Starting over. Need some advice.....

[KrisReef]

I use minimal rock in my main tank and have most of my rock in a sump or in the refugium. I have 150 gallons of water with maybe 100 pounds of rock in the system. The old rule didn't change, but I don't think everyone follows it anymore.

For filtration (ammonia -> nitrate ->denitrification) lots of people now view the rock as a substrate to grow bacteria on, and it is also a great place to attach and display coral in the tank. So if you have a lightly stocked system and feed lightly you don't need lots of bacteria to handle the bioload so you can use less rock, in theory, than the old rule suggested.

There are also a lot of opinions on the usefulness of sand vs bare bottom systems. You can use "live sand" to start your cycle but I don't think that it will greatly short-cut the time required to establish a robust biofilter. A good system takes time to "mature." There are other critters in the micro-ecosystem that have to become established over time before a tank becomes mature. Sponges, worms, bacteria & copepods are some of the common critters that will be present in a healthy mature system.

It is a good idea to start with the new rock, and if you want sand then get the live sand. You will have to be patient while the tank cycles and even more patient adding new coral and fish slowly. I would start with clean new salt water after I had scrubbed the tank clean myself, and I would probably use vinegar to wipe down the tank to remove scale and make the tank sparkle again.

 

[BeejReef]

I plan on having a reef tank. So my plans are just to completely start over with new sand and rock. Gonna use the Life shape rocks which are not LR but im sure you already know that. With that being said, Would the new live sand be enough to get the tank cycle started? 1 last question. Is the basic rule of thumb still 80 lbs of live sand for a 55 gallon tank or do I need to add more? Thanks for the help.

Conventional wisdom has evolved. Says 1lb. rock per gallon is plenty nuff :)

Dunno bout live sand. My storebought bagged LS didn't seem to do much.

 

[GoTakeANap]

There's no haha with my tank. Only years of work down the drain. Lessons learned. This hobby sure teaches you how to deal with failure.

what happened?

 

[GoTakeANap]

I use minimal rock in my main tank and have most of my rock in a sump or in the refugium. I have 150 gallons of water with maybe 100 pounds of rock in the system. The old rule didn't change, but I don't think everyone follows it anymore.

For filtration (ammonia -> nitrate ->denitrification) lots of people now view the rock as a substrate to grow bacteria on, and it is also a great place to attach and display coral in the tank. So if you have a lightly stocked system and feed lightly you don't need lots of bacteria to handle the bioload so you can use less rock, in theory, than the old rule suggested.

There are also a lot of opinions on the usefulness of sand vs bare bottom systems. You can use "live sand" to start your cycle but I don't think that it will greatly short-cut the time required to establish a robust biofilter. A good system takes time to "mature." There are other critters in the micro-ecosystem that have to become established over time before a tank becomes mature. Sponges, worms, bacteria & copepods are some of the common critters that will be present in a healthy mature system.

It is a good idea to start with the new rock, and if you want sand then get the live sand. You will have to be patient while the tank cycles and even more patient adding new coral and fish slowly. I would start with clean new salt water after I had scrubbed the tank clean myself, and I would probably use vinegar to wipe down the tank to remove scale and make the tank sparkle again.

Do you think getting a piece of LR from the LFS would help speed the cycle up or just stay away? I do not wanna add anything that is gonna create a problem.

 

[KrisReef]

To avoid whatever might come on any live rock many folk use bacteria in a bottle. For the cost of a few pounds of rock you get bacteria and no hitchhikers.

I myself gambled using live rock from clean set ups. I tried to find sump rock from clean tanks from reliable sources and responsible reefers. If you want to not gamble use the bottle
.

 

[GoTakeANap]

Is there a brand that stands out more than another to purchase?

 

[KrisReef]

I have no opinion or valid scientific data that supports one brand or another. Dr Tim’s has lots of good hobby reporting on here, and I’ve used Microbacter7 in my system to improve water quality at the recommendation of my LFS and it worked for me. There are many other products that do the same job;
Get one with an expiration date that is still fresh Don’t but an old product because it is cheaper, and lots of online vendors have fresh products if you can’t find one at your lfs!