Restarting Marine Aquaruim

[bronx889]

This is my first post, so be gentle.

I have an 72 gallon bowfront tank. I had marine fish in there about 2 years ago with about 45 pounds of live rock which is now dormant. All the fish have since gone on to "fish heaven" and the water is still in it and the the canister filter has been off.

What is the best way to systematically and economically get the tank started again. Also I know my live rock and sand isn't live anymore but I know there are ways to get it that way again.

Robert

[An t-iasg]

Hi Robert and welcome to Aquarium Advice!

Let's keep your question in this one topic...the same Q in different forums may confuse you and other members who bounce back and forth between the two questions! And hopfully we are not here to cause confusion, but to help!!!

There are many knowledgable SW members here in this forum who will come along shortly to help you!

[blorkiemom]

Well, if it's been sitting for 2 years with stagnant water, I'd say a good cleaning is the first priority!

The "dead" rock will become "live" again when you add more LR. You should probably have 75-140 lbs in your tank, anyway, so that 45 pounds will just serve as base rock until it gets seeded from new stuff.

What other equipment do you have?

I think the bowfronts are really nice-looking tanks. We were going to go for one, but the stand issue stopped us.

[bronx889]

I have a Magnum 350 canister filter and a power head. I need to work on getting my lighting up to par.

What stand issue did you have?

[blorkiemom]

Oh, just that my husband was going to build the stand and a bowfront presented challenges. Plus which I wanted a sump, and the curve of the stand would have limited what would fit under. Are you thinking sump/fuge?

[bronx889]

I'm sort of a novice to this stuff. I've thought about a sump but never knew the real advantages for a marine tank.

[darb2]

I would advise breaking down the tank and cleaning everything with plain water. Including rinsing the sand. Set the equip back up and fill it. If you are considering any changes to the tank could be done while it is down. If you are considering a sump/fuge then it might pay to get the tank drilled. This makes plumbing a bit easier.
I would check out the articles section. Lots of good stuff there

[blorkiemom]

The sump is good for a couple of things--you can hide most of your equipment down there, it increased your overall water capacity (though not really your livestock capacity), and if there's enough room you can put a small fuge in there for macroalgae, etc. If you DIY it's a pretty cheap way to "upgrade" a tank. IMO!