Live Rock

[saleen385]

My 180g sprung a leak, I took all the rock(200lbs) out of the tank and put it into a barrel with a powerhead to circulate the water. After a few days it started to smell really rancid I added an airstone and another powerhead didn't help. Over the weekend I took all the rock out rinsed it with RO water. It is drying out (probably already dry). Can I just put the rock back in the tank and start to cycle the tank or do I need to do something else?

Thanks,
Jim

[thegrun]

Unless you had high nitrates or phosphates in the old tank go ahead and cycle the rock. I would give the rock an acid bath if you had nitrate/phosphate issues.

[Dmorty217]

Unless you had high nitrates or phosphates in the old tank go ahead and cycle the rock. I would give the rock an acid bath if you had nitrate/phosphate issues.

^ This, also if the rock doesn't have some die off when you put it back in the tank your cycle won't be very "strong" if you will. For instance you want your ammonia to hit close to 1ppm for a good cycle, not .25