Bought used tank with live rock and snails

[reefedandconfused]

I bought a used 29 gallon biocube tank and the seller wanted to me keep his live rock, sand and equipment. I am still missing a light and I will need to get a wave maker but I pretty much have everything else I need to start. Light and wave maker have been ordered.

So my question is…
1. Should I keep his live rock and sand since it is well established? He has had it going for several years.
2. Should I clean the tank since it does have some calcium buildup on the back?
3. There is some residue on the glass that he said was purple algae. He said he left it because he likes to use it to populate the rocks and it is a more desirable algae to have in your tank. Is this true?
4. He said that he definitely has different critters in his tank but nothing harmful to fish or coral. I am not sure if I should trust the setup or if I should start from scratch?

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I bought a used 29 gallon biocube tank and the seller wanted to me keep his live rock, sand and equipment. I am still missing a light and I will need to get a wave maker but I pretty much have everything else I need to start. Light and wave maker have been ordered.

So my question is…
1. Should I keep his live rock and sand since it is well established? He has had it going for several years.
2. Should I clean the tank since it does have some calcium buildup on the back?
3. There is some residue on the glass that he said was purple algae. He said he left it because he likes to use it to populate the rocks and it is a more desirable algae to have in your tank. Is this true?
4. He said that he definitely has different critters in his tank but nothing harmful to fish or coral. I am not sure if I should trust the setup or if I should start from scratch?

If it were me, I would put the rock in a large tub, with water from the tank, heater and a pump. That will keep it live, clean tank and equipment to new, get lights and watch brs 52 weeks of reefing on YouTube or Mr saltwater videos

 

[vetteguy53081]

I bought a used 29 gallon biocube tank and the seller wanted to me keep his live rock, sand and equipment. I am still missing a light and I will need to get a wave maker but I pretty much have everything else I need to start. Light and wave maker have been ordered.

So my question is…
1. Should I keep his live rock and sand since it is well established? He has had it going for several years.
2. Should I clean the tank since it does have some calcium buildup on the back?
3. There is some residue on the glass that he said was purple algae. He said he left it because he likes to use it to populate the rocks and it is a more desirable algae to have in your tank. Is this true?
4. He said that he definitely has different critters in his tank but nothing harmful to fish or coral. I am not sure if I should trust the setup or if I should start from scratch?

Clean tank glass yes- Magic eraser ORIGINAL - Not scented will clean it well. Sand is questionable and on my behalf, I would buy carib sea aragalive sand and agitate rock with water pump adding liquid bacteria such as Micro Bacter XLM or 7 for 5-10 days

 

[Rusty_L_Shackleford]

If it were me, I would put the rock in a large tub, with water from the tank, heater and a pump. That will keep it live, clean tank and equipment to new, get lights and watch brs 52 weeks of reefing on YouTube or Mr saltwater videos

This is an excellent start. Get a big Rubbermaid tub from home dept and put everything in it. Live rock, water, heater, etc. Feed it occasionally and just let it chill. In the meantime: clean the tank. Scrub out what's obvious, then fill it completely, dump in a bunch of citric acid, and let it run for a couple days. Drain it, scrub it one more time then let it run with strait ro for a day or two. Then drain it and fill with the appropriate saltwater and add in all the live rock you've been saving. Leave the lights off for a few weeks and keep feeding it a little. Test the water and as long as you're ammonia and nitrite are 0 you can add your first fish and turn on the lights. Run the lights only 4 hours a day for now and increase by an hour every week or 2 until you're at the full schedule. You can add a small fish every couple of weeks unless you're seeing other problems.

Excellent advice to spend the time while everything marinates watching 52 weeks of reefing and browsing this site. Nothing good happens fast in a reef tank and there are no miracles in a bottle. Be patient.

 

[Rusty_L_Shackleford]

This is an excellent start. Get a big Rubbermaid tub from home dept and put everything in it. Live rock, water, heater, etc. Feed it occasionally and just let it chill. In the meantime: clean the tank. Scrub out what's obvious, then fill it completely, dump in a bunch of citric acid, and let it run for a couple days. Drain it, scrub it one more time then let it run with strait ro for a day or two. Then drain it and fill with the appropriate saltwater and add in all the live rock you've been saving. Leave the lights off for a few weeks and keep feeding it a little. Test the water and as long as you're ammonia and nitrite are 0 you can add your first fish and turn on the lights. Run the lights only 4 hours a day for now and increase by an hour every week or 2 until you're at the full schedule. You can add a small fish every couple of weeks unless you're seeing other problems.

Excellent advice to spend the time while everything marinates watching 52 weeks of reefing and browsing this site. Nothing good happens fast in a reef tank and there are no miracles in a bottle. Be patient.

Look, I'm an old school reefer. I did this for almost 20 years and then took a break for almost a decade while I l moved to Hawaii to study marine biology, and aquaculture. I came back to the hobby almost a year ago, and the amount of tech and info available now is mind boggling: but the basics haven't changed. There are just more tools to accomplish it now. You need good water, good food, good light, and a stable biome within the tank. There are no short cuts, and no miracles in a bottle. Yes there are many tools to help you along your journey, but anyone promising results overnight is full of ****. Nothing good happens fast in a reef. Be patient, do the research (never stop reading), stick to the basics and do the maintenance and success will follow.

