Live rock left abandoned 9 months...

So I am VERY new to this whole process... I recently acquired what was once a beautiful nano tank from an ex who left a couple of important things behind. I'm working on setting it back up again, (I've noticed that anything he could do, I could do better,) ;D but being about as green as it gets, I have some questions.

The tank was left with water, live rock, sand and NOTHING else for the past year or so. The water doesn't smell bad, nor does the rock, but I'm trying to decide if it is worth reusing the live rock- and in fact, I'm not even sure that it isn't completely dead, to be honest. There is still some coralline showing on the tank, but I've removed all of the water in order to start fresh. (Though I debated just water changing the heck out of it for about an hour).

No pumps were on, no light, and the temp never went below about 68 in the tank.

Thoughts? I'm not sure what I plan to actually put in the tank once it is up and running- probably something easy like green star polyps, snails, crabs and the like.

I could use all the help in the world- the biggest issue is that the loser guy just happens to work at the local fish store.

Ha!

 

Welcome to 3reef.

In your case, I'd probably bleach it to make sure everything (good or bad) is dead. Better to be safe than sorry. There are threads on how to "nuke" the rock. Just do a search for them.

 

There was just a thread on reusing old live rock, check it out! I would scrap the sand and start fresh. Also, there are lots of web-vendors and three reef sponsors that you can buy stuff from so you never have to step foot at losers employ again!

Have fun, and welcome to 3reef.

Gin

 

i'd fill it back up with saltwater, turn on the lights and watch it a couple months,get used to testing the water,doing water changes, and just maintaining the tank in general. that way you can find out if this hobby is for you{its alot of work and patience} without spending a ton of money out of the gate,you could also use this time to come up with a plan for livestock,additional equipment etc...

 

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I know there are "right" ways and "wrong ways" and I'm aware of which option I chose, so I'm sure there are purists that would be shaking their heads right now... but:

I already know I like this hobby... and trust me, I'm used to paying crazy prices for something I love. (Scuba instructors have a tendency to go a bit crazy for new gear). That said, the one thing I lack that is KEY to this whole deal is the patience to see what might happen.

So- I've cleaned the little tank out, I've repaired what needed repair, I've placed the live rock carefully- found a couple of bristle worms, which I took to be a good sign, and filled it up with pre-mixed water to see what might come of it.

Water tests are all fine... charcoal is in there, filter is running smoothly... so far, so good!
I think I'll just keep water changing frequently until the overall smog in the tank clears up and monitor it for awhile before adding livestock- but I'm pretty pleased that I got the thing up and running all by myself. lol!

Again, thanks for the help! I'm actually really excited to see what may have been brewing in the tank all these months. (I'm not into the "I am god of this enviornment" controlling behavior as I am a believer in things will happen and you might as well see what does). I promise I won't go throwing stuff in for the next couple of months, until I'm REALLY sure of what is in there.

 

sounds like you're off to the races! congrats,

 

Welcome to the dark side!!!