Where do I begin with this mess??? PICTURES INCLUDED!

Exxcalibur

Exxcalibur

New member
Ok, yesterday I bought a 45gal tank setup on craigslist. The guy was super nice and gave me literally all of his equipment. I've got a skimmer, heaters, two pumps, a filter, 50lbs of live rock, IO salt, two saltwater keeping books, countless food items, nets, the tank base furniture, ect all for $75. Total steal IMO.

Plus, he left an inch of SW in the tank to keep the sand and rock live. What a guy!!
Keep in mind, everything is live within that inch of SW, but very nasty looking and slimy.

Now, the fun/hard part. WHERE ON EARTH DO I START?? Need some serious help guys. It's a mess..... Remember, I am a first timer so step-by-step instructions would be much appreciated!
 
Here are the pics:
 

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ide second spit fire you have no idea what could be on that stuff... after you start cycling the rock after its dried out ide recommend using some carbon towards the end just in case the last owner used any kinda copper meds on that rock
 
I agree with the above. A long time ago, I purchased an 'everything included' tank off CL (including "live sand and live rock") and ended up starting over because the guy had screwed everything up so bad.

I'd ditch sand and clean your rock so that nothing nasty transfers and makes it even more difficult to begin. I also think it's great to learn how to set it up from nothing for future tanks and overall knowledge of how things work.

Check out the stickies up top and browse through some threads to see what others are doing. I found that it's much easier to research and learn than to ask questions every step of the way.

Good luck!
 
You say he left water in the tank and everything is "alive". What exactly is still living?
I'm gonna guess and say the tank has been without heat for a while. So I'm sure there is die off. If you try to restart this you are heading for major problems.
Best thing to do is clean all the hardware, tank, etc..., bleach or "cook" (and I'm not talking about in the oven, search "cooking rock"), and start fresh.
Plus from your pictures, some of the rock appears to be what people use to aquascape a fresh water tank. These do not belong in a saltwater tank. Not because of the looks, because in a saltwater environment these rocks can leach unwanted nutrients, or be an issue with trying to keep your parameters straight.
 
I'm adding a vote to dump the sand and rock. I can see at least one rock that looks volcanic. Most the rock looks like it has algae issues so its likely to leech back in the water for some time to come. It might cost more but save you headaches down the track of fighting never ending algae.
 
I agree bundybear, and if it is a volcanic rock it will have IRON in it. Never a good thing to have in a saltwater environment.
 
There's a Sticky at the top of this New To Hobby section called "SETTING UP: HOW TO" and I think that's where you are now.
If you are really trying to salvage anything "live" from this tank (and personally I agree with everyone else, I wouldn't) pull the rock and put it into clean saltwater with a circulation pump. Then clean the tank. Ditch the sand and buy new sand. Spend a lot of time cleaning. The cleaner you make things now, the easier it will be going forward.
You need test kits. You are going to need to cycle this tank from the beginning before you even think of adding livestock.
If you pulled the rock, ditch anything that is not designed for an aquarium (like that piece the guy found in his backyard, and that red and yellow piece of whatever it is) and start testing the fresh saltwater you moved the rock into. I'm betting you're going to find that it spikes ammonia, nitrates, nitrites like crazy in which case you've proven to yourself that you need to toss it.
You got a lot of equipment and that's awesome, but you did not jump start this process. Welcome to the addiction of saltwater! Go slowly, read a lot and ask a lot of questions. It's WAY easier to learn first and do it the right way than to try to correct problems further down the road. Good luck!
 
Before killing anything in there that might still be alive, consider putting the rock in a plastic bucket with some fresh SW and a heater. You'd be surprised what critters may still be in there. Pests are pests but you may score some porcelain crabs or small serpent or brittle stars,
 
Shawn O said:
Before killing anything in there that might still be alive, consider putting the rock in a plastic bucket with some fresh SW and a heater. You'd be surprised what critters may still be in there. Pests are pests but you may score some porcelain crabs or small serpent or brittle stars,
Click to expand...

Excellent advice.

THEN NUKE THE TANK. Bleach the crap out of it then start over. Vinegar bath for all equipment.
 
I agree with above - start over. After checking the rock put in the heated pail of salt water. I found a blood shrimp and a porcelain crab, among other critters, that way. But then I got new rock and sand. Picked out some really nice pieces to aquascape the way I wanted.
Take it slow, doing your cycling as described in the New to the Hobby stickies. You will rnjoy things so much more. And gives you time to read up on the whole salt water system.
Have fun!
And I think you got an awesom deal!
Michelle
 
Wow. Bittersweet to see a consensus view on what I should do. Thank you all for your incredible advice! Love to see it is clear what I should do, but also sad as I thought I would be able to use the "live" sand and materials.....

I will keep you all posted on my progress. As of right now, I am going to take everything out, set aside the proper rock, bleach the rocks, let them dry out, throw out the sand (Hate saying that!), and lastly, clean the tank from top to bottom.

Is it safe to use bleach and white vinegar to clean the tank and equipment? That is what I have read to do.
 
Shawn O said:
Before killing anything in there that might still be alive, consider putting the rock in a plastic bucket with some fresh SW and a heater. You'd be surprised what critters may still be in there. Pests are pests but you may score some porcelain crabs or small serpent or brittle stars,
Click to expand...

Great advice thanks. I'd like to know that there is something I can salvage from the previous owner's living, albeit, disgusting ecosystem
 
Exxcalibur said:
Thanks for the advice! Guess i'll stock up on vinegar and bleach. Other than salvaging some critters, is that the only benefit?
Click to expand...

Maybe it goes without saying, but don't mix bleach and vinegar without a lot of washing in between.! Acid (vinegar) + bleach makes chlorine gas (deadly amounts are easy to make).

That said, I agree with the consensus. My personal route would be to acid bath (muriatic acid: HCl) the rocks (outside!) in a trash can. That will strip the layer of calcium phosphate that will leach into the water column over time (and looking at that mess of rocks, there is certainly a lot of absorbed phosphate in that rock). Bleach will kill everything, but so will acid... and bleach won't do anything to the phosphate bound in that rock's surfaces.
 
shermanator said:
Maybe it goes without saying, but don't mix bleach and vinegar without a lot of washing in between.! Acid (vinegar) + bleach makes chlorine gas (deadly amounts are easy to make).

That said, I agree with the consensus. My personal route would be to acid bath (muriatic acid: HCl) the rocks (outside!) in a trash can. That will strip the layer of calcium phosphate that will leach into the water column over time (and looking at that mess of rocks, there is certainly a lot of absorbed phosphate in that rock). Bleach will kill everything, but so will acid... and bleach won't do anything to the phosphate bound in that rock's surfaces.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the safety piece. Go chemistry.

I have some HCL on hand weirdly enough... Thanks!
 
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