Lost it all

[xroads]

I am glad I gave most of my stuff away as not much made the move. I cant believe how many bristle worms I have dead everywhere. Now for my question. Is there any real advantage to keeping my live rock in water & circulating until I get ready to start again in a couple of months, or can I just dry it out & be good as new when I restart?

Thx
Craig

 

[Modemagic]

If you dry the rock out... I would assume anything 'live' would not survive, making it simply rock or base rock as they call it. How much of it do you have approx? If your going to tear the tank down and dry the rock out, it may be best to sell it as live rock and put a few bucks in your pocket. LR goes pretty quickly typically... I know I'm always looking for some.

 

[strictlySPS]

now would be the perfect time to "cook" your rocks

 

[Nykademus]

If you dry it out it will no longer have the beneficial life on it. You can still use it, but would want to seed it again with some live sand or rock.

It will also take some time to populate again.

If you have the storage and the space, I would say cook the rock for a couple months and your rock will be teeming with pods, bacteria, and no algae or ich concerns.

 

[xroads]

Cook it as in?

 

[Nykademus]

You will want to research the specifics, but a basic rundown of "cooking rocks" is to put them in a container that you can cover so that its devoid of light, with a heater and a powerhead.

Leave them in the dark for a couple of months and it will kill off any ich and also any algae that may be present. Pods dont need light to thrive so they will be just fine.. better in fact, because they will use that time to breed.

large plastic trash barrels work great for it. Just make sure you clean it out with a vinegar wash and a very good rinse first.

 

[leeweber85]

that sucks craig... I wanted some of those zoas too! What happened that caused it? did you disrupt the sand?

 

[xroads]

I think that is what a lot of it was. I couldnt believe how much it reeked. Couldnt believe the worms either, some were 6 inches long. Some snails made it was about all. I gave those yellow zoas to a few people so someone should be able to frag you some.