Dead or Alive ...?

specialk · Feb 27, 2015

Hey All -

So I have some live rock that was in a previous tank and all good and established. Unfortunately I ran out of room, lights and pumps to keep the rock in a tub with the proper flow and lighting. SOOOO... I had it in a bin, in water (from the old tank) but the bin was covered up with no lighting and no water flow. Will this rock be able to be used in another tank and is it still good? OR is it no good because there was no lighting, no water flow, etc.

Thanks!!

tom316 · Feb 27, 2015

how long no lights?

u will have dieoff but the rock is still live.

Reef Pets · Feb 27, 2015

Does the rock now smell bad? I never keep light over my rock and have not for years so that's certainly not a factor but if the water became stagnant then that can create issues and may cause algae blooms or other issues when placing it in your tank.
If it were a couple days then I would think you will not have any issues. A couple weeks might be a problem.

specialk · Feb 27, 2015

tom316 said:
how long no lights?

u will have dieoff but the rock is still live.

Really no lights since I have taken the rock out of the other tank .. I would say 6 months

specialk · Feb 27, 2015

Reef Pets said:
Does the rock now smell bad? I never keep light over my rock and have not for years so that's certainly not a factor but if the water became stagnant then that can create issues and may cause algae blooms or other issues when placing it in your tank.
If it were a couple days then I would think you will not have any issues. A couple weeks might be a problem.

Actually the rock does not smell bad at all. I would occasionally, like every 2 months, dump some water from my main DT in there when I was doing water changes, but thats about all. It has been about 6 months since it has been in there. I just looked at it and it all "looks fine" and there is no smell to it.

specialk · Feb 27, 2015

I am moving, and breaking down and then setting back up my 125. I am taking out some of the rocks in my established 125 and would like to replace them with a few of these other rocks I had stored away. Hopefully I can, but at the risk of crazy algae blooms or anything like that, I'm not sure I will as the last thing I want to deal with is an algae bloom or some other breakout. But not sure what to do ..

Reef Pets · Feb 27, 2015

Test the water that the rock is in. I personly would not attempt it after that amount of time. You can probably make the rock safe by adding a pump for circulation and changing water on it each day or each week until you get your next system up and running.

specialk · Feb 27, 2015

Reef Pets said:
Test the water that the rock is in. I personly would not attempt it after that amount of time. You can probably make the rock safe by adding a pump for circulation and changing water on it each day or each week until you get your next system up and running.

oh cool that is exactly what I will do then.. I am not wanting to use the rock for another 2 months so I will start changing the water every week and add a pump. Do you think 2 months of doing that is a good amount of time to get the rocks back to usable again?