Please Help Tonight

[jgboudreau]

OK, I just took the plunge and purchased a used tank:help: The seller emptied it out and gave me the crushed coral and about 5 or 6 large 'live rocks'. All I want to do is make sure I don't kill the rock right away (I'm sure I'll kill them later when I think I know what I'm doing).
Can someone point me to the basics on this?
Does the pump need to be running and do I have to have the crushed coral in first?
Any assistance would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thanks very much
Jeff

 

[lori faust]

What do you have in the tank as far as water goes...? NOT FW I hope...and if SW...do you have a heater running...? if yes to the SW and heater get a PH up and running....

 

[jgboudreau]

We have water conditioner and instant ocean salt to prepare the water....right now the rock is in tubs IN salt water from the tank. We had to take it all apart for transport....we do have a heater...do we need to run the pump? How long before we can put the rock IN and will it live long enough in the tubs before we can put it in? Sorry, we are TOTALLY clueless here obviously, but had no time to prepare, they wanted the tank out today

 

[92protruck]

clean, set up and level the tank. Add water, preferably RO/DI or distilled. Don't fill to the top to allow for rock. Dump in the salt mix. Start a power head or two to mix the salt. Check the salinity and add water or salt until you get the desired salinity level. After that add sand. Play sand or live sand. Don't use crushed coral. After the sand settles turn on the heater and add the live rock. For now, put a power head in the tub with live rock. It will keep until the tank is ready.

 

[alohami]

Do not use any actual cleaning products. I believe the best thing to clean the tank with is vinegar.

 

[jgboudreau]

Thanks to those that replied, I'm pretty sure we killed the rock, the were not submerged durring transport (over an hour), but I cleaned the tank and purchased the salt and filled er up. I couldn't wait for days before putting the rock in (had no other place to put it). the pH and the saline are in check, will check the rest tomorrow.
Dumb question? I have a protien skimmer and no other filter system. . . is that normal?
Time for me to start reading reading reading.
Thanks again
JB

 

[mudplayerx]

1st thing you should do is get ride of that crushed coral and buy some aragonite sand. Crushed coral is a big headache as it traps detritous and raises your nitrates level.
Your live rock is going to have some die-off, but I don't think just one hour unsubmerged if sufficient to kill everything. Just think, they harvest that stuff in the middle of the ocean with the baking sun beating down on the rocks. The live rocks will probably need to be cured for a week or two in a bucket filed with saltwater and an airstone.
Just leave them in the bucket for a week, then pull them out and scrub off the dead smelly stuff, rinse them off with saltwater, then stick em back in the bucket for another week or so.