Curing “dry rock” question

[ryan265]

Had some live rock I took out of my 265 display some time ago (2 yrs.)...I’ve had it sitting on a picnic table outside for a long time. Recently put it in a bucket of saltwater with a powerhead and let it run.

1. how long b4 it’s safe to put it in my DT with no ill effects?
2. should I do anything different?

my thinking was to change the water a few times so any debris can settle out. Maybe then test for phos. and go from there. Normally, I would just rinse and throw it in there but really trying to do it with as little headache as possible. Thx guys...

 

[KenO]

I typically give mine a quick acid wash and then it's good to go.

 

[mfinn]

I guess as long as it's clean and you know the history of the rock, I would add it.
But if it had any algae on it from before, I'd do a cleaning first.
Depending on how bad it was before determines how much effort I'd do to clean it.
If it was bad and had things like aiptasias or majanos and alot of algae on it, then a bleach bath.
If it was reasonably clean then maybe a little brushing and a rinse.

 

[ryan265]

Gotcha. It was clean with no algae or pests. I was just worried about phosphates mainly from any contaminates it may have picked up from bein outside