Need Advice, recovering abandoned tank...

[bkweibley]

Ok guys well the title says it all. Went threw a divorce, she kept the house and the tank. She ran the tank into the ground and now decides to tell me I can have it... The tank is loaded with Asterina starfish all over the glass, tons of bristle worms, and red planaria worms. My first thought was to use a 29 gal tank, pull water from the old tank and use the 29 for the fish inverts and coral that are left and start the 90gal over fresh. After thinking about it more though, Im looking at 6 month + just to have the 90 gal ready again for the corals and im not a fan of having the 29 gal sitting around that long. I was hoping someone here would have a suggestion about how I could save the water at least but start over without all of these hitchhikers. I should pull all the rock out and let it dry to kill everything on it? But id have to let it sit for a few weeks to totally dry out, then wash it out real good, then put it in a seperate saltwater tank for at least a month to let all of the old dead stuff wash out so it doesnt effect the water in the tank? I dont mind tossing the sand and putting new sand in. Im assuming im better off not going with the super expensive live sand this time? Thanks for the help guys!

 

[saltyphish]

Sounds like you have a lot going on. Sometimes the hardest answer is the best one. If I were you I would start fresh. Yes, you will have a long wait but, you will start anew without all those problems. I know harlequin shrimp eat asterina starfish, some fish will eat the bristle worms (sometimes), not sure about the planaria worms. I believe you might need to treat for those. I would not worry about saving the water. The bacteria we need in our systems grow on the surface of things and is not much in the water column. You could pull the rock and let it dry or dip them. There are many different ways to clean the rock. Regardless each method will cause die off and cause a cycle. Your plan for letting the rock re-cure is fine, I just test the water to know when the rock is ready. I am in the process of removing my sand and only remove a little at a time when doing water changes. There is nothing wrong with live sand it will aid in rehabbing your biological filtration. Unless, you want to save some money then get what you want. In time all sand becomes live anyways. Imo sounds like a total redo to me. But this allows you to make changes and start fresh making it your tank!