clownfish05 Posted June 21, 2008 Posted June 21, 2008 I've been searching some of the topics on letting live rock dry out. I found some where they said it was ok to let the rock dry out. I'm just making sure it will be ok before i let it dry and then it mess up or something because it's pretty expensive. And I read one thing where it said u need to let it reseed but i don't know what that is so i need a little help on that to. Thanks
lakshwadeep Posted June 21, 2008 Posted June 21, 2008 If you let it dry out, then it won't be "live" anymore. This means you'll need to reseed them to make them live rock again, but that isn't too hard if you introduce a small "premium" piece of live rock.
Zombo Posted June 21, 2008 Posted June 21, 2008 Well, yeah, you can dry it out. Of course, it's no longer "live rock", it's just rocks. As the other poster put, you'd have to "re-seed" it with a pice of premium LR to get it all inhabited again.
clownfish05 Posted June 21, 2008 Author Posted June 21, 2008 If you let it dry out, then it won't be "live" anymore. This means you'll need to reseed them to make them live rock again, but that isn't too hard if you introduce a small "premium" piece of live rock. I already have more live rock in my other tank but how do u re seed it do u just set the dried out rock next to the other rocks in the tank If that works how long will it take for it to become live rock again
r20crazy Posted June 21, 2008 Posted June 21, 2008 will take a few months. I bought 'dead' rock, and boiled it in a pot just to make sure it was dead, then dried it out again. it is now in a tub in the garage with PH and heater. I do 'waterchanges' with old SW from my other tanks. Been in there for almost 1.5 months now. I plan on adding new live sand to the tub to 'seed' the rock, as I'm hoping to avoid putting 'LR' in there as it might have the stuff on it I'm trying to avoid. I'm in no rush either, as its summer and hot and I have no way to cool a larger tank yet, so the reseeding process doesn't bother me at all time wise.
clownfish05 Posted June 21, 2008 Author Posted June 21, 2008 will take a few months. I bought 'dead' rock, and boiled it in a pot just to make sure it was dead, then dried it out again. it is now in a tub in the garage with PH and heater. I do 'waterchanges' with old SW from my other tanks. Been in there for almost 1.5 months now. I plan on adding new live sand to the tub to 'seed' the rock, as I'm hoping to avoid putting 'LR' in there as it might have the stuff on it I'm trying to avoid. I'm in no rush either, as its summer and hot and I have no way to cool a larger tank yet, so the reseeding process doesn't bother me at all time wise. well can u put the rock in the tank even if it's been dry or do u have to put it in a tub? And where can u buy dead rock at? And last what were u trying to avoid
r20crazy Posted June 21, 2008 Posted June 21, 2008 tank or tub. my larger tank isn't ready so I'm using a tub. I bought it from a fellow reefer. it is ALOT cheaper to buy when dead. (unless you finda a local reefer getting outa the hobby selling LR) trying to avoid all bad algaes (hair, bryopsis, turf, bubble, etc), along with appis, bad crabs...basically anything 'bad' that can come on live rock. well can u put the rock in the tank even if it's been dry or do u have to put it in a tub?And where can u buy dead rock at? And last what were u trying to avoid
clownfish05 Posted June 21, 2008 Author Posted June 21, 2008 tank or tub. my larger tank isn't ready so I'm using a tub. I bought it from a fellow reefer. it is ALOT cheaper to buy when dead. (unless you finda a local reefer getting outa the hobby selling LR) trying to avoid all bad algaes (hair, bryopsis, turf, bubble, etc), along with appis, bad crabs...basically anything 'bad' that can come on live rock. ok thanks but will it become live rock again if i dry it out and later on put it into a tank with some more LR ( this LR doesn't have anything wrong with it) and some live sand ( about 30 lbs) ? and again thanks alot
JPF Posted June 21, 2008 Posted June 21, 2008 ok thanks but will it become live rock again Its all just rock. It becomes live rock when it contains beneficial bacteria. This happens by putting it in a tank with live rock or sprinkling it with a few ounces of live sand from an established tank and allowing time for the bacteria to multiply. This may take two weeks to a month. It becomes premium live rock when it has cool purple algae and other fun things growing on it. This happens in a successful tank over time. Live rock is grossly overpriced unless you are talking about the Florida aquacultured stuff. That rock is amazing due to the multiple colors of coraline algae, variety of macro algae species, sponges, cool hitchhikers and overwhelming vigor of the life covering the rock. In comparison that premium stuff from across the Pacific looks like dried fruit.
Burks Posted June 22, 2008 Posted June 22, 2008 I just wouldn't put the dead rock in a tank with live rock unless you plan on using the live rock to help seed/cure the dead rock out. The dead rock will still have a ton of dead stuff on it, so it could cause a cycle. Not something you want in a display tank.
HammyDavisJr Posted June 22, 2008 Posted June 22, 2008 If you look at my 2nd tank thread, I did what you are talking about. My old 22 gallon tank blew up and I put the rock in my garage for months. It dried out and was just 'rock'. I put it in my new tank with a few pieces of live rock from a friend's tank, and let it sit for weeks. The bacteria and microorganisms multiplied and now I have nice purple rock. It just takes a lot of time.
clownfish05 Posted June 23, 2008 Author Posted June 23, 2008 If you look at my 2nd tank thread, I did what you are talking about. My old 22 gallon tank blew up and I put the rock in my garage for months. It dried out and was just 'rock'. I put it in my new tank with a few pieces of live rock from a friend's tank, and let it sit for weeks. The bacteria and microorganisms multiplied and now I have nice purple rock. It just takes a lot of time. nice tank and rock work
sho'nuff Posted August 13, 2008 Posted August 13, 2008 I had the same thing as hammy happen (power outage killed tank) a while back. I gave up the hobby for about a year. Now I have 13 lbs of old, dead, Fiji rock sitting with 1 lb of live rubble in a tank(plus heater, microjet, and a HOB filter). A couple of questions: 1) Is the 1 to 13 ratio reasonable for about a month of seeding? 2) Is there a way to tell how this process is progressing?
YeahitsK Posted August 13, 2008 Posted August 13, 2008 I'm doing this as well. 25 lbs of dry rock from my old nanocube (dried out in 2006) is now with 20 lbs of premium cured tonga rock in a rubbermaid tub in my basement. I cleaned the heck out of the old rock and started it a few weeks ago with a heater and powerheads and saw a very slight cycle start (readings were there but never very high for ammonia and nitrite). The new stuff I added I just purchased Sunday as cured rock from an established tank. The rock seems to be able to process ammonia because I am not getting readings for it but the nitrite readings are off the charts. I'm hoping this will "seed" the old rock fairly quickly but I'm willing to wait if it doesn't.
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