 

[KrisReef]

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[mfinn]

If it were me, I would put the rock in a large tub, with water from the tank, heater and a pump. That will keep it live, clean tank and equipment to new, get lights and watch brs 52 weeks of reefing on YouTube or Mr saltwater videos

Sounds like good advice.
I would also add since there are no fish I would use all new saltwater when refilling the tank and use the old water to rinse off the rock before adding it to the tank.
I would also use new sand.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Sounds like good advice.
I would also add since there are no fish I would use all new saltwater when refilling the tank and use the old water to rinse off the rock before adding it to the tank.
I would also use new sand.

Absolutely new sand, thank you.

 

[reefedandconfused]

If it were me, I would put the rock in a large tub, with water from the tank, heater and a pump. That will keep it live, clean tank and equipment to new, get lights and watch brs 52 weeks of reefing on YouTube or Mr saltwater videos

I just finished the videos today. I was thinking similar to what you were saying about about keeping the rock, dump the sand and clean the tank real well.

The live rock has a ton of crevices that could be hiding critters, should I “dip” them or will that destroy too much of the bacteria? I also have the established bio balls. Do those need to be tossed or can I treat them like live rock?

This is an excellent start. Get a big Rubbermaid tub from home dept and put everything in it. Live rock, water, heater, etc. Feed it occasionally and just let it chill. In the meantime: clean the tank. Scrub out what's obvious, then fill it completely, dump in a bunch of citric acid, and let it run for a couple days. Drain it, scrub it one more time then let it run with strait ro for a day or two. Then drain it and fill with the appropriate saltwater and add in all the live rock you've been saving. Leave the lights off for a few weeks and keep feeding it a little. Test the water and as long as you're ammonia and nitrite are 0 you can add your first fish and turn on the lights. Run the lights only 4 hours a day for now and increase by an hour every week or 2 until you're at the full schedule. You can add a small fish every couple of weeks unless you're seeing other problems.

Excellent advice to spend the time while everything marinates watching 52 weeks of reefing and browsing this site. Nothing good happens fast in a reef tank and there are no miracles in a bottle. Be patient.

Sounds like good advice.
I would also add since there are no fish I would use all new saltwater when refilling the tank and use the old water to rinse off the rock before adding it to the tank.
I would also use new sand.

I bought a used 29 gallon biocube tank and the seller wanted to me keep his live rock, sand and equipment. I am still missing a light and I will need to get a wave maker but I pretty much have everything else I need to start. Light and wave maker have been ordered.

So my question is…
1. Should I keep his live rock and sand since it is well established? He has had it going for several years.
2. Should I clean the tank since it does have some calcium buildup on the back?
3. There is some residue on the glass that he said was purple algae. He said he left it because he likes to use it to populate the rocks and it is a more desirable algae to have in your tank. Is this true?
4. He said that he definitely has different critters in his tank but nothing harmful to fish or coral. I am not sure if I should trust the setup or if I should start from scratch?

UPDATE w/two questions

Plan:
1. Move rock to tub with existing saltwater, pump and heater.

2. Toss the sand but keep the snails. Put snails with live rock and feed after as needed.

3. Clean all equipment and tank without chemicals. I am reading that lemon juice can help remove calcium build up. I will also try Mr. Eraser to clean tank glass and equipment as needed.

4.add equipment back into tanks.

5. Rise tank and run RO water for a few days then drain.

QUESTION: Should I dip my live rock to get rid of critters while I am going through this process OR should I just rinse (with existing salt water) and place into tank? I haven’t really seen any visible critters except one worm in the filter and tube worms.

QUESTION: Should I reuse the existing bio balls? They are established and I know if I buy new ones it will take a long time to get them to become established.

6. Place new live sand into tank.

7. Put live rock in and fill with new saltwater.

8. Add some Fritz Bacteria starter.

9. Let tank run and keep an eye on the cycle. Watch for ammonia spikes.

10. Once water quality is solid, I will incorporate fish.

I know that I don’t want to rush anything but between the live rock, sand and Fritz bacteria, I imagine I will be able to start adding fish after 2-3 weeks… again assuming water quality is good.

I am also going to run this by my local saltwater fish store to see what they have to say.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I just finished the videos today. I was thinking similar to what you were saying about about keeping the rock, dump the sand and clean the tank real well.

The live rock has a ton of crevices that could be hiding critters, should I “dip” them or will that destroy too much of the bacteria? I also have the established bio balls. Do those need to be tossed or can I treat them like live rock?



UPDATE w/two questions

Plan:
1. Move rock to tub with existing saltwater, pump and heater.

2. Toss the sand but keep the snails. Put snails with live rock and feed after as needed.

3. Clean all equipment and tank without chemicals. I am reading that lemon juice can help remove calcium build up. I will also try Mr. Eraser to clean tank glass and equipment as needed.

