Tank Restart - am I missing anything?

[Teeter]

I’ve had an IM 15 cube set up and running continuously since around mid 2023. It was definitely a bumpy ride (getting back into the saltwater hobby after leaving for nearly a decade wasn’t the best experience lol), but I decided to upgrade to a 47 gallon. After moving most of my livestock to the new tank, I just let the 15 keep running. It had no light, very minimal water movement (just the return pump), and I didn’t even change the filter floss in the overflow for about 6-8 months, but I kept my auto top off running/full, so I had no issues there. The salinity had spiked up to around 1.030 sg, incredibly. There were still some snails and hermits living in there, but I never fed them, as the plentiful algae growth (and the pods that thrived with very little predation) seemed to be sufficient.

I’d been putting off either tearing down or restarting the tank for months, and finally decided last week I’d go for the latter. I drained the tank, removed some random debris + used filter media, and refilled with freshly made saltwater. I kept my sand and rock. Just to summarize:

- original live rock and sand is still being used, although rock was exposed to air for maybe 20-30 minutes
- inverts had survived in the tank all the way through the neglected phase

Am I missing anything, or can I just add some beneficial bacteria/seeded media from my other established at this point and be relatively safe? Obviously I can test the water and run carbon just in case of some unknown toxin being present, but I just wanna make sure I’m not forgetting anything. Replacing the rock/sand isn’t ideal, but if I have to, I don’t mind. Thanks!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Depending how old or dirty the sand is, I might be tempted to rinse it clean. Otherwise your plan looks good to me, good luck.

 

[Teeter]

Depending how old or dirty the sand is, I might be tempted to rinse it clean. Otherwise your plan looks good to me, good luck.

Fair enough. I’ll be adding another few inches either way (planning to do one/pair of yellowhead Jawfish) so might be worth to just replace it at this point.

 

[Reef Jedi]

Fair enough. I’ll be adding another few inches either way (planning to do one/pair of yellowhead Jawfish) so might be worth to just replace it at this point.

I think starting fresh with new sand is a good idea.

 

[Paul B]

I would use that sand just as it is. Time is one of the most important aspects in a new tank and yours already has a start. It doesn't matter if the sand was exposed to air. I collect sand and mud here all the time for the bacteria and even at low tide, when it was up on the beach with the sun beating down, it is full of life.

Not if it dried out completely of course, then it would be sterile.