Craigslist tank purchase

[Monster Mac]

So i bought an acrylic tank from craigslist and the guy had the water out of it but still had the sand and live rock in it. My question is should i just throw away the sand and rock and start from scratch or should i just keep? i think i can cure it right? i'm not sure of the process or what that even really dose. Thanks for any input.

 

[J Rog]

I would keep the rock if it looks good but get new sand and keep a little bit of the old stuff to seed the new stuff. :wink:

 

[luxauterna]

I would keep the rock but get mostly new sand and wash the other sand. Depending on how long the tank has been sitting with just the rock and sand without water, you don't know what type of died off bacteria as well as the amount of detritus remains in the sand. Wash both and you can reuse.

 

[fishroomlady]

I would keep the rock and cure it. I might opt to get all new sand

 

[Monster Mac]

So i think i will keep the rock and some of the sand and toss the rest. When i was looking at the rock it isn't all rock. 2 of the larger pieces are what i think are fossilized coral. I usually only see these as decorations on a mantel or maybe a Fish only tank. Could these cause a problem in an up and coming reef tank?

 

[Steelerfan747]

Same as above, keep the rock by new sand including some live sand to seed it.

 

[jimmies1974]

No need to replace the sand. I filter the sand by using a strainer that is really fine and enough the sand falls through and picks up unnecessary stuff. It's brightening up the sand and get rid of unwanted matter. Work well