How much of this is worth keeping?

Cope

New member
I been out of the reef game for a while. I'm remodeling a nice house and it has a 500 gal salt tank, the homeowner wants it gone so I'm gonna take it. I already have the floor in my home braced for a large tank so that's not a problem.

The home owner did not set up the tank and with me being out of the loop I'm wondering just how well the gear with the tank is set up.

It has 2 Iwaki .24 HP pumps, 2 canister filters, 2 Aqua UV units, what looks to be about a 35-40 gallon wet/dry sump with bio balls and a small chiller.

When I was reefing, I ran cheato and sand in my sump, bio balls were out even back then.

Do u think this set up is ok for a full blown reef tank? Or should I be looking at changing some of this stuff out?
I would think the UV Units have a life span? Any way to know if there still good?

The chiller dose not appear to have been running but that should be easy to test.



Anything I should be aware of?














Thanks for the time and advice.
 
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For a 500g display, the sump is way to small (by a good 100g). Depending on where you place it, the chiller may or may not be adequate. I never use UV sterilizers (I dont think they have any place in a reef personally) and the canisters may or may not be of some use to you.
 
For a reef set up you will not need the canister filters, wet/dry and bio balls.

Uv is not necessary but if you want to run them, as long as the lights turn on just replace the bulbs.

Depending on ambient temperature and lighting choice chiller is optional.

A good skimmer is a must.
 
That's kinda what I thought...

So it's mostly all trash except the pumps and even those are probably out dated and could be replaced with lower power using ones?

I am gonna build a new stand for it and will build it to accommodate a much large sump.

I know that the crushed coral cost some dough but in a tank this large would I be better off with a very thin sand bead or even none at all? I'm not a big fan of bare bottom tanks but I'm also afraid I won't be able to clean the coral in a tank this larger when it's full of rock...

Thanks again.
 
i cant say but yeqh it is very clean. No corline groth and no scratches.
it only had 5 damsels in it. the guy just bought the house and wants a door wher it is so it was going in the dumpster....






Its twice that deep half of it is in the wall....

Its a shame but im cutting up the hood and stand, its probably cost 5 grand to have made....

The room its in is a movie theater with a 40 by 25 screen.... must be nice...
 
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The Iwaki pumps are a good thing, but they're noisy. Many fish stores use them because they're almost indestructible (I'd clean the impeller cylinder) ---the downside is they're not quiet. If you decide to go with another pump, definitely try to sell or trade them. I don't think you can kill one short of a nuclear device.
 
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