Brisc0
Premium Member
Hey all, I am in the process of starting up a 40G Innovative Marine system but have been in this hobby a long time (with some breaks along the way). I will post a build thread at some point but if interested you can also find my current/past systems on my blog at http://reef.bushwilliams.com/ all of those were posted here at some point but its been going on 12 years for a few of them.
So, after my 2011 40G breeder failed, I tossed three five gallon buckets of Live Rock under the deck. In a nutshell I broke that system down after fighting Cirolanid Isopods, rampant hydroids, nuisance algae, and poor coral performance. All of my problems came in on the live rock. Apparently I dumped the buckets of rock under the deck with my brute trashcans, 40g breeder, sump, and stand. Kind of like a little graveyard for my old system.
So here is the interesting part (finally). I took the buckets of rock up to the garage, dumped about 2 inches of leaves off the top of the bucket (they sat down there for 3 years) and pulled out the rock. To my surprise, several pieces still had a briny smell to them and were sporting what looked like green coraline algae and a bit or purple. These have been outdoors, in buckets with no lids, and exposed to 110+ degree Arkansas Summers and double digit, Arkansas Winters. My first thought was that it was just stained but that unmistakable smell of the sea was heavy on those pieces that still supported what looks like green coraline. I also noticed that the Macro and Micro algae on some of the pieces were wet and translucent. Some even retained a hint of their old color which kind of concerned me. I find it extremely hard to believe that anything could be alive on this rock but my senses definitely tell me that its plausible. I had initially planned to get a bucket of RO/DI and a scrub brush and go to town on the rocks but given my discovery I broke out the power washer.
For two hours last night I blasted these rocks with the zero degree attachment on my washer. I blasted off tons of old coraline encrustation, old calcified hydroid or rock anemone tubes, aqua stick, macro and micro algae, dead sponge, coral, etc. Afterwards the rocks looked great but I was still surprised that the same few with that green coraline maintained their briny smell and green coloration.
Part of me is concerned about using this rock because it was so infested in my old system. However reason would have me put faith in the fact that I blasted the hell out of it with a power washer after which I visually inspected each piece and was satisfied that it cleaned up nice. There is also the fact that the rock has been out of water for three years. All of this plus the additional fact that its going into a new tank I decided to go for it. I am even a little hopeful that the brine scent is some indication of past life that will be beneficial in the cycle of the system and that if there is some crazy resilient species of coraline I can only benefit from it...
RIGHT?!
Not really asking anything here just looking for feedback from anyone who wants to discuss. Thanks and more posts to come.
So, after my 2011 40G breeder failed, I tossed three five gallon buckets of Live Rock under the deck. In a nutshell I broke that system down after fighting Cirolanid Isopods, rampant hydroids, nuisance algae, and poor coral performance. All of my problems came in on the live rock. Apparently I dumped the buckets of rock under the deck with my brute trashcans, 40g breeder, sump, and stand. Kind of like a little graveyard for my old system.
So here is the interesting part (finally). I took the buckets of rock up to the garage, dumped about 2 inches of leaves off the top of the bucket (they sat down there for 3 years) and pulled out the rock. To my surprise, several pieces still had a briny smell to them and were sporting what looked like green coraline algae and a bit or purple. These have been outdoors, in buckets with no lids, and exposed to 110+ degree Arkansas Summers and double digit, Arkansas Winters. My first thought was that it was just stained but that unmistakable smell of the sea was heavy on those pieces that still supported what looks like green coraline. I also noticed that the Macro and Micro algae on some of the pieces were wet and translucent. Some even retained a hint of their old color which kind of concerned me. I find it extremely hard to believe that anything could be alive on this rock but my senses definitely tell me that its plausible. I had initially planned to get a bucket of RO/DI and a scrub brush and go to town on the rocks but given my discovery I broke out the power washer.
For two hours last night I blasted these rocks with the zero degree attachment on my washer. I blasted off tons of old coraline encrustation, old calcified hydroid or rock anemone tubes, aqua stick, macro and micro algae, dead sponge, coral, etc. Afterwards the rocks looked great but I was still surprised that the same few with that green coraline maintained their briny smell and green coloration.
Part of me is concerned about using this rock because it was so infested in my old system. However reason would have me put faith in the fact that I blasted the hell out of it with a power washer after which I visually inspected each piece and was satisfied that it cleaned up nice. There is also the fact that the rock has been out of water for three years. All of this plus the additional fact that its going into a new tank I decided to go for it. I am even a little hopeful that the brine scent is some indication of past life that will be beneficial in the cycle of the system and that if there is some crazy resilient species of coraline I can only benefit from it...
RIGHT?!
Not really asking anything here just looking for feedback from anyone who wants to discuss. Thanks and more posts to come.
