newbie / gumby questions

Okay, I've recently converted a Fish only w/live rock and sand to a reef tank. I've managed to bring my nitrates down to 20ppm which I know is still high, but I'm getting there.

1.) I recently purchased from live sand from GARF. I'm kind of puzzled because it didn't look live, but they called it live. How do you know if it really is alive or if they just sold me a bunch of sand?

2.) If the sand isn't live, should I stir it or rake it by hand to remove the old detris?

3.) Protein skimmer. My skimmer is working, but it only puts out almost clear water. I know it's getting some of the gunk, but is it getting enough. Over the last 3 days, I've probably had about a gallon of water sent to the waste. Is this correct?

4.) Protein skimmer again. The skimmer seems to put out more liquid when I add Reef complete or any other additive. Is it really only removing the stuff that I had added?


5.)poly filters. I've read somewhere that you can restore poly filters and reuse. Is this true? It seems that once they are brown, they are brown.

Thanks for any insightful insights you may have on my questions.

 

Yeah, get thos nitrates down to 0ppm. As for the sand, there is no really way of knowing by the naked eye. You're just gonna have to trust GARF. If there is a lot of detritus or debri, you can rinse it, but has to be with ocean water from the LFS. Dont use freshwater, could kill the bacterial life.

If you're skimmer is putting out clear water in the collection cup, the skimmer is not skimming correctly and is out of adjustment. You need to fiddle with the adjuster until you get a lot micro-bubbles in the cylinder, but not to much or you will overskim and produce more clear water. Humm, you might have it too high and since your tank is new, it's skimming nothing but clear water. Fiddle with the adjuster knob and you'll get it. You should see bubbles being pushed up about half ways of the cylinder leading to the collection cup.

 

tank

It's not really a new tank. The tank has been set up for a year and the substrate is the same as before. I just added the live sand to it. The protein skimmer should be putting something out since I have only recently added it. right?