Re-starting a 'dead' tank

[greebs]

I am planning to get my 55 g tank up and running again and need some advice. It's approx. 2 1/2 years old but it more or less died early this year when I was in the hospital for three weeks. I cleaned out all the dead livestock a long time ago and have kept the water filter running and done a few water changes. I know I need to get the water tested and maybe make some more water changes but to my surprise I did take a good look at it the other day and discovered a single red legged crab still alive along with several tiny shrimplike creatures that I'm guessing are some type of pods so the water quality must not be too bad.
I'm going to ditch my pc's and spend some money and buy some t5 lights for it along with a quality skimmer (will take suggestions for a good quality hang on skimmer) this time around so that I can hopefully have some better success with my reef. I'm only planning to eventually have two or three small fish maximum in the tank as I want to concentrate more on corals and am in no hurry to put fish in the tank.
Anyhow, to get to my main question, I've got about three inches of sand in the tank and am wondering if I should do anything to try cleaning that up before I consider putting anything new into the tank. I've got about 40 lbs. of live rock and when I move it around there is a lot of stuff in the sand that makes the water get quite cloudy before it settles back down. I know that once I get the tank stocked eventually there won't be any activity in the tank to stir up the sand so maybe it's no big deal but thought if I need to somehow clean up this sand, now would be the time to do it while I don't have anything going on in the tank. Should I just leave the sand alone or should I try to filter some of the gunk out? I imagine that stirring the sand up would cause a water quality issue that I'd want completely cleared up before I put anything alive in the tank.
I'm in not in a hurry to start stocking the tank because I need to purchase lights and the skimmer yet anyhow and I've learned that this is not a process to rush. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[pumper]

I think it will be okay like it is however, you need to place some powerheads near the bottom flowing in/around/behind your rock work to keep the detritus suspended in the water column so it can get picked up my the skimmer and filter. Or/and you might want to get a gravel vacuum. If you have detritus building up like that you need yo build up your cleaning crew and most importantly give the tank time to rebuild the missing biological filtration. I like to use stress zyme to build biological filtration, it has live bacteria in it. And it's completely safe.

 

[salt210]

I would start with testing the water before doing anything just yet. I would think that the sand would be ok, but I could/might be wrong here. if the water params are out of wack go from there. as for the skimmer I am not having any luck with mine, but are you going to just use a hang on back filter or go with a sump?

 

[pumper]

What kind of filtration is currently being implemented? Also what skimmer are you using? If your looking for a new skimmer, a hang on look at the aqua-c remora. It has great reviews... I personally use a sump/refuge to filter my 55gal and 40gal. They are both tied in to the one sump. It works like a charm. I have never lost a creature due to bad water quality since the sump has been implemented. I personally recommend setting sump up with an in-sump skimmer...

 

[mr_x]

i would not use an aqua c remora on a 55 gallon tank. i would rather use an aquamedic turbofloater. i do agree on the sump with in-sump skimmer option though. there are much better choices as far as skimmers go if you have a sump.
i would test the water as well, and if all checks out, i'd leave things as they are.

 

[aztec reef]

If it was me,First i would take the lr out put it in a saltwater tote with a powerhead and a heater if needed...then i would stir the sandbed in DT vigorusly and do a 95% waterchange, repeat this until sand looks semi-new..the following day add lr back to tank, check parameters .. then start adding livestock slowly if everything is honky dory....

 

[greebs]

I decided to take out my lr and about 1/2 of the water. then really worked up the sand and did several water changes until the sand was mostly clean. I just used non-salt water directly from the r/o unit so I suppose I killed whatever was living in the sand which in retrospect maybe wasn't a good idea but as dirty as the sand was, I'm hoping it was a good thing in the long run. I know there were several red worms along with a few of the shrimp looking creatures floating in the non-salt water.
My plan for now is to run three power heads at various levels in the tank along with an Excalibur hob skimmer that I picked up this past weekend at a rummage sale (I'm not sure what model it is but it has a rio 800 pump which I believe gives plenty of circulation for a 55g) and the old whisper mechanical filter that I previously used. I'm excited for the tank #'s to get in line and start the tank up again. I'm guessing my cleanup this weekend will result in some kind of cycle or something but I'll be patient before I think about putting anything alive into the tank.
I'm wanting to buy some new lights and have eyed Nova Extreme 6 x 54w T5 lights. I want that much wattage but I'm a little concerned as to if they will cause problems with my skimmer and filter since the light mechanism is 12 inches wind so they would end up being over the top of the skimmer and filter. Guess I need to find out how much heat these lights generate to see if they will work or not.

 

[sepulatian]

Why did you run straight RO into the tank? Everything is dead now. Start from scratch.

 

[greebs]

I originally was going to do it with saltwater changes but after a few rinses, I realized that it was going to take a bunch more changes as the sand was that dirty. I filled the tank about 1/3 full and mixed it up and drained green water to the tune of I’d estimate about 125+ gallons of water before it finally became clear. I’m embarrassed how dirty it had gotten and am surprised that my water tests didn’t show terrible numbers but I suppose since I had 3 inches of the sand much had settled and even gotten imbedded in the sand over the years. This is definitely a good example and I’ve learned my lesson on what can happen when you don’t have adequate flow and filtration in the tank.
I know the sand is no longer “live” but I’m hopeful that the lr and half of the saltwater that I had removed before I went to work cleaning the sand will have some life. I’m also planning to purchase some more lr and sand from the lfs display tank so my tank once my tank readings are safe again and am hopeful I’ll have a “live” tank again soon.

 

[chub]

I was in the hospital 42 days and the only thing thats done to my 55g was a feeding once a week I think. I lost 1 fish when i got home Id say I lost 10-15 gals of water so i refilled it with RO water let it run 3 days then did 10% water changes 3 times a week for a couple weeks. After a month its looking as good as ever. I was shocked the skimmer didnt over flow I dont think it was ever dumped out. I now have a sheet of instructions what to if im ever gone again ( it better be a vaction next time)

 

[jcarroll]

As long as you're being patient, I would just let the tank run for a month or so while checking the water parameters, and once you're sure that all your levels are stable, then I'd add something. I moved back to Indiana from Denver a few years ago, and didn't set up my 55 for 7 months. I didn't know what would happen, but I had kept my old tank with about an inch or so of water over the sandbed the entire time out in the garage with a sheet hung over the top of it. I also had all my live rock in 5 gallon buckets filled with water. When I first opened those buckets...peeeeyew!! But, I set it all up anyway! I didn't add anything for 2 months initially. I waited until my cycle was complete, then after about another few weeks I added a few crabs. At my two month mark I added one fish. I've always been very very careful with that tank, but now it's 3 years up and running, and I'm happy to say I have never had any problems with it! Patience is key when you're reestablishing a tank that has sat there awhile.

 

[greebs]

 

[mr_x]