Using and curing quarry coral rock for reef tank

[STEVEBEAM]

I live in Coral Gables and have been to several new construction sites that were previously undisturbed. These sites contain a large amount of coral rock. What has to be done to this rock prior to use in reef tank?

Rock would be used in a new setup 220 gallon reef tank..

Thanks,

Steve

 

[loyalrogue]

I've used a lot of rock from construction sites.
The only thing I do to it is wash it real good with a high-pressure nozzle on my waterhose.
I try to get all the packed sand and loose stuf out of all the nooks and crannies in the rock.
Sometimes I'll take a concrete drill bit and a chisel to it to shape it.

Within 2 months I can't tell the difference between it and the LR I bought at the LFS.
(I also use Purple-Up so it gets nice big splotches of coralline quickly.)

 

[ReefWreak]

I would wash it with chlorine bleach, then dechlorinate it. Also, you might want to soak/cook the rock for a while still.

About the Purple-up, there was a thread in the chemistry forum about it not being the right particle size for the algae to flourish, contrary to what they advertise.

 

[jeffbrig]

It's not much different than hirocks, reefbones, etc. In fact, hirocks was shipping old dredged rock that had been land based for years. The only thing I'd caution against is rock used for decorative/landscape purposes, since it may have been sprayed by pesticides, round-up, fertilizers, etc. Freshly unearthed is probably ok, unless it's underneath a superfund site.

About 1/3 of my LR started out as hirocks. I rinsed everything with the jet spray nozzle on my hose to get out as much dirt as possible. Then I soaked it for several weeks in bins in the garage, with periodic water changes. Eventually, I did another round of hose spraying, then it went in the tank. Coralline spread quickly - by about 5 months, a casual observer wouldn't have noticed the difference.

 

[Rogger Castells]

Steve, you can use this rock, just be aware that the filtration benefits are just not going to be there for a while. You also could help this rock by seeding it with some live rock.
I would not use much more that half of this rock in a system.

 

[STEVEBEAM]

Thanks Everyone..

 

[chrisaggie]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9058316#post9058316 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jeffbrig
Freshly unearthed is probably ok, unless it's underneath a superfund site.

Kind of funny you say this since the rock in the school tank came from under a superfund site.