OLD liverock

tropills

tropills

Member
Does anyone know what the life expectancy of live rock is in a closed aquarium ?? I spent most of last night googling about it and can not find a answer.. My rock in my system I have had for over 20 years and for the last year I've had a LOT of coral and fish losses and just can not pinpoint what the trouble is. The only thing I have came up with, is the rock must be just OLD and leaching harmful stuff into the water that my tests are not reading.
 
Do you have a way to check actual p04 reading in the water? I have been swapping out some of the old rocks, 10-15 years in a tank.
 
How do even know how old it is? I'm assuming it wasn't "new" when put in the tank in the first place. If live rock is passed from tank to tank I would imagine some of it can get pretty old. So age could be a factor in a newer set up with "used" rock, right?
 
GMaquarium said:
Do you have a way to check actual p04 reading in the water? I have been swapping out some of the old rocks, 10-15 years in a tank.
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Just my pO4 test kit tests 0 ppm . what's strange is I have NO nuisance algae growing. I also have NO Coraline growing on my power heads, glass or overflows but I have it spreading on the rocks. Cal. and Alk test normal. 490, 9/10 Dkh
 
Most hobby level test kits will not give you a close enough reading. I think they go from 0 to .25. So the only thing they are helpful with is to tell you if you have a large phosphate problem or not. I also would not rely on algae to be a sign of po4 spike. If you need help, I would be glad to test your water for phosphate for you.

I have a much better time keeping po4 in control .01-.05 after changing some of the really old rocks and sand. The rock I have been changing to is all new, dead and dry stuff.
 
tent boy said:
How do even know how old it is? I'm assuming it wasn't "new" when put in the tank in the first place. If live rock is passed from tank to tank I would imagine some of it can get pretty old. So age could be a factor in a newer set up with "used" rock, right?
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We don't know. I think we are talking about new rock from the ocean after curing sitting in the same tank for a long time.
 
Thanks G, The test kits I have are not the run of the mill kits. They are all special order scientific grade kits from one of my distributors. I'm sure the rock is REAL old. like I said, it's been in my systems over 20 years. I've never replaced any of it. I was considering killing and cleaning the entire batch of rock except for a few pieces. just to try and save what I could. short of doing a entire fresh rebuild with All new rock, any comment on how that would work out ?
 
tropills said:
Thanks G, The test kits I have are not the run of the mill kits. They are all special order scientific grade kits from one of my distributors. I'm sure the rock is REAL old. like I said, it's been in my systems over 20 years. I've never replaced any of it. I was considering killing and cleaning the entire batch of rock except for a few pieces. just to try and save what I could. short of doing a entire fresh rebuild with All new rock, any comment on how that would work out ?
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Is it a liquid test kit? what is the first reading after zero? My main issue with the liquid tests is from 0 to .25 is the most important range for corals. If the ocean is around .02 and first reading is .25 its 12.5 times difference. I think a couple of the brands do make a more detailed liquid test but still not as good as the photometer. I think that really is the way to go. Bring me a sample I will run it to double check.

In order to clean the rock I think acid migh help.
 
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The rock in my system has been in there over 30 years and some of it for 40 years. I don't see a problem yet. Maybe at 50 years something happens :thumbsup:
 
I would be surprised if the "rock" itself goes bad. I'm no expert, but I would think that the stuff that lives off the rock could die and cause issues. Thinking in that way, I would think if you took the rock out, dried it out for a while and then recurred it; it would be good as new.
 
I use HACH digital colorimeters. I'm really wondering if the rock is just plugged up from all these years in a closed system. would the muriatic acid be enough though ? that's where I'm nervous
 
Paul B said:
The rock in my system has been in there over 30 years and some of it for 40 years. I don't see a problem yet. Maybe at 50 years something happens :thumbsup:
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Paul I think its safe to say you are an exception to a lot of rules. Might be the undergravel keeping it all going. Your tank is still my favorite on RC. Wait, do you even have rocks, I though it was all wiskey bottles :)
 
Wait, do you even have rocks, I though it was all wiskey bottles
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I only have fine Cognac bottles. None of that cheap swill.

Paul I think its safe to say you are an exception to a lot of rules
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I get this a lot and don't know why I should be an exception to the rules. I want to play too :dance:
 
tropills said:
I use HACH digital colorimeters. I'm really wondering if the rock is just plugged up from all these years in a closed system. would the muriatic acid be enough though ? that's where I'm nervous
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You don't want to dissolve them too much. hach test is a good one
 
Paul B said:
The rock in my system has been in there over 30 years and some of it for 40 years. I don't see a problem yet. Maybe at 50 years something happens :thumbsup:
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So Paul, Do you have any insite on what could be going wrong ?
Here are some readings.

ph 8.42
nitri 0
nitra .3
salnt. 1.0252
alk 9/10 dkh
calc high 490's
phos 0.0
mag 1285
temp 78.7
use sea-chem reef salt
Don't dose anything I can't test for.
 
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