restarting my tank after sitting out for a year. I saved most of the sand and rocks is this ok

mitch1324 · Dec 29, 2022

Hi All my first post here on R2R and I need some help here are a couple of pics I took recently of my setup.

65 gallon tank half fake rock on right and live rock on left as it will be mostly FWLR maybe some easier corals down the road
20 gal sump I think I never measured that

So my questions are now that I'm set up and taking readings all looks good but very high nitrate

Tank was up and running for 4 years with no issues and fish were thriving not so much my coral early on. I went on vacation and return pump died and I returned to a mess and lost interest for some time. IT SAT DOORMAT FOR 1 YEAR

Now I didn't clean everything up I just let it sit and basically dry up for a year.

Now I'm restarting my tank and I bought all new pumps, ato, mp40,and heaters

Tell me if this is ok and will I have problems in the near future

Water in tank never fully evaporated so sand was still sitting in a decent amount of water. I saved more than half and added another new 20 pound bag of bimini pink
I took all rock out 3 weeks ago and power washed anything I could see on the surface and left out over night to dry out but then put in tank next day.

I added 4oz fritz turbo 900 start about 2 weeks ago after all stuff was in tank and let it sit for 3 days jump return pump running before taking any readings and all looks good except very high nitrates like reading is dark red API 160

what can I do to help this issue and do you think I have cycled and need to do water change?

I also ordered from Algae barn the medium refugium setup to go in the middle of my sump instead of the rocks in there now. WHEN SHOULD I BE PUTTING THIS IN AND GETTING IT STARTED I DIDNT HAVE REFUGUIM ON LAST SETUP??? I have Kessil h80 ready for it

I DO HAVE MORE QUESTIONS SO I WILL WAIT TILL I GET SOME REPLYS AND HOPE I COULD GET AS MUCH HELP AS POSSIBLE... THANK YOU ALL R2R!!!

nuxx · Dec 29, 2022

I'd honestly start fresh, but that's just me.

New sand or none...

Nuke the rocks in acid and reseed. Just less chance of something unexpected happening.

Fish Think Pink · Dec 29, 2022

mitch1324 said:
Hi All my first post here on R2R and I need some help here are a couple of pics I took recently of my setup.

65 gallon tank half fake rock on right and live rock on left as it will be mostly FWLR maybe some easier corals down the road
20 gal sump I think I never measured that

So my questions are now that I'm set up and taking readings all looks good but very high nitrate

Tank was up and running for 4 years with no issues and fish were thriving not so much my coral early on. I went on vacation and return pump died and I returned to a mess and lost interest for some time. IT SAT DOORMAT FOR 1 YEAR

Now I didn't clean everything up I just let it sit and basically dry up for a year.

Now I'm restarting my tank and I bought all new pumps, ato, mp40,and heaters

Tell me if this is ok and will I have problems in the near future

Water in tank never fully evaporated so sand was still sitting in a decent amount of water. I saved more than half and added another new 20 pound bag of bimini pink
I took all rock out 3 weeks ago and power washed anything I could see on the surface and left out over night to dry out but then put in tank next day.

I added 4oz fritz turbo 900 start about 2 weeks ago after all stuff was in tank and let it sit for 3 days jump return pump running before taking any readings and all looks good except very high nitrates like reading is dark red API 160

what can I do to help this issue and do you think I have cycled and need to do water change?

I also ordered from Algae barn the medium refugium setup to go in the middle of my sump instead of the rocks in there now. WHEN SHOULD I BE PUTTING THIS IN AND GETTING IT STARTED I DIDNT HAVE REFUGUIM ON LAST SETUP??? I have Kessil h80 ready for it

I DO HAVE MORE QUESTIONS SO I WILL WAIT TILL I GET SOME REPLYS AND HOPE I COULD GET AS MUCH HELP AS POSSIBLE... THANK YOU ALL R2R!!!

I'd say your very high nitrates are from the very dead things inside those rocks... think, I buried a body in my backyard (worms, etc in rocks) but its been a year (and you don't mention ants coming and going from tank this past year) ... so your nitrates are high until that 'rot/waste' from last year gets controlled. Water change is classic answer, but you have different source than just standard food/pee/poo. You might want to even look into MicroBacter7 dosing, and we alternate that with BioDigest with Bioptim boost every other week. I'd think your phosphates are very elevated, too so I'm not sure what was in your comprehensive comment

"now that I'm set up and taking readings all looks good but very high nitrate"

Regarding the Algae Barn items, live items can't wait indefinitely... This is what should be in medium kit per their site today:

Turbo Start 900™ : 4 oz
MarinePure™ 2″ Cubes: 20
5280Pods™ 16 oz: 1 Jar
OceanMagik™16 oz: 1 Bottle
CleanMacro™ Algae: 2 oz

Live algae needs light or it begins to die back, like any plant. Pods have plastic seal over jar, so they aren't getting any new oxygen until you open them (or food until you give them OceanMagik/phyto). So that just leaves the Turbo Start which sounds like you already added (good) and cube media which can go in now and ideally were in when Turbo Start was in to give jump start to Turbo Start bacteria colonizing those bio cubes.

FYI grow light from home improvement store does an outstanding job on refugium macroalgaes. If green can do just 5K spectrum, but red pompom or red ogo will benefit from grow light with some red spectrum - so instead of a $3.50 LED bulb it might be ten to twelve dollar light bulb. Or a Kessil H80 (LOL - overkill but everyone does overkill (not me))

mitch1324 · Dec 29, 2022

Am I allowed to post my phone number on here for some over the phone advice rather than typing all day I'm from New Jersey so it will be local in the states I could really use some good advice on what to do if it cost anything please let me know

Fish Think Pink · Dec 29, 2022

mitch1324 said:
Am I allowed to post my phone number on here for some over the phone advice rather than typing all day I'm from New Jersey so it will be local in the states I could really use some good advice on what to do if it cost anything please let me know

"allowed" yes
"logical" no ... even general public can see all posts on Internet... as a general rule try to minimize your personal information any and all locations of the Internet to reduce possibility of identity theft, scammers, and more... I'll DM you my cell... but I work crazy hours (I'm supposed to be working now LOL)

Fish Think Pink · Dec 29, 2022

mitch1324 said:
Am I allowed to post my phone number on here for some over the phone advice rather than typing all day I'm from New Jersey so it will be local in the states I could really use some good advice on what to do if it cost anything please let me know

Great getting to know you and making a new reefing friend!

First, wait and see where you get with cheap vodka dosing. I'm a heavy feeder, so I'm constantly fighting against myself LOL. Then *IF* you need, these are the links to the products I alternate every 2nd week (keeps costs down - my schedule, after work on Wednesdays it is either Microbacter7 or BioDigest with Bioptim (you can also start with just BioDigest)) :