Live Rock that is no longer alive

[RussP]

A buddy of mine shut down his tank a few weeks ago. Knowing that he was planning on doing this, I told him that I wanted some of his bigger pieces of live rock. Yesterday he brought me a large bucket full of "live" rock. These pieces are no longer alive. He said that they have been sitting outside in this bucket, without saltwater, for about two weeks. They have been rained on, but other than not being in saltwater, they are clean. My question is, what do I need to do to get these ready to put in my tank? Do I just rinse them in saltwater, or do I need to cure them for a few weeks? I currently have a 90 gallon tank, and a 20 gallon refugium with about 130 pounds of rock total. I plan on removing some of my smaller pieces of rock that are currently in my tank.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Some people will tell you that you can just place them in your system, but I wouldn't risk it. There will likely be die-off which will cause ammonia to spike, etc. I would cure it in saltwater with a pump at the very least, for a few weeks and test for ammonia and nitrite several times before using it.

[RichConley]

Der_Iron_Chef, there can't be any die-off, because everything is already dead.


I'd cure them though, as there is dead stuff in the rock, and it will need to rot away.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10643414#post10643414 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RichConley
Der_Iron_Chef, there can't be any die-off, because everything is already dead.


I'd cure them though, as there is dead stuff in the rock, and it will need to rot away.

Well, that's what I meant, that things will decompose. But you're right, "die-off" was the wrong choice of words.