DEAD ROCK? Worth the salvage? PLEASE ASSIST!

[cem1234]

Hello my fellow reefers,

It's been awhile since I've been on ...This should be a good one for you...

I've recently moved and while my 180 gallon tank made it, much of my 40g and 65g stuff didn't. This would be due to the fact about 2/3 of it was never set up and left in the transporting containers that we brought it over in. :eek: Trust me when I say this has been a very tough move as there are a lot of factors that have prevented me from taking care of my hobby recently...

That being said, the rock is simply PUTRID. It's been sitting for nearly a month without water circulation and it's pretty bad. Most of it is covered in water, but some isn't. there is a bit of newspaper over top of a good amount of it. It has not been ventalated and has a milky, nasty layer of goop on the top of the water. The water (if you can still call it that) is milky. Everything is (or should be) dead.

My question is this: Can the rock be used again, ever? I will obviously not put it in any "live" tank, but I'm wondering if it's even worth it to try to re-cure it and salvage it. It's enough to fill the 75 gallon tank it was suppose to go in, but gagging through it (the smell) would have to be "worth the effort".

Comments? Thanks!
- Chuck

[yellowwatchmen]

I would try to re use it Just spray all the goop off of it and scrub it and start recuring it ina container. Rember too add a powerehead and change some of the water every week.

[dareefking]

I reused some rock from a tank I took down. I had about 20+ lbs of rock in a bucket covered with no circulation for about a month or so. It smelled really bad and was slimy as well. I rinsed it with some saltwater and scrubbed it as well. I placed the pieces in various tanks I had already setup. I had no problems. I think I had 3 large pieces and one some piece of rubble. Everything seemed fine. That was back in Feb. The rock now as coraline spreading all over it and you wouldnt even know which piece it was unless I pointed it out. I just wouldnt place it all in the same tank, at least not all at once.

My thoughts are you could reuse it if you add it slowly to established tanks and let the critters and established rock do the rest. My pieces even have Xenia growing on them. Just clean it with fresh salt water, scrub it gently to remove any dead material, and place it in the tank one piece at a time.

Hope this helps, I know everyone has their own opinion, but I did it with good results. No cycling or fish loss. Maybe do a water change a week later, I think I did.

[cem1234]

That's a very encouraging piece of information. Good to know. I'm swaying towards that route along with some other things I've recently read about "cooking rock".

Anyone else agree\disagree?

- Chuck!

[slvr430ml]

what i have done was taken live rock from my brother about 50 pounds that was sitting out for years, all i did was washed it out and let it dry out, then i put it in my tank and seed it with some more live rock about 10 pounds, You should be good. When they we talk about live rock we are actually talking about the live things that are living on the rock that has died, you can seed the old rock then you would be good to go. hope this helps

[discocarp]

I would highly suggest cooking the rock. It has worked GREAT for me on dead rock in the past.

SeanT's great instructions are in the first post of this thread:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=650985&highlight=cook+rock

That's a how to go barebottom thread, but you don't need to go barebottom to get the benefits of rock cooking, especially with old putrid rock. :)

[coralnub]

You absolutely can use it again, as long as you re-cure it.

[reefshadow]

I would recommend bleaching it if it is that putrid, then reseeding it with healthy LR. Just use 1-2 cups non-scented bleach per 5 gallons of RO. This is much faster than cooking the rock and will eat away alot of the detritus and phosphates deep within the rock that would otherwise take months to cook or cure off. Plus you don't have to fool with water changes, it will be rendered sterile and usable within a few days instead of months. Make sure you rinse it in alot of clean RO and use a chlorine neutralizing product.

Cooking or curing is a good option if you think there is some viable life left worth salvaging, but does take alot of time and WC's. This is the type of situation that bleaching is best for IMO.

HTH

[cem1234]

All of you have great comments. The bottom line is it looks like it can be re-used in some form or fashion. I guess it just depends on which way we go on it...

I would love to cook the rock based on what I was reading, but I don't have that much patience...I also don't know what is left on it (if it's worth it) to even attempt it.

You all have given me the options...now I think it's up to me. :-) Time to do some thinking....

Thanks everyone... - Chuck!

[bigginapk]

I have done the bleach thing several times and this IMO is the fastest and best way. I would just make sure to dechlorinate it well and let it soak in dechlorinateing solution for a day or two and then let it dry out for a day or two the longer the better !!

[bigginapk]

sorry double post !!

[cwschoon]

I have some very large pieces of live rock in a pred tank that are beyond gross and ugly and have made the decision to bleach it white and rehab the tank. After bleaching, if I soak/change water/soak a few times, when can I put it back in? Should I let it dry completely to let all bleach evaporate? I seem to remember that large doses of prime/aquasafe can neutralize the bleach rather quickly.
Thanks, Craig.

[jim.l]

If it's been a tank it's not dead anymore. It is populated with nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria............. it's also picks up a lot of phosphates from the waste/food in the predator tank. Bleaching will kill the rock again removing the "goop" but leave the phosphates. Cooking the rock is really the best way to go.

[Sk8r]

Effectively, it HAS cooked. Same thing happened to me this spring. Put on a mask, get a tub of clean saltwater, and wash the rock in it before using.
I was so disheartened I just put it in without washing it. Fortunately I have a good skimmer. This was stupid.
Two things survived: one aiptasia and a stand of caulerpa. ;)

On the other hand, once the skimmer had spat out the crud, life began showing up---the aiptasia, the caulerpa: coralline reconstituted itself fairly fast. Some sponge, of all things. Bacteria---oh, I had that! Bubble algae, check!
Very little hair algae. It went away after about a week.
I did use all new sand...this reseeded fast.
I had a one week cycle, and back to business. After half a year, you'd never know the rock had been gray and dripping with goop when I installed it. Coralline thick everywhere, ample sponge growth, the usual worms, and, an accidental gift from the lfs where I boarded my critters, tons of micro brittle stars and a few bristleworms.
Made me sick when it happened, but it will fix itself. My opinion is don't cook it further, just swish it off really hard and use it, with new sand.