Tear-down of neglected tank... what to save?

[marsh]

Hi! recently I divorced a man who, bless his soul, tried to get into reef tanks as I enjoy freshwater so much, and never did much research. Now it sits abandoned looking gross, and his other stuff is all gone so I guess he is not interested in this tank because he left it here!

I am starting fresh! lol pun intended, but the tank I want to use is my own 55Gal that did not have a sump but I used as a FOWLR with a HOB skimmer for a year successfully. The old tank I am tearing down was a 29 with a 15 gallon sump, and built in overflow.

If I can fit the sump into my stand I would like to buy an overflow thingy and use the extra water capacity.

Here are my questions: How do I "clean" the 30 lbs of sand from the old tank? it looks full of green and red gross stuff, so if I must I will use some new black sand I have laying around, but it is not made for saltwater, I believe the old sand was caribsea, about a year old and only got one or two vac cleanings while in the tank.

Inhabitants:
1 blue chromis
1 cleaner shrimp
1 serpent star
1 tube worm
possible surviving snails of various types and a missing lawnmower blenny, who was always shy..

The old tank was set up with too much direct sun, and the lighting has been disrupted for a month now, so I see some very weak "pulsing zenia" light grey looking skinny... also some zoanthids? they looked great before the timer was unplugged. A very sick anemone who suffered and moved all over the tank the last 3 months since he was brought home.

I will not be using the LED's anymore, they are saltcrusted and attached well to the old hood, but I do have two fixtures each holding 4x 30" T5HO bulbs that fit fairly well on the 55. they include ballasts, have been sitting unused..

The Live Rock in the old tank has lots of hairy green algae and even see some bubble algae, neither of which I have encountered before...

I am willing to use about 50lbs of base rock I had in my previous FOWLR that I have scrubbed, rinsed and let sun dry after soaking in salt water for a month when I tore down my last saltwater tank.

Do I need to rescue the LR, it is teaming with coraline and hosts the zoanthid colony.. I may have that name wrong but will post some photos asap..

How do I remove hair algae and sterilize the LR that is sitting in the sump? the evap is so bad that no water has been through the sump in several weeks, so that 15-25 lbs of rock has been sitting.

 

[Codyphoto]

Wow, good luck. I hope someone with experience can help you out. Sounds pretty far gone to me.

 

[marsh]

lol yeah it looks pathetic... but the little blue chromis is looking fine and he can help cycle the 55, weather or not I transfer any LR.

I am also attached to this particular serpent star, very feisty and was from my original salt tank last year.

I just saw a snail (astrea? forget how to spell that) so that gives me hope... also the cleaner shrimp is still ticking..lets think positive...

 

[carey]

What you could do about the rock is put it into a bucket or pail with water agiatation and just leave it for a few days without any light. The alage will mostly go away. I wouldnt kill the live rock, just get rid of the algae so you can have a cleaner start.

If you have a shrimp alive then it can't be that bad, they are notoriously picky about water parameters.

Do you have a test kit? That would be a great first step, see exactly where you are at.

 

[JustinKBreen]

if you want to preserve the life on the live rock like the zoas... then pull each piece out pull off all the hair algae and bubble algae you can, rinse it off and put it in the new tank.

 

[marsh]

Thank you both! I will do water tests and my worst fear is thaw salinity is sky high with the lack of top offs in over a month. I get back from the stables I work at in a couple hours.

A combination of pulling off (handfuls) or the hair algae and scraping off bubble algae plus a few days of sitting in a dark bucket with powerheads is what I am gathering.

Thanks! I will pick up 10 gallons of RO water at the water machine on my way home.

I literally have a RODI but nobody I have had help me had indicated they could set it up, can't be that hard?! I was told by my plumber last week that I needed a tank, yet I see a gauge right there... I do have well water, not the best pressure. I got the 4-chamber type from "Spectra-Pure" from a fishtank seller off Craigslist for free with a grip of lights and gear.

I will look at their website today, maybe ill find a manual I can download.

 

[carey]

Bulk reef supply has some great videos about installation of ro/di units. In fact during the videos they will tell you what do exactly, even if you dont have one of their units. They are all basically the same as far as parts and lines so I would watch one of their videos.

 

[furrymurray]

The plumber said you needed tank? To store the water in? If so, what I use is a large brute trash can on wheels. I attached a float valve that I purchaed at bulk reef supply. I attach my ro di unit to it and it turns off when the water level reaches the float vavle. Then I add salt and turn on a power head and heater that is inside the brute trash can.

 

[JustinKBreen]

Bulk reef supply has some great videos about installation of ro/di units. In fact during the videos they will tell you what do exactly, even if you dont have one of their units. They are all basically the same as far as parts and lines so I would watch one of their videos.

Great advice, its not hard. I have mine going into a trash can also that I use to mix the water, I dont have mine on a float valve like Murray. . I just have it hooked up to a hose in the garage and turn off the hose when its full.. I also use the big blue 32 gallon brute trash cans.. the ones I have found with wheels arnt as sturdy I dont think.. all that water puts a lot of pressure on the walls of the cans..

Turning off the lights will help and the zoas should be hardy enough to withstand the lack of light.

 

[marsh]

As I understood it he meant a pressurized tank of CO2 I think... But thanks so much I will look at those bulk reef supply videos I am hoping to actually buy refills from brs next group buy