crap.

[SantaMonica]

Clean a bit more often since it's still dark. Maybe ever 5 or 6 days until it's more green.

[akando]

Thanks SM, I'll try that.

[akando]

Question, I broke down my 125 this weekend to move it and there was a lot of carbon in the sand and sump, this was from the previous owner, I was in a rush to set up last time and never rinsed the sand. There was also a LOT of detritus. Could the carbon have been causing me problems?

[Ace25]

I have never heard of carbon causing algae issues like you have. Worst case with what you describe is it could possibly lead to HLLE in certain fish (which you seem to have, Tangs, so in your case I would be concerned with carbon in the system), but other than that carbon doesn't usually cause any issues if a little gets in the tank, although obviously best to avoid. I have had my "oops" moments where either Rox carbon or GFO have made it into the tank/sand and stayed for years without issue except for the fact I get mad at myself for letting it happen every time I see some in the sand, but I do not have any fish that are susceptible to HLLE.

The built up detritus would be what I feel is one of the major causes of your problems and I would recommend just replacing the sand unless you feel it is cheaper for you to rinse out the old. I find the time to really clean old sand cost me more than just buying new sand, but I value my time at a certain rate. A good sandbed clean up crew makes all the difference. Don't slack on things that will clean the sand, but don't go overboard on certain creatures (thinking nassarius snails, a few are good, a lot can lead to hunger and dead fish since they will eat sleeping fish if hungry enough).

Also since you said you tore it down, no better time to get some stiff brushes out and really scrub the rocks clean.

[SantaMonica]

If you have a CUC, then there won't be any detritus buildup; they will multiply to match it. If there is not enough detritus, they will die off to match it.

[akando]

Ace, I spent a good hour and a half rinsing the sand and it was really dirty. I ended up using the sand out of my 72 that I condensed into the 125. Will probably keep the 125 sand and experiment with it in a smaller tank.