Should I bleach my live rock?
I have a saltwater tank w/ 1 Golden Spot Eel http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb102... My phosphates & Nitrates are out of control so I be just going to move him up to a bigger tank and start over. I tried more frequent water change using RO/DI water but the algae just seems to come vertebrae w/ a vengeance and I've only been feed the eel once or twice a week for the last couple months. Even the aptasia are all shriveled! I've got some serious mat of red/brown algae and long strandy green algae. I hate to put these nasty looking rocks in a foreign set-up and I wonder just how much is actually alive any more. Most of my crabs & snails seem to own died & I had a couple other fish that have slowly disappeared. I was thinking in the region of bleaching the worst pieces and scrubbing the rest then buying new live rocks for the strange tank. What do you think, should I just stick to trying to scrub them adjectives?
Thanks
Answers: The live rocks are still 'alive', the problem is the high phosphate and nitrate levels which act as fertiliser for algae.
Bleaching will simply turn them into stinky dead base rock and the dead organsims stuck surrounded by them will just mess with your new cistern. A quick scrub and scrape to get rid of some algae will do no impair though. The algae will only continue to grow in the unsullied tank if you have like water problems.
You may also want to consider some more equipment to control the water quality.
A protien skimmer will remove life waste from the water and slow the nitrate buildup.
You can get phosphate absorbing filter medium.
A refugium will remove nutrients by growing large types of algae out of view in a sump. If you can remove the nutrients from the system in that is less in the water to nurture the unwanted algae.
Ian
