old/newbie

[psilletti]

Hi Reef my name is Pete and i am new to the forum.I had a 50 gal Fo saltwater tank for a couple of years ,kind of let go.Just did a 70% water change, new canister filters, new pr skimmer. And also added 40lbs live rock last week.am 0,nitrite 0 ph 8.0,sp gr 1.023, but my nitrates are over 100ppm and phosphates 160ppm .I did another 30% water change with boxed Seawater. But still thesame readings
What can i do?

 

[mcgyvr]

"kind of let go"...
Thats more than "kind of"

Whats still living in the tank besides algae? anything?

But at this point you can either keep doing water changes or its likely that your sand bed is disgusting and should be totally changed out and replaced with new fresh dry sand..

 

[psilletti]

There is nothing living in the tank except liverock,cleaned out algae and substrate reallygood pr skimmer not pulling anything out yet,maybe it has to break in

 

[nereefpat]

With nothing living except the rock, I would:

Put the rock in a Rubbermaid. Cover it with tank water. Scrub any debris off the rock. Dump the rest of the tank water down the drain. Take out the sand.

Rinse new dry sand and add it to the tank. Mix up new water (instant ocean). Add old rock and new water.

You will have a clean, low in nitrates tank that is already cycled.

 

[psilletti]

So your saying to start all over.Is there anything else i can do?Will the nitrates come down to normal levels in time if i leave thetank as is?

 

[mcgyvr]

So your saying to start all over.Is there anything else i can do?Will the nitrates come down to normal levels in time if i leave thetank as is?

You have a tank seriously full of "crap".. Do you really want to move forward with that?

Do exactly what nereefpat said.. That is exactly what I was going to tell you to do..

It shouldn't be that much work at all really and will allow you to start as "fresh" as possible..
Leave the years of neglect in the past..

 

[psilletti]

Ok thanksfor the information. Do i need live sand?or is the live rock good enough?

 

[mcgyvr]

Ok thanksfor the information. Do i need live sand?or is the live rock good enough?

I would 100% use "dry sand" and not the typical bagged/sat on a shelf for who knows how long...."live sand"

I would highly recommend dry Caribsea seaflor special grade

 

[psilletti]

Ok thanks alot will do