Used Tank Prep

[DelRayTank]

Hi all!

After a 20 year absence from the hobby, I just purchased a used Red Sea Reefer 250 system from Craigslist this weekend. The ecosystem seemed to be in pretty rough shape with the rocks and sand covered in algae and the sump, skimmer, and plumbing pretty dirty.

My question is: should I dump the rock and sand and start over to avoid potentially repeating the sources of earlier failure? Should I bleach the rock and use as a base rock with new love rock?

Also, what’s the best way to clean the plumbing, glass and equipment to get rid of all the gunk?

 

[SPR1968]

Hi and welcome to R2R!

You can clean equipment with a soak in a vinegar solution, or I sometimes use a solution of citric acid and just soak everything for a few days/week if you have time

On the rocks, well this will depend on finance, but I would start afresh with new rock, but that’s me and you don’t know what the old rock has in it.

Otherwise you will need to clean it up very well and you could have things leach out of it into your new tank

 

[inktomi]

I'd start with fresh rock as well. You can "cook" the rock and sand, but over time I feel like the tiny pores in the rock fill up with junk so given that the cooking process will kill everything in it _anyway_ you're probably better off starting with new rock.

 

[DelRayTank]

Thanks for the responses!

After a bit more searching around, I rant into the BRStv episode regarding bleaching dry rock. Given that I am not in a hurry to get the tank running, I have decided that I will try to bleach the rock, let it dry out completely in the sun to gas off the bleach, then I will cure the rock in saltwater to check the phosphate and ammonia levels to check if things are good to go. If the rocks seem clean, I will use them in the tank. Otherwise, I’ll buy new rock.

On the sand, given the low cost, I dumped the old and dirty sand and plan to order live sand from BRS when the time comes. I’m planing on running a shallow sand bed in the tank and prefer not to start with the failed tank sand.

Should I also bleach the overflow and plumbing or just soak in RODI water/scrub?

 

[Peace River]

I think curing and cycling the rock is a good approach and I would have made the same choice with the sand that you did. For the overflow and other plumbing, an approach that I often use is bleaching, rinsing in tap water, throughly drying, and then soaking in RO water. For extra risk management, I will usually test the pH of the water during the last step when the parts are in the RO for rinsing/soaking. Personally, I wouldn't want to go through all of the effort with the sand and rock without making a point of sterilizing any other parts that come in contact with the water in the new system. Good luck!

 

[inktomi]

You never know the full story of why the old owner got rid of the tank. Depending on what it was it could be nothing, or it could be something terrible (diseases, etc). I would bleach anything they used that you plan on reusing, including the tank, heaters, pumps, and plumbing.