Strange Live Rock Question

[marineaddict]

So - a couple of weeks ago I had a major tank leak and crash. In the panic I loaded about 25 lbs of live rock into a bucket and left it outside. I just remember that I have it.... It is now dead rock, all white with trace dead corals on it.

Here is the question - Can I still use that rock as base rock in a new tank seeded with about 10 to 20 lbs of live rock. I would use all of this rock and cycle the tank. Anyone see any issues with this?? It seems like it would be that same thing as macrorock.com or any other base dry rock.

Thoughts??

 

[ihavtats29]

i dont see any problem with using the rock. i would scrub off all the dead stuff

 

[marineaddict]

That is what I was thinking.... cycle it like you would with any other rock. Scrub the dead stuff, change the water, test it and smile in a month or so.....

 

[ihavtats29]

thats it. did you have any sw in the bucket with the rock? if so there may be some of that good bacteria in there

 

[airinhere]

You might look up the idea of 'cooking' the rock.

That is a huge topic in and of itself
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=437342

 

[marineaddict]

that is a big fat nope!! After almost burning the house down and waking up to the house alarm going off ( the water running into the basement shorted out the alarm) i just didn't think about it!! Wish I had..... I'm just going to get a 10 to 20 pounds of uncured live rock and a cup or 2 or live sand an go from there.

 

[marineaddict]

Wow - that is an interesting thought on "cooking rocks".... will it matter that this rock is pretty much dead?? Might be a dumb question.......

 

[ihavtats29]

i think that would be fine

 

[airinhere]

Actually the cooking is intended for just such a situation.

You just have to be diligent about keeping the water quality tolerable in the cooking bin and have the patience to allow the rock to go through its entire process.

Short of making your own aragocrete rocks, I think cooking existing live rock is the best way to get healthy, clean, liverock for your tank.

And just to make sure everyone is aware, 'cooking' does not refer to what you do in the kitchen. It is a method of bacterially incubating rock to eliminate excess nutrients and nuisance algaes, life, etc....

 

[marineaddict]

I just read the whole process - wow is that involved but it does sound like it is a great thing to do. I going to read through it again to make sure I understand it.

Thanks for the info and link.

 

[crossi92]

When I moved to Florida, I put my 65lbs of rock in a rubbermaid tote. It sat in a storage unit for 2 a month before I could get the tank set up again. Cycled it like I was starting over, never had any problems.

 

[marineaddict]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12436656#post12436656 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by crossi92
When I moved to Florida, I put my 65lbs of rock in a rubbermaid tote. It sat in a storage unit for 2 a month before I could get the tank set up again. Cycled it like I was starting over, never had any problems.

Wow - that is great information! When I remembered tonight that I had all that rock outside I was excited thinking I was actually going to save a few bucks on this new tank. Buying 10 to 20 lbs of live rock is better than having to buy 40 to 60 pounds of rock.