Old rock

[emory]

The power has gone out several times while I have been on vacation which has caused problems in my tank. I want to start over. The tank has aiptasia, caulerpa, etc. I have a Porites that was just a tiny nob on a piece of rock that continues to thrive through anything. My question is:
What do I do with the existing rock? Two parts.
One part has been taken out and has dried out. If I stock a dark reserve tank with that rock will it eventually repopulate with bacteria?
The seond part is in the tank now. It has aiptasia, flat worms, etc somewhere on it. If I put that in the dark tank will it reinfest the new rock I want to put in?

The point is I have 150 lbs or so of rock. Do I just throw it out or will it make a good backup in a darktank reserve I send my water through? Is there a phosphate issue as well?

 

[RichConley]

The rock you dried out can have new bacteria seed it. Thats not the problem. The problem is all the dead matter in it, and that'll take a while to get out. You can either "cook/cure" it, or you can just bleach it for a couple days.

A dark tank is going to do nothing for flatworms, and very little for aptaisia.

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

Try "cooking it"