live rock in still water

[cdc84]

I am upgrading to a 180g tank which comes with about 200lbs of live rock and some live sand. The tank has not been running for about a month but it still has the water and live rock in the tank. No pumps or heaters were running.

Will all the bacteria in the rock and sand have died from being in still water for a month?

[ivans75]

I will be very much surprised if your water does not smell rotten. Your sand should have blackened by now.

[BigCountry74]

that all depends on what was in it. a month is not all that long if nothing but rock was sitting in the tank. turn everything on, let it run for 24 hours and test the water. heck least you can do at this point :D

[cdc84]

I should be picking it up today, I don't know what was in it before but the water had no bad smell to it. There was some scum on the top of the water but it really didn't look that bad, the sand was also pretty clean however the lights on the tank don't work so when I light it up it maybe a different story.

[BigCountry74]

gotcha. you will need to drain it before transport. keep some wet paper towels on the rock to keep it moist.

be sure to fill it with RO/DI water when you get it home. try not to use treated tap water, it will leach a ton of phosphate, which will be a headache trying to remove it over time (it will leach into the rock, sand etc).

[cdc84]

ok thanks, I don't have a way to take all the water with me and I think its going to be pretty dirty once we start taking the rock and sand out but I will get what I can if I can't set the tank up straight away I will put the rocks into a tube with saltwater and power head to try and keep it live. Thanks for the help.

[BigCountry74]

just keep the rock damp. it does not have to be submerged in water when u move it. you can remove it and put it into empty buckets or boxes, just get paper towels wet with the existing tank water and lay them over the rock etc.

and dont worry about transporting the water.

1.) remove the rock and box/bucket it with wet paper towels
2.) drain the water and have him discard it
3.) remove the sand, or leave it in there if you guys can carry it with the empty tank into your car/suv/truck

when u get home fill the tank with RO/DI water and add your salt mix. then put the damp rock back into the tank and turn everything on and cycle the tank, powerheads, heaters etc. you will not need any lights for this.