Is liverock still alive?

[oicu2]

Hello all,

Last year I had a 75 gallon reef aquarium setup with 70 lbs of live rock and numerous saltwater fish and soft corals. It was about 7 months old and doing great when disaster struck in the form of hurricane Rita. I had about a foot of water in my house. I lost all of my corals and fish with the exception of one chromis due to the power outage. My backup pump only lasted for 28 hours. We were unable to get back home until days later. By then it was to late. (No, the insurance didn't cover my loss.) I tore down my tank and saved all of my live rock by putting it in a plastic 25 gallon tub that I was using for my reserve water. I covered it up with the lid and put it outside. It has been there since September 05'. Is my live rock salvageable or should I toss it and start over. I'm aware that everything on it is dead but what I was wondering is can I still use it as base rock. If so, how can I be sure it is not contaminated with the dead corals? Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

[DJ88©]

[moved]

 

[RichConley]

should still be fine as base, probably wont have any corraline. Probably a good candidate for extended curing.

 

[OnTheReef]

I am currently in the process of restoring some live rock that was stored exactly as you describe for about 4 months. I have it in a tank with some seed rock I bought from my LFS. Some areas bleached, but others are actually coming back! This stuff is amazingly resilient. I am going to cure it for a good long time before using it again, but it's really looking good.

 

[Scuba_Dave]

Rinse it out, is anything still on it - like dead softies?
As long as there isn't anything to rot & cause algae, problems you should be OK
I used about 100 lbs od "dead" rock in my tank
It colored up fairly quickly

You will need other LR or LS to seed the rock

 

[nemo g]

remember "live rock" is defined as rock that has living bacteria on it. the "fancier" live rock will have other organisms as well (ie hitchhickers). remember, buying dry base rock is a live after a few weeks in water, although it lacks all the fauna that a rock recenlty removed from the ocean. its the bacteria that indicates its "living" status.

so, the only difference between "dead" rock and "live" rick is about a 4 week cycle.

the only issue is how low it will take to cure. which will depend upon how much of the decomposed mater remains in and on the rock. which is easily fixed with multiple and frequent water changes along with good skimming.

good luck

 

[nemo g]

btw, was the rock in a sealed container? with or without water?

something to consider is the environment. take a look at your surroundings, the environement (air, water, earth) if in direct contact with the rock can leave toxic deposits. wether its acid rain, smog from automobiles, or even metals/ferterlizer material from the dirt. they can all leave residue on the rock that could be potentially lethal to fauna/flora of a reef tank.

if you think this may be an issue, it can be resolved with detoxifying water conditioning and/or a nice bleach bath.

but again, this is probably a worst case scenario, but one worth being aware of.

 

[REEFKEEPA]

I feel the pain.
I am in a similar situation.
I only got 6" from Katrina but the power outage killed everything in my 70.
When they let us back into the parish for a day I knew I couldn't do anything about my tank. Recovering salvagable clothes and valuables took presidence. Therefore I poured a gallon of bleach in the tank and returned a month later to start cleaning out the house. After I ripped out the carpet and threw out the furniture, I broke down the tank.
I put the DR "DEAD ROCK" all 90 lbs. into a rubbermaid tub and let it soak in fresh water for a few weeks. I scooped out the sand and put it into a 120qt Igloo and poured more bleach on it.
It's still there today!
After I got my FEMA trailer and moved back to Metairie, I set up a 54 gallon rubbermaid with a 2x4 frame around it in my shed and cleaned of the rock with a stiff nylon brush and the hose.
I put the rock in it then filled up the tub with SW and dropped in a couple of MJ1200's a heater and put my CPR back-pack on it.
I bought a chunk of decorative rock with some coralline and hair algae on it and threw it on top. Threw in a couple of raw shrimp and let it start.
I'ts been running like that since and until the house is done thats it. I will be upgrading to a 215, so a few months before I'm ready to set up I will get a much larger container and add 150lbs of uncured Hatian or Tonga and get it ready for the new tank.
Once it is set up and the lights come on, I will SLOWLY stock the tank. Fish first starting with a few chromis, then probably a couple of blennies, cardinals and maybe a couple of jawfish.
When the algae bloom starts I will ad a yellow tang.
What a PITA!
but once it's done it's going to be nice.
Good luck with you and your family's recovery.
Sincerely,
Art

 

[fish_taste_good]

I had some sit out for over a year...

i boiled the rocks that could fit into a dish...

I then let it air out for a little while...

then used it as base rock...

less than a year later it looks almost like my premium deco stuff...

Just my experience. My brother did the same thing too.

 

[Scuba_Dave]

Was the rock ever submerged in the flood waters?
"Story" true or false is there were a lot of contamination in some areas
Something to check into

 

[REEFKEEPA]

Scuba_Dave,
The media has not given an accurate picture.
The only way floodwater could have gotten into someones tank was if it was more than 5'.
I am sure this happened to some Reefers in N.O. and Mississippi but for the most part it was the power outages that killed our tanks. The people who lived in the areas that were of contamination concern have more important issues to deal with than their hobbies.
I'm sure that once their lives are back in order they will return to the hobby.
Us "LUCKY" ones have a building block to work with.

 

[oicu2]

What a relief!!!

What a relief!!!

Thanks to all of your posts! I knew I could count on this site to ease my mind. Just to answer a few questions, my tank was not contaminated with the flood water. When I put it in storage, I put a little bit of R/O water with it but not much. It has been sitting outside by my back door with a lid on it the whole time. It recently checked it and it seems to look just fine and doesn't even have much of an odor. There are some dead corals on it though. Should I remove those by scrubbing them off as someone suggested or boil them? Personally I'd feel better just scrubbing them. I'm afraid I'd boil them too much. We are almost finished with the repairs on my house and I am anxious to get my tank up and running again. My sister knew how much I loved my tank, so when I lost everything she sent me a sympathy card. How sweet she is!! Again thanks for all of your advice.

 

[nemo g]

2 things:

1. if you boil them you still gotta scrub them.

2. cant boil them too much, its rock. unless you toss them into a fire they should be fine. so dont let it run dry. remember, although ive never done it, i dont think its like cooking a turkey (ie shouldnt need 6 hours to cook).

 

[REEFKEEPA]

Just scrub them.
You are lucky that your ouse is almost ready.
I am still fighting ALLSNAKE.