First tank went wrong and trying to start over!

[fishorbust]

Ok, i have a 20g tall tank and about 6 months ago something happened to my tank and all my fish died. Well my crabs lived and continue to keep living. I haven't kept my tank up at all and the water has evaporated to about 1/3 full. I check the water and there is no salt in there anymore. I have Crushed Coral and 10lbs of live rock, i was wondering if i drained the water out of my tank and added new water with salt if it would be ok again? I'm wanting to get the tank back up and running. Is the live rock and crushed coral ok? I had a leather mushroom coral in there but it slowly died. I have a 130 watt Coralife 50/50 and 2 maxi jet 400's. Do i have to replace the rock or can i just replace the water?

 

[dedwards]

The rock should be fine. Although it may not be live rock anymore. I would remove everything left and clean the tank really good. You don't want anything left over to cause issues in a newly setup tank. I would replace the CC with sand or go bare bottom. Everything else should be fine with a little cleaning.

 

[fishorbust]

How come the rock would not be live rock anymore? So should i dump the water thats currently in there and mix up some SW to put the live rock and crushed coral in? I like the crushed coral bottom. Can i keep it in there? What do i clean the tank with? Will it have to cycle again? Should i get another piece of live rock to make sure it does cycle?

 

[wwfstyle]

Basicly you will need to start all over again. Yes the cycle and all. Now you said it was sw before right? Now you test the water and there is non due to the tank being 1/3 full of just water. Well salt doesn't evaporate so it is eighter on your glass, in your CC. So I would throw the CC out and go with some play sand that you can get at HOME DEPOT. To clean the glass try useing white vinigar with a SOS pad. Just make sure that you rinse your tank out really really well.

 

[fishorbust]

So what about the live rock? Can i leave it in there? I need to find a Home Depot that carries it. The nearest home depot it 45 min away. What kind of sand is it? What is it called? So dump the water and the crushed coral out and clean everything. What about the powerheads i have and the filter, what should i clean that with?

 

[lion_crazz]

You can leave the rock in there but you need to get more live rock in order to make your current rock live again. I would get another 10 lbs. Get rid of the crushed coral, and get either Home Depot's Tropical Play Sand, or get some fine agragonite. Either one will work fine.
Just clean the powerheads and filter with hot water. The tank you can clean with some vinegar, but then rinse it VERY WELL with hot water.
You will need to cycle again, so there should be no fish in the tank for about a month to six weeks.

 

[fishorbust]

So should i get rid of the other water entirely? mix a new batch of sw and put the live rock in there and dump the crushed coral out and clean the tank out. Then add the play sand and the water then the live rock. The add more live rock to the tank. How long does it take for the old rock to be live again?

 

[lion_crazz]

Yes, get rid of all the water. Who knows what is goin on with that water now.
After you put the sand in, fill the tank up, and put the "unlive" rock back into the tank, get your new live rock and give your tank about a month or two to reseed the old rock and cycle your tank again.
Just remember, the most important thing you can do is be patient.

 

[fishman77]

and when you get the play sand,southdown,ect. i would add a layer of live sand over it.to cycle the tank agian,since you are getting another 10-15 pounds of live rock,get uncured rock to boost the cycle and dont use damsels,just throw in a couple of cocktail shrimp from the store.
good luck

 

[fishorbust]

I can't really afford to buy 10 or 15 more lbs right now. I'm stressing out about this cause i'm hoping it won't be harder than when i actually started the tank. How many pounds of southdown should i get? And how many pounds of live sand should i get to over it?
Here is the steps i have so far.
1. Drain old water
2. mix new sw and put into bucket for the live rock
3. empty tank out and dump the crushed coral.
4. Clean tank out
5. Add southdown and live sand
6. add water and live rock
7. let cycle Again! heh
So does everything look ok? Where else can u find southdown playsand. My home depot does not carry the sand. Its just another brand name and it says landscape and play sand.