4.add equipment back into tanks.

5. Rise tank and run RO water for a few days then drain.

QUESTION: Should I dip my live rock to get rid of critters while I am going through this process OR should I just rinse (with existing salt water) and place into tank? I haven’t really seen any visible critters except one worm in the filter and tube worms.

QUESTION: Should I reuse the existing bio balls? They are established and I know if I buy new ones it will take a long time to get them to become established.

6. Place new live sand into tank.

7. Put live rock in and fill with new saltwater.

8. Add some Fritz Bacteria starter.

9. Let tank run and keep an eye on the cycle. Watch for ammonia spikes.

10. Once water quality is solid, I will incorporate fish.

I know that I don’t want to rush anything but between the live rock, sand and Fritz bacteria, I imagine I will be able to start adding fish after 2-3 weeks… again assuming water quality is good.

I am also going to run this by my local saltwater fish store to see what they have to say.

This is my opinion not based on any science or extreme knowledge. If the tank did not have any bad things before, there won't be any bad things going forward. I would just clean algae and other gunk from the rock and use as is. I started my current tank with Tampa Bay live rock and sand straight out of the ocean . I checked for hitch hikers and put into my system. Checking for hitch hikers was a waste of time as I found out later but what I got for hitch hikers I was able to get rid of.

 

[mfinn]

I would use vinegar as your cleaner.
I would not dip the live rock, just rinse in old tank water.
I would not waste ro water to run the tank for a few days. Unless your tap water is really bad ( undrinkable), I would use it. Maybe add some dechlorinator.
Run the freshwater to test if the drains, return pump, etc are running correctly and the noise level is acceptable.
I would reuse the bio-balls until you don't want them. Then just take a 1/4 of them out every few days to a week.

 

[Mikeltee]

I just finished the videos today. I was thinking similar to what you were saying about about keeping the rock, dump the sand and clean the tank real well.

The live rock has a ton of crevices that could be hiding critters, should I “dip” them or will that destroy too much of the bacteria? I also have the established bio balls. Do those need to be tossed or can I treat them like live rock?



UPDATE w/two questions

Plan:
1. Move rock to tub with existing saltwater, pump and heater.

2. Toss the sand but keep the snails. Put snails with live rock and feed after as needed.

3. Clean all equipment and tank without chemicals. I am reading that lemon juice can help remove calcium build up. I will also try Mr. Eraser to clean tank glass and equipment as needed.

4.add equipment back into tanks.

5. Rise tank and run RO water for a few days then drain.

QUESTION: Should I dip my live rock to get rid of critters while I am going through this process OR should I just rinse (with existing salt water) and place into tank? I haven’t really seen any visible critters except one worm in the filter and tube worms.

QUESTION: Should I reuse the existing bio balls? They are established and I know if I buy new ones it will take a long time to get them to become established.

6. Place new live sand into tank.

7. Put live rock in and fill with new saltwater.

8. Add some Fritz Bacteria starter.

9. Let tank run and keep an eye on the cycle. Watch for ammonia spikes.

10. Once water quality is solid, I will incorporate fish.

I know that I don’t want to rush anything but between the live rock, sand and Fritz bacteria, I imagine I will be able to start adding fish after 2-3 weeks… again assuming water quality is good.

I am also going to run this by my local saltwater fish store to see what they have to say.

Buy a 5# bag of citric acid off of Amazon. You won't need to scrub much. You will need a skimmer if you want to have coral. If you are referening the biocube built in light it's not going to cut it for coral. I'd remove the lid and find appropriate lighting if I wanted coral. Removing the lid will allow for a skimmer as well. I just picked up an aquamaxx bullet for my office tank. Seems pretty sweet.

 

[Cell]

Bioballs are not necessary or even recommended really when you have sufficient rock.

The extra RO step for several days isn't really necessary either, especially when you are cleaning with no chemicals.

As for the live rock, I would examine it and determine my course of action depending on what is found. Ask the seller if they have any known pests.

A skimmer is not necessary to grow coral, but it is a very effective and easy export method.

 

[reefedandconfused]

I bought a used 29 gallon biocube tank and the seller wanted to me keep his live rock, sand and equipment. I am still missing a light and I will need to get a wave maker but I pretty much have everything else I need to start. Light and wave maker have been ordered.

So my question is…
1. Should I keep his live rock and sand since it is well established? He has had it going for several years.
2. Should I clean the tank since it does have some calcium buildup on the back?
3. There is some residue on the glass that he said was purple algae. He said he left it because he likes to use it to populate the rocks and it is a more desirable algae to have in your tank. Is this true?
4. He said that he definitely has different critters in his tank but nothing harmful to fish or coral. I am not sure if I should trust the setup or if I should start from scratch?

Update: Tank is running and all seems to be going well. Still waiting on my light and it looks like the two corals that were attached to the live rock and dead but I want to see if they come back. Two snails seem like they are doing well.