I'm new, I'm clueless, please help!

[hervvo]

So as the title suggests, I'm new here and I have a bit of a laundry list of questions/concerns. Thanks in advance for reading and for any advice you can give

My husband and I just moved into a new rental house. It has a natural gas fireplace that I'm guessing is older because it doesn't have a pilot light, or any controls. The only way to control the flow of gas is the key on the wall. The fire burns way more on the right side than the left. A lot of soot seems to be developing on the inside bricks and the logs. There's a rust colored residue forming on the grate and bottom pan. The tube that the gas comes out of seems really off center as well. I feel like there is something (or many things) wrong here, and it makes me nervous to use the fireplace. I have googled and googled to no avail, and we can't really afford to have someone come look at it (plus... covid). Any help is most appreciated! I'll attach some photos as well.

 

[DAKSY]

You have a gas log set. The center burner tube should be completely
covered. If you have Natural Gas, the burner requires sand like this:

Amazon product ASIN B0062IGEIG
If you're burning Liquefied Petroleum Gas, the media used to cover
the burner tube is vermiculite like this:

Amazon product ASIN B0104M0ZGC
Both the sand & the Vermiculite should have "glowing embers" on top of the media:

Amazon product ASIN B07Y8TV1P7
Once you get these items, check back...