Old dried out "live" rock

[Jonleda]

Hi All,

I was wondering if someone can help me on a question I have.

I had an issue with my tank and had to strip it down due to an major ammonia spike, 0.60ppm. I lost my corals but no fish. I decided to strip the tank down and remove the live rock incase some thing inside was dying and causing an issue. I removed the old sand and cleaned it and put more live sand in as I had a spare bag and that gave me a sand bed of 2-3 inches.

I took the Live rock as I said and put it outside on the patio where it has been for 2 weeks now and I assume it is now not live and neither is anything else that was in it.

Can I reuse the rock in the tank to make caves etc and grow simple Xenia and a leather on it in the future or is this unwise and I should either buy more live rock or dead coral branches or fake stones etc.

Thanks.

JL

[scooter31707]

IMO, it will be ok. I would give it a good rinse like with a power washer. After that, get a tub or a brute container put the rock in, fill up with freshly mixed saltwater. Then place a heater and a powerhead in with the rock. Just sit back and periodically check the ammonia, looking for the spike. Cycle live rock just like a tank, once you see everything spike and go back to zero, then the live rock is cycled and ready for tank use.

[SalinFL]

Sorry you lost all your corals. Personally I'd "burn it" for two weeks - a container with lid larger enough to comfortably hold all the rock, a power head, fill the container with fresh saltwater, cover it, let it rest in darkness and look at it in a week. Drain, replace with fresh saltwater again and close the lid for another week. Rinse each rock with new fresh saltwater and pop it in your tank. I helped a friend of mine do this, he was having an ongoing problem with red algae. Got the advice off of another post from here. Worked great. You probably wouldn't need the second week because your issue is ammonia, but if you can wait, the peace of mind is priceless. Hope all works out.

[mcgyvr]

You simply start the cycle again in a "new" tank setup.. plain and simple.. No need to buy more rock when you have it already..

I've pulled what was live rock at one time but has sat in a bucket on my back deck with rainwater/breeding mosquitos/spiders,etc..for months/years and simply powerwashed it off and into the new tank setup it goes.. and the cycle starts again..

"Live" is only a word used to indicate the presence of "beneficial bacteria" colonizing it..
The cycling process creates/maintains that "bacteria"..

[heathlindner25]

Yes but two weeks outside and you are probably in full Death Mode on everything living on that rock.

[ajoe]

Sorry you lost all your corals. Personally I'd "burn it" for two weeks - a container with lid larger enough to comfortably hold all the rock, a power head, fill the container with fresh saltwater, cover it, let it rest in darkness and look at it in a week. Drain, replace with fresh saltwater again and close the lid for another week. Rinse each rock with new fresh saltwater and pop it in your tank. I helped a friend of mine do this, he was having an ongoing problem with red algae. Got the advice off of another post from here. Worked great. You probably wouldn't need the second week because your issue is ammonia, but if you can wait, the peace of mind is priceless. Hope all works out.

Plus 1 . Great advice. Sorry about your lose.

[ajoe]

"loss" not "lose" ... I'm a loser.

[mcgyvr]

"loss" not "lose" ... I'm a loser.

Nice... Self-correction and you went all Spelling Bee on us and used it in a sentence.. :D

FYI... You can edit posts on here.. (with some restrictions).. but a minute later you should have been able to edit..

[Pooky Barr]

I took apart my tank 7 years ago and the rock sat in my garage. When I set it up again a year ago I rinsed the dust off really well and placed it in the tank. I added a fresh new live rock to seed the old and let it cycle for a couple months. Added fish and coral after that and it's been fine. Good luck!