Live rock Question

[reefer freak]

I acquired some live rock about a year ago in anticipation of upgrading my tank from a 55 to 75. long story short the rock has been in a 35 gal can for the last year with a heater and 2 power heads and im ready to make the switch. Do you think the rock will be ok to use? It dont smell and there is still coraline on it?

[morleyz]

You've kept it heated with powerheads for a year? That's some dedication. Did you top off the water?

Anyway, I don't see what harm could come of using it. I would probably give it a good rinsing and soak it in some fresh saltwater for a week just to rinse out anything that might have collected.

[reefer freak]

I kind of forgot about it lol, had a lid on it checked it last week and to my surprise it was still full. I would like to use a bunch of it in the new tank do you think it would cause a cycle? i'm doing a tank swap this weekend. if it will cause a cycle I will just add a few pieces at a time so I dont have any die off my tank has matured well over the last year

[morleyz]

If you're adding it to an existing tank, I wouldn't directly add it without running it in some fresh saltwater first. After a year, I'd be concerned that there would be some die off and wouldn't want to trigger a cycle (even a small one) in an established tank.

[Dan_P]

After a year in the dark, can't be much left. Everything large must have died and have been digested The water might be fairly yellow. Nitrates and phosphates pretty high.

I would do a complete water change in your rock storage container, and store the rock in the clean saltwater for a couple weeks. Monitor water parameters, phosphate, nitrate, etc. If nitrate and phosphate levels increase, do another water change and wait a more couple weeks. You just want to make sure any nutrients diffuse out of the rock pores before adding the rock to your tank.