New keeper not new tank

creationsessex · Jan 16, 2022

Hi. I've just bought my first marine tank. It's 425lt red sea. It was running in the previous owners house right up until the night before I collected. I Brought home 3/4 of the tanks water. All live rock and sand was kept wet. The previous owner was a very experienced keeper. My question is when can I add a CUC or corals etc. . Thank you

Peace River · Jan 16, 2022

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!! There are various opinions about when to add clean up crew, but remember that they will need to eat so one perspective is to wait until algae starts growing. Even though the rock and sand has been kept wet, there will be some level of die off (maybe big, maybe small) so you may want to focus on making sure the tank is fully cycled first. I'm sure that others will jump in with greetings and recommendations - whatever way you choose, good luck with your adventure!

PeterC99 · Jan 16, 2022

Welcome to R2R!

Do you have testing kits to test the water’s parameters?

tharbin · Jan 16, 2022

Welcome to R2R! I agree with @Peace River once you have something for them to eat, add some CUC. Personally I'd hold off on coral until you have it dialed in and everything is stabile

Zach B · Jan 16, 2022

Welcome

Reefer58 · Jan 16, 2022

Welcome to R2R!! You should definitely test your water if you have testing kits or get it tested at a LFS just so you know the parameters of the tank

. Then you can make the necessary adjustments, if you need to, for your first coral. Good luck!

G Santana · Jan 16, 2022

Welcome to R2R, you have your hands full. I would use the previous keepers experience, ask him what he did and use his years of experience to guide you.

Nemo&Friends · Jan 16, 2022

tharbin said:
Welcome to R2R! I agree with @Peace River once you have something for them to eat, add some CUC. Personally I'd hold off on coral until you have it dialed in and everything is stabile

Welcome
As your tank was a running tank, and you kept rocks, sand and water, it should not take long. Just make sure sand did not released too many bacteria when it was moved. If your parameter are stable and good, you can start. Did you get any fish and inverts when you got your tank? I started, just like you with a running tank, and could buy cleaning crew immediately. My tank included 1 hermit, and 2 damsels. it was approximately 9 or 10 years ago. I still have one of the damsel.

kstaley12 · Jan 16, 2022

Welcome! Glad you are here!

jsker · Jan 16, 2022

Welcome to R2R!!

Kennya · Jan 16, 2022

Welcome to R2R

Supa · Jan 16, 2022

Once you get the tank setup and running again. I would check waters and if parameters look ok then add some inverts. You can get som GSP or easy to keep coral as a tester. If the GSP do well then buy another coral while you keep checking waters parameters(this way if coral dies you can have hard test numbers to try to figure out what’s happening)

SPR1968 · Jan 16, 2022

Hi and welcome to Reef2Reef!

Fish Think Pink · Jan 16, 2022

creationsessex said:
Hi. I've just bought my first marine tank. It's 425lt red sea. It was running in the previous owners house right up until the night before I collected. I Brought home 3/4 of the tanks water. All live rock and sand was kept wet. The previous owner was a very experienced keeper. My question is when can I add a CUC or corals etc. . Thank you

Welcome! Glad you joined. I did similar and would have thought that movement of an established tank to new location would give me a jump ... but regarding corals and their consistency needs... my tank went from a very experienced coral grower to me who only had saltwater fish experience... It took 13 months to get water parameter stability. Sadly lost a lot of corals along the way this past year. All this to say, it really depends on more things than could be quantified here. We learned a LOT this past year, and know you will figure it out now that you have jumped in.

'start where you are, use what you have, do what you can' - Arthur Ashe, tennis player

Have you considered starting your build thread? I found its a great place to document my tank's evolution for myself. I started tank first then joined, so I'm still finding myself going back collecting pictures & updating historically as well as current state. Once you create your first post in your thread and link it to your account, they will give you build badge (look left, under my ID)

This is a good reference book type online article I still review:

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

This article was sponsored by @MarineDepot at www.marinedepot.com. Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is no...

www.reef2reef.com

Fred2482 · Jan 16, 2022

Welcome.

Billldg · Jan 16, 2022

Welcome to R2R!!!

Jonify · Jan 16, 2022

Welcome to R2R--that's a nice tank! Like others have said, consider getting a cleanup crew now, and then once you water quality is good and stable for a while, coral.