Attachments on my Live Rock

[Davidluster]

I have had a 72 Gallon Bowfront FOWLR for the the last 6 months and am loving the new hobby.

I recently purchased a 110g in delapitated condition where the owner said it had sat for 2 weeks. I think he may have been exaggerating as the sand smelled horrible. I am going to replace all the sand but not sure what to do with the tons of live rock I acquired. It has what appears to be dead coral/sponges on it. I am going to do this as a FOWLR to begin with and eventually move to Reef but not sure if I need to scrape and remove all the sponge type material. I have included photos.

Also, the 55 gallon sump has a LR in the middle with a sand substrate at the bottom of the middle sump section. Some of the same black sponge type material is also in the sump area. Should I clean and restart the LR in there as well? It appears to be an assortment of small hardened coral.

The photo shows about 4 inches of water... that was added before I realized how dumb it was to use the old sand. Heading to get new sand now and I will remover the sand and begin to cycle the LR with salt/RODI mix.

Thanks for any advice.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_HqRfiFnQ5maS1YUXNiejF3Q1E/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_HqRfiFnQ5mdzBkRHBWOGJXU1E/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_HqRfiFnQ5mcUpmdTVjM3VQZnc/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_HqRfiFnQ5mNjU0T1lYM0pidTQ/view?usp=sharing

 

[farfromsea]

It is hard for me to tell but it almost looks like those are ceramic fake corals...especially the "brain" style coral on the left and the plating-type coral on the right. If I were you I would ask the previous owner. I always hate to be the type to pester a seller after the sale is complete but no harm in asking.

The sump look like it has some coral skeletons in it. I would toss all of that out. Some people use bioballs others say that they are nitrate magnets....

If I were you and if I could afford it I would just get new live rock because I don't like the style anyhow. But if you are keeping it then yes definitely clean/treat it. Wear gloves so you don't get scratched by potential things like vermetid snails etc etc

 

[Ron Reefman]

I can't say if your rock is real or manmade, but some of it is very cool looking and there are some great shapes in there. I'd pay good money for even dead rock that looks like that.

I'd toss the bio balls as they just do the same thing as the live rock. You'd be better off using that space for something different, like a refugium where algae can remove nitrates and phosphates that the live rock and bioballs can't.

Even the old sand is simple to clean (flush) and reuse if you are on a budget. I had sand in a DSB (Deep Sand Bed) that smelled bad when I tore it apart after 6 years, but a few minutes of flushing it in a 7g bucket and it was good as new and is in use in my new tank.

 

[Davidluster]

Thanks so much for the two answers!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jmm]

Real or ceramic, don't try to clean them by scraping and brushing. Acid wash (preferred method if you can work outside) or very strong bleach solution is the way to go. Get them really clean. Rinse and allow to dry. You don't want to start out with the same problems that caused the previous owner to bow out.

Don't reuse the old sand unless you thoroughly clean it. I'd soak it in a mild bleach solution for a day or so, change water, soak for a day, then agitate in running water (outside, you don't want sand in your plumbing) until it smells fresh and runs clear.