on3ofak1nd
New member
Hello all,
So about a year ago I had to take my tank down and I sold all the livestock except for the LR... I was quite depressed with the whole situation and I guess out of haste I just stuck all the LR dry in some rubbermaid totes and placed it in a shed. I actually left it uncovered for quite awhile because I thought perhaps letting it "dry out" properly would be better than sealing it up to rot, if that makes sense? Anyway now I am considering starting a tank back up in November and I would like to reuse my LR since it is some nice rock and there is quite a bit which I think would be costly to replace. I plan to follow a "standard" cooking procedure to get any old/dead material off. My questions are these...
1.) Having sat in the open air for an extended period of time where I am sure insects and what not have feasted upon the dead material that was left on it, is there any extra steps I should take or will a normal scrub down and cook procedure be sufficient?
2.) I'm going to assume it would be advisable to use RO/DI water during this process to avoid increased diatom outbreaks when my tank is setup, is this a correct assumption?
3.) My RO/DI filter has not been used since my tank was taken down (1 year). If I flush it for awhile and providing the output water tests reasonably low TDS's, is there any reason I should consider replacing the filters before using it for this process or can I wait until I am ready to setup the display tank?
Thanks in advance,
-Wes
So about a year ago I had to take my tank down and I sold all the livestock except for the LR... I was quite depressed with the whole situation and I guess out of haste I just stuck all the LR dry in some rubbermaid totes and placed it in a shed. I actually left it uncovered for quite awhile because I thought perhaps letting it "dry out" properly would be better than sealing it up to rot, if that makes sense? Anyway now I am considering starting a tank back up in November and I would like to reuse my LR since it is some nice rock and there is quite a bit which I think would be costly to replace. I plan to follow a "standard" cooking procedure to get any old/dead material off. My questions are these...
1.) Having sat in the open air for an extended period of time where I am sure insects and what not have feasted upon the dead material that was left on it, is there any extra steps I should take or will a normal scrub down and cook procedure be sufficient?
2.) I'm going to assume it would be advisable to use RO/DI water during this process to avoid increased diatom outbreaks when my tank is setup, is this a correct assumption?
3.) My RO/DI filter has not been used since my tank was taken down (1 year). If I flush it for awhile and providing the output water tests reasonably low TDS's, is there any reason I should consider replacing the filters before using it for this process or can I wait until I am ready to setup the display tank?
Thanks in advance,
-Wes
