Setting up new tank with old rock!

[beard]

My brother is thinking about starting up a 55gal that was a reef tank at one point. Well about a year ago he stoped taking care of it and has let all the water evaporate out of the tank. All the rock is now dry and dead. I have given him my opinion on the matter but. I need some help as he dose not want to listen to me. What would you all do to restart this tank to have a reef tank? Maybe he will listen to you all ( we can only hope ). Thanks for the help in educating my older brother!

[scrmbld33]

if it was me id start with new rock /sand and a good cleaning of the tank, if i had to reuse the rock i would make some saltwater and rinse the rock as good as possible, then i would recure/seed it with some new rock, and still get new sand

[beard]

I told him filling the tank and throwing in one new piece of live rock isnt going to be a good thing. But he is older and knows much more then me lol .

[scrmbld33]

i would definitly say more than 1 piece to seed it is not enough, how many pounds of rock are we talkin about

[beard]

50+ pounds of bone dry alowed to die and dry out in a tank with no filter running ex-live rock.

[CarmieJo]

I think that if he could reuse the old rock as base rock. I'd set it to soak in plain tap water in a new Rubbermaid trashcan. After soaking for a couple of days I'd individually swish each piece of rock. Then I would start repeated rinsing and swishing until no more dead stuff comes out of the rock. Then I would do a rinse in RO/DI water. (I think that if it is totally dry there is probably not bacteria in it that could harm a tank. However, I've also read that you can bake rock to sterilize it but I'm not sure exactly how to go about this. Even if he baked it I'd do the procedure outlined above just to avoid having a mess in my tank.) This could then be used as base rock. He could then add some LR and use that to turn the base rock into LR. I think that if he has sand that sat there and got stagnant and had all the water evaporate out I'd toss it.

[beard]

It will also take alot of curing because of all the live things that died in and on the rock that wont come off with a soak and rinse process. The perpose of this is not to tell him it isnt posible to use it but to let him know it is going to take more work then he thinks. Im not telling him to not set a tank up but im trying to help him do it right! I want to see him as happy with his tank as I am with mine. Thats all I just want as many opinions as I can get to show him and help him see what it is going to take to do it right.

[Emmelemmo]

I think the rock could still be used. It won't be live rock till it is seeded with new live rock. I would clean it off and then it may still lead to a longer than normal tank cycle but it doesn't need to be thrown out.

[drunktank]

His old rock can be used. All he has to do it soak it for 24 hrs and rinse it off w/ water. Clean the tank out, get new sand and place the dead rock in. Get a couple of pieces of LR to seed it, plus a cup of sand from some1 elses tank and your good to go.

[jawaiianmon]

bleach it and rinse it well?

[madreefer14]

For starter's( and mind you this is only my personal feeling) If he let the first tank go to the crapper, whats to say that he wont let a second one go as well. Have circumstances changed. If not best let it go and save the inverts and other animals an aggonizing death. However should he truly want to start a second tank then he should be able to re-use the old rock. Not sure if I would reccomend bleaching. Remember, most live rock is extremly porous and has ALOT of surface area. I think it would take a long time (say 1-2 months) in a very warm and arid environment to completely de-chlorenate. My thought is bake the rock in an oven at no less than 375 degrees for not less than 1 hour. This is the method I use to sterilize my bottles before I put my beer in them. Your goal is to get the core temperature of the rock at 375 and hold it there for 20 minutes. this should effectivly kill off any harmful bacteria. Be sure to rinse it well before and after as im sure the heating process will inevitably loosen a few things up. Good luck.

[yeame]

any peice of rock that stayed wet is still good as far as i know the bacteria isnt all going to die as long as it stays wet all the rest i would soak and scrub need new sand some old is ok but 90% new add lots of good bacteria i use corallife BAC-300 in my 5g cube( no fish need nitrates to keep cycle)

[beard]

In no way was the question can he use the rock because I know it can be used! But rather how much work and time would go into the rock to have it safe for the tank and then how long it will take to be live rock and reef ready again. I never said the rock should be thrown out that is not what this is about. Also I know how seeding works and I think he dose to. This is about someone who thinks a light rinse and putting it back in the tank filling it with water and every thing is back to normal and ready to go. When I setup my last tank about 3 months ago he said you didnt buy live rock did you. When I said yes he said I have tons of it down stairs refering to the rock in the tank! I then had to explan that it was not live rock. I guess maybe I am trying to disscouage him from seting up another tank is that wrong of me? As I agree with madreefer14 I would like to see him suceed but on the other hand dont want him to try if it is going to turn out like it did before. Now that I think about it I dont even know why I asked the question if he isnt going to listen to me I dont know if he will listen to any of you. But we can all hope!

[madreefer14]

Guess the final decision lies with him. If he doesnt want to do it, ask him for the rock and start a frag tank once it's seeded well and the tank cycles. after all by his comment " I have tons of it downstairs" it sounds to me like an offer. I'd seriously consider taking him up on it. As for me I'll be starting from scratch. BTW I dont think your wrong for discouraging him if he's not going to follow thru. That's why my tank as been in the planning phase for 1 1/2 years waiting for my wife to finish school. we might have to move and I dont want to fill a tank with stuff, just have it going good and have to break it down and move 75 miles.