Reef safe rocks?!

[Mzj7725]

Purchased huge tub of fish supplies at a garage sale and found some pretty interesting rocks

Can i put them in my saltwater tank that has been set up for over a year? or is there some risk associated with this?

 

[leviburns89]

Give them a good rinse in fw. Then you probably want to soak them in saltwater for a month and then do a smell test.

If your not conviced it's safe, you then could do a acid bath, or bleach bath, but those are kinda your worst case scenario options.

It does look to be a very porous rock, which indicates a good filtering rock. So I would roll with it!

Or even trade it to you lfs for some in store cred

 

[Mzj7725]

thanks for your response

When you say soak it in saltwater for month do i need to have some type of filter with it or just soak it in a bucket of saltwater?

Smell test after 30 days --> if it smells terrible toss it?

thanks

 

[leviburns89]

No filtration should be needed. Just put a cheapo powerhead and a heater in the tub. Basically mimic tank conditions minus the light, don't want to grow algae.

And no, if it smells rotten just do a water change, or spray it off, then soak again for a week, this is just organics rotting away, renewing the filtration abilities of the rock.

I was more addressing if it smelled like chemicals. Some people try to bleach or chemically clean the rock, but don't follow thru with the clean up. Thus leaving you with toxic rock.

But judging by the color of the rock, it hasn't seen bleach.

If you soak, and it smells "earthy" you probably have a good bit of rock. If it smells "rotten" spray it off, soak some more. If it smells "chemically", cross that bridge when you get to it.