Tank "stuff" has been sitting for 7 years

[greneis7]

So my mother is giving me my father's 110gal setup and EVERYTHING that goes with it. RO unit, lights, steralizer, protein skimmer, you name it it's there. There was a rubbermaid of awesome rock that I've had seeding (now in two rubbermaids with live rock) for about a week in my kitchen. Yuck!
Anyhow, there was also a box of nothing but test kits. Can those still be good after 7 years?
My mom also called and said that she found two 5gl containers of dried out sand and a bucket of salt. Would it be safe to use sand that had been "dried" and stored? Would the salt still be good?
I didn't know it was there and hadn't planned on it, so it won't be the end of the world if I can't use it; but it would save a few bucks.
Any thoughts would be appreciated!

 

[DaveK]

Test kits have a shelf life. I'd replace those.

The sand could most likely be used, but find out what it is first. You may want to use a different substrata. Also, if the tank was ever treated with copper, the sand will have absorbed a good deal of it, making it unsuitable for a reef. This is something that is not expensive, so when in doubt, replace it.

As for the salt, it depends, it it's still granular, it should be ok. If it's more or less a solid block, discard it.

 

[greneis7]

Thanks Dave!

 

[BLAKEJOHN]

+1 here

 

[BLAKEJOHN]

I am sure this goes without saying but, be sure to replace all light bulbs and RO filters including the membrane..

 

[greneis7]

Yes on the filters, don't know what the membrane is - the "fishguy" said he'd go over everything with me in detail, so hopefully I will be more knowledgeable before I go to bed tomorrow. =)
As far as the lights, I've spoken to a few different people and have gotten mixed messages. Some have said to replace them period, other's have said to see if they look blackened at all on the ends - if not they might still be good to use. A few others said that if they still work (not broken from the moveS) I should use them for a month or so because even if they aren't full strength, they will probably be more powerful than what I have in the BioCube.

 

[BLAKEJOHN]

it wouldnt hurt to use them if they work at least to see how the bulbs you have look over the water. Do you have everything at the house now?

 

[greneis7]

No, I only have a few of the boxes. Everything comes tomorrow! =) It's going to take forever waiting. lol

 

[Adalius]

The membrane he's referring to is inside the RO unit, it basically is just a filter cartridge but it works differently internally. On a typical RO/DI unit the "factory recommendation" is filters get changed every 6-12 months, membrane gets pulled ever 2-3 years. Personally, I pull them as needed by using a total dissolved solid (TDS) meter to test the water that comes out and by checking pressure drop after each filter. If his RO unit has been sitting for 7 years I'd probably replace them all just out of prevention, but you should check online, sometimes it's actually cheaper to buy a new RO/DI unit and sell the shell of the old one (i.e. just the housing without the membrane/filters installed) than it is to replace the filters & membrane.

Also, if you don't have a TDS meter, you don't absolutely need one, but it's a nice way to check the quality of your RO/DI water so you'll know when your resin is expired or the membrane is done. They don't cost much, between $40-80. My tap water is 398 ppm going in, and 1ppm coming out of my RO/DI so now by monitoring it I can see if that 1ppm rises so I can tell when to either change my resin or my membrane when it rises too far. I can also tell what my membrane it rejecting combined with what the DI is picking up, in this case 397/398 = 99.7% rejection & uptake, which isn't bad.