Reusing old live rock

Discussion in 'General Reef Topics' started by SaltyClown, Oct 21, 2012.

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  1. SaltyClown

    SaltyClown Sea Dragon

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    When my 10 gal reef tank "died" 2 years back. Everything
    was covered in hair algae. When I took the tank down, I saved all the live rock and let it dry out. So, the rock has been dry for 2 years now. I’m setting up a 75 reef tank. I want to know if I can use the old live rock, (not as live rock anymore) but just as rock in the new tank. The old live rock still has tons of pink coralline algae on it…odd. Anyway, even though there was hair algae before, but no longer on the rocks. Could the hair algae have survived for these 2 years and show up in the new tank??
     
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  3. cosmo

    cosmo Giant Squid

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    Since it was only enough rock for a 10g, I'd toss it, its prob not worth the few extra bucks for new dry rock, IMO, if you don't wanna do that you can "cook" for a few months to kill everything off it.
     
  4. Mr. Bill

    Mr. Bill Native Floridian

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    I did the very same thing, except I used what I wanted from an old 55g setup to fill my current 29, and I've had no issues. Once it's been dry for so long, there's really nothing left that won't be eliminated during a normal nitrogen cycle.
     
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  5. cosmo

    cosmo Giant Squid

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    thats good to know, I figured there would still be spores or something on there that could regenerate.
     
  6. grinder37

    grinder37 Whip-Lash Squid

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    Any left over organics in or on the rock would be long dead and a good source of "food" for the nitrogen cycle.
     
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  7. rossco838

    rossco838 Astrea Snail

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    Not to hijack your thread but I also am In a similar situation except I have about 90 lbs dried out for about a month.. Going into a new tank with no livestock should I be worried? The Rock had nothing bad on it just had no choice while moving. Thank you and again sorry if I hijacked your thread
     
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  9. APC

    APC Gigas Clam

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    I agree with Cosmo...if it fit in a 10 gallon tank, you are not talking too much rock. I would dump it and start fresh. Otherwise, you may have a little bio-bomb in there that really messes up your level. The fact that the coraline is still on there, makes me even more nervous. There is no way that coraline is live afterbeing dry for 2 years - so no telling what else is in there. Base rock is inexpensive these days (comparitively), so I would go with that.
     
  10. zoo 4 life

    zoo 4 life Coral Banded Shrimp

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    If you choose, you can soak your rock in 10% bleach solution to kill anything that may harm your tank. Rinse thouroughly afterward to get rid of any/all organic matter that may still be in the rock. I personally prefer to start with "dead" rock and only buy 1 piece of live rock to begin my cycle, to me you end up with less unwanted critters in your tank. If your rock is very, very covered in algae and it will not come off with scrubbing/soaking you can use muric acid as well to break down any organic matter. Your rock should be all white before entering your tank. This is the method I have used on several tanks with good success thus far.
     
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  11. PghSteeler

    PghSteeler Tassled File Fish

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    Everything should be dead and you arent seeing live coralline algae, just the skeleton from the old algae. However, if you added chemicals (esp copper!!) to your tank or had high nitrates, phosphates, etc than the deadrock can leach all that back into the clean water. Simple rule of diffusion, matter will go from where it is crowded to where there is less. Basically in your old tank if you had high levels the rock would not leech because the water and rock were both equally balanced and high in contaminants, but with a fresh setup and clean water the rock wil have significantly more contaminate than the water causing it to leech. I am not sure what caused your old tank to crash.

    On the other hand some thigns can survive for many years in sproe form. You cant expect corals, fish, anemones, etc to ever come back once dried out like that but many very simple lifeforms including some algaes can very well go dormant as spores and then pop up when conditions are right. Exactly what can pop up Im not sure maybe John from reefcleaners could help with that as well as how to ensure it doesnt happen

    Basically as everyone said before, Is it worth it for 20-30 bucks?? Prob not just start with fresh rock!