Live Rock.....To Use or not to use

Hello,

Recently I had to move long distance.....I attempted to move my 120 gallon tank but lost everything. Was tough....had the tank thriving for 6 years with no problems.

My question is......Once live rock has been out of the tank for an extended period of time (about a month) could I use it again or should I purchase all new live rock? Looking to save money but I want a healthy tank when I get it going again.

Any advice is much appreciated!

 

arsanc40

if its bone dry now, then its no longer live rock, its just rock
but it will become live rock again, once its submerged and bacteria colonise it

it would be worth giving it a good hosing down to get rid of any trapped sediment on it and in the pores

once you have cleaned it you can use it again IME
any coraline on there, pink or purple, will almost certainly die off when re submerged also
it change from pink / purple to white - this is nothing to worry about either, its just calcium carbonate at that stage

you may want to add a bit of new live rock to help seed your now base rock (you dont need to though)

I would also suggest a cycle in dark ( no tank lights) simply because some algae spores seem capable of surviving a complete drying out and you if you run the tank with lights on at start up during the cycle with its associated high nutrients you may be unpleasantly surprised with what greens, browns and reds actually spring up from this percieved dead and dry rock

Steve

 

Thanks, Steve! I will give it a go with some base rock that is live and some live sand.

After all was lost I contemplated not getting the tank up again but I just enjoy the hobby and the tank waaaaaaaay to much. Its always an excellent conversation piece as well when we have company.;D

 

Yep, it's well worth it!

 

It's worth it, but there will be a lot of nutrients bound to it, so you will need to either cycle it. Personally, I would give it a half hour soak it in a 1:5 muriatic acid to water solution first as this will strip anything bound to the rocks surface (then rinse BTW ). muriatic acid should be available at any hardware store, but it is very powerful, so be careful with it if you go that route.

 

All,

Thanks for the feedback. Very good advice. This forum would have been an excellent place for advice when I first started the hobby.....still not an expert by any means and will be back to seek advice from more experienced folks in the (near) future!

 

Use goggles and rubber gloves please.

 

And don't set the container on your brand new teak picnic table :