Jump to content
Cultivated Reef

Dead Rock


Bill Nye

Recommended Posts

I have a crap ton of dead rock sitting around from my last two tanks. Half of it has been sitting in a tub for about 5 years or something crazy and is completely dry but still has a bunch of crap on it. The rock from my last tank was in a kitty litter tub for about 2 years. I just found and opened this one today and it was still wet...

 

How should I prepare this to go in a tank. Only stuff in it is a little live rock and some live sand. Is it worth the trouble or should i just buy some more live rock. My tank is only 5 gal and I already have 4 lbs of rock.

Link to comment

As far as the completely dry rock, just scrub it in clean in fresh water and then re-cycle it.

 

If it were me, I'd dry out that kitty liter rock, then scrub it clean to start over and cycle it. :)

Link to comment
As far as the completely dry rock, just scrub it in clean in fresh water and then re-cycle it.

 

If it were me, I'd dry out that kitty liter rock, then scrub it clean to start over and cycle it. :)

 

 

Ok this is my plan I think. Its rainy here so next time its gonna be sunny im gonna lay the rock out for a day or two to dry it out. Then im gonna soak it in some distilled water for a day. Then im gonna scrub. Then im gonna soak for another day. Should I dry it out again after this or can I put it directly in the tank do you think? Im not concerned about starting a cycle as my tank is only 2 days old and hasnt even really started its cycle yet.

Link to comment

I would bleach it all, then buy a small amount of live rock and re seed it right in the tank.

 

No dont use the bleach in the tank, do that part separate.

Link to comment
I would bleach it all, then buy a small amount of live rock and re seed it right in the tank.

 

No dont use the bleach in the tank, do that part separate.

 

 

Hmm interesting. How dilute would you make the bleach ... 1 part bleach / 7 parts water? Also how would you clean the rock afterward to make sure all the bleach was gone? I have 4 lbs of live rock in the tank now so I should be ok on that side.

Link to comment

Boil it in RO water and then scub it clean. Then add it to your tank. Make sure you don't overload your bio filter. It will take several months for the bacteria to fully recononize the rock.

Link to comment
Boil it in RO water and then scub it clean. Then add it to your tank. Make sure you don't overload your bio filter. It will take several months for the bacteria to fully recononize the rock.

 

 

Can I just boil it in a regular metal pan thats been washed in the dish washer? It seems like at this point itd be worth just spending the extra 25 bucks and picking up 3 or 4 more pounds of live rock.

Link to comment

A metal pan will not release anything toxic into the water when it boils and dishwashing detergent is formulated to not leave a residue. Boiling imo it is the best way to prepare dead rock for a tank.

 

If you don't want to go through the hassle of preping any of your old rock, by all means buy some new. You may find some interesting new shapes with hopefully no bad problems growing out of it.

Link to comment
Hmm interesting. How dilute would you make the bleach ... 1 part bleach / 7 parts water? Also how would you clean the rock afterward to make sure all the bleach was gone? I have 4 lbs of live rock in the tank now so I should be ok on that side.

 

http://www.3reef.com/forums/live-rock/reus...rock-37810.html

 

I've done it twice with great results.

 

It says to do 50/50 on that link, but i did much less than that.

Link to comment
http://www.3reef.com/forums/live-rock/reus...rock-37810.html

 

I've done it twice with great results.

 

It says to do 50/50 on that link, but i did much less than that.

 

 

Woah great link. I was worried there would still be crazy dead stuff everywhere on the rock afterwords. But after seeing the before and after pics of this its as clean as dry rock. Will be following this method and bookmarking lol.

Link to comment
Woah great link. I was worried there would still be crazy dead stuff everywhere on the rock afterwords. But after seeing the before and after pics of this its as clean as dry rock. Will be following this method and bookmarking lol.

 

Works good, you cant smell a thing on the rocks when you are done they are sparkling white lol.

I transfered stuff from my nanocube into my main tanks and the nanocube rock had some aiptasia, colonial hydroids etc on the rocks.

 

You can still tell what ones were bleached they havent gotten that "live rock" look back yet.

 

I also did it with an anemone that came in the mail on a piece of live rock. The anemone detached into the container and the rock was left exposed for a period of time.

Link to comment
Works good, you cant smell a thing on the rocks when you are done they are sparkling white lol.

I transfered stuff from my nanocube into my main tanks and the nanocube rock had some aiptasia, colonial hydroids etc on the rocks.

 

You can still tell what ones were bleached they havent gotten that "live rock" look back yet.

 

I also did it with an anemone that came in the mail on a piece of live rock. The anemone detached into the container and the rock was left exposed for a period of time.

 

 

Just a quick question while my topic is still floating around

 

I have a 5.5 gal with 4 lbs of live rock as I said. Will adding this totally dead rock hurt me badly as far as biological filtration is concerned because it wont become "live" for a couple months? I dont have any plans to add fish, but will be adding a CUC after my cycle is done followed by some zoas and rics once everything has settled down and the diatoms are all gone and whatever.

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...