Live Rock thats been out

Okay - I am setting up this week and was going to buy LR from a local store - they had some nice stuff but looking at my tank (100 gallons) I am going to need anywhere from 150 - 200 pounds.

SO I found on CL today a guy that had live rock - broke down his tank a few weeks ago and it has been out of water -

Is this good to use? Is there anything I should look out for?

I was thinking take his rock ( about 150 pounds) then buying 50 pounds of some really nice decorative rock.

 

Buying used rock can be tricky-- if the system was poorly maintained, it may be loaded with nitrates/phosphates. In this case, it may also contain partially decayed matter. It certainly can be reused, but I'd suggest being prepared to give it a good bleaching or possibly an acid bath.

 

IMHO,

LR out of water more than an hour or two is going to have Bacteria breakdown to some degree. Weeks ago?- no longer LR.

YOU DON'T NEED TO BUY MUCH LR! I'm not mad, just making a point.
Get base rock, lots of it.
Add very little LR at all- within a few days/weeks, it will all be LR.
Depending on your system, etc. it will also begon to grow the usually purple coralline algae.

Save your money, be patient, use ver ylittle LR.

If you use that LR that's been dry for weeks, you're going to have some serious die off/ cylcle, etc.

 

It is the same but you're not sure what was on or in the live rock and as Mr. Bill said if it was in a poorly maintained system, you could experience many more issues than if you buy dry base rock - less risk that way.

 

What if I take the time to cycle it and seed it with 50 pounds of the premium? Would you cycle it in a barrel w power heads and heaters then mix with the fresh in the tank and cycle again.

 

I just did something similar as I ran across "free LR" from someone I had helped in the past he let his tank go to crud and his phosphates were insane. I got the chance to see the rock and know what was going on with it. I did an acid bath and baking soda dip to clean it up and get any nastys off the rinsed in a RO bath and let it soak then did the same in saltwater with a lid on and a pump. I did a WC after a week like that and tested the water a week later. That s when I finally added to my system.

With all of that said get new dry dead base what ever you wanna call it and seed the tank with a cup full of a know reefer in good standings sand. You will find you wont have to do much more than that and will be in a full cycle pretty quick.

Also what are you planning on filter wise? Sump Iam assuming if so I would go very light with the rock in the DT and know that if you put a few good pieces in the sump that if you wanna add to the DT you can if you fill the DT up you will find that the piece that you wanna take out for flow or what ever always seems to be on the bottom of your aquascape.

 

Thanks for the feedback - I am going to look at the rock sat am. If it looks good I am taking it. Its to good of a deal to pass up. even if I use it for base I am going to need a decent amount of new LR anyway.

 

Agreed on all points.

Depending on how much decay you have going on in those rocks, your cycle may be extended and/or it may take several water changes to get your nitrates stabilized at a tolerable level, but yes, it can be done that way.