Live sand a rock

[Aharst]

I just bought a 20gallon tank online that was never fully set up. He has live sand a rock in it but never ran water. Do I need to get new sand or can I start setting it up?

 

[Peace River]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!! I'm not sure what you mean by "never fully set up", but is the sand still in bags and was it exposed to extreme temperature? You may have some die-off, but that will likely be taken care of during the cycling process.

 

[Fish Think Pink]

I just bought a 20gallon tank online that was never fully set up. He has live sand a rock in it but never ran water. Do I need to get new sand or can I start setting it up?

Welcome!

Glad you joined

I'd give that sand a couple rinses in tap water (just in case) until clear, then final rinse in RO water, then add sand to tank. No need to get new sand, you'd have to rinse it to remove excess silicates anyhow so IMO start where you are and use what you have. NOTE: the tap rinse may kill the 'live' aspect... but not rinsing may later feed diatoms... Fritz TurboStart 900 is another way to introduce cycle but google cycle start and enjoy the many opinions

 

[Zach B]

Welcome :) Great advice above

 

[Fred2482]

Welcome! Do you mean there was never water in the tank?

 

[|Frank|]

 

[NashobaTek]

Welcome to R2R!!

 

[Azedenkae]

I just bought a 20gallon tank online that was never fully set up. He has live sand a rock in it but never ran water. Do I need to get new sand or can I start setting it up?

With this, I'd set everything up exactly as I would in any other case. Set it up, rock and sand as preferred, then fill up with water.

Any decomposition or whatever will just be handled by the cycle.

 

[jtp7004ft]

Welcome :)

 

[Billldg]

Welcome to R2R!!! Agree with above, how do you mean not fully set up? Was the sand wet?

 

[CMMorgan]

Even if it did not get wet, you can move forward. If it is old or removed from the bag ... the "live" bacteria may be dead. No big deal ... just treat the set up as if you had dry rock and sand. Rinse, rinse, rinse in RO .... add some bottled bacteria like Dr Tim's, etc. and wait out the cycle.
Good luck! Welcome to the salty family!!

 

[Jeffcb]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[KJ]

Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[Jimbhoy13]

Welcome to R2R. Lots of knowledgeable and helpful people here who will support and advise you when needed.

 

[JL15219]

Welcome to R2R!! Seems like you already got some great advice

 

[G Santana]

Welcome aboard

 

[Salty Rambler]

Welcome to R2R! Great advice above.

 

[NoahLikesFish]

Welcome

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Hello and welcome to the channel.

 

[MERKEY]

Hello and welcome to R2R!