Dead Rock

[Tokash23]

I know i am kind of beating a dead horse here but i just want to make sure i am on the right track. I have a 40b set up for about a year now and i would like to add some more rock to it. I have a cooler with about 30lbsish of dead rock that has been sitting in my garage for about 5 years and want to get it ready to put in my tank. ( i am in no rush by any means to do this so i can take as long as i need to). My plan is to take the tank water from my water changes and put it in a 5g bucket with the rock i want and seal it up with a heater and a small pump for circulation. I will continue to do this swapping out the water once a week with water changes from my display and scrubbing the rock down each time. How long should i do this for and is there anything else i should be doing during this process? Thanks in advance.

 

[Dr. Reef Verified Sponsor]

I would assume at least 1 month or so for it to become alive. Also I would use something to reduce phosphate. Lanthanum chloride or gfo for sure.

 

[Tokash23]

You dont think consistent water changes will keep after the phosphates?

 

[tthouston]

If you are not rush, why don't you bleach the rocks first? Bleach the rock will reduce the phosphate. Dry rock, but doesn't bleach it still release phosphate.

 

[Tokash23]

Thought about that but thats about as far as i went. Dont want to mess with fumes that it could let off (meaning i would have to do it outside) plus its just a little bit more effort than i want to put into it at the time. Am i looking at phosphate issues in my display down the road if i dont use a remover or bleach the rock?

 

[Ashish Patel]

Depends our bad your dry rock is.. Was it used before you put into storage? I would bleach it and the cure it until phoshpates are gone. I think you can tell when the rock is safe for the aquarium by just looking at it and seeing how the curing water is. Just test it and let it cure for 4-8 weeks if its bad or less if nots.

 

[Tokash23]

That was more or less my plan let it eat for a few months and go from there. Yea it was in a tank for little over a year before it was decommissioned.

 

[ReefSlice]

I did just this to some GHA infested rock, I mean COVERED. I left it for 2 months with weekly water changes and swishing the rocks around in the old water every change, and I never had a speck of GHA on that rock again, I still have some in my tank now 10 years later.

 

[Ashish Patel]

GHA IME is good, lets me know Phosphates are detectable while being terminated by my 4 turbo snails.... Dinos and cyano BAD!! lol

 

[Tokash23]

OK sounds like a plan. Is the heat and powerhead really a necessity for something like this?

 

[ReefSlice]

I'd say you don't need a heater, throw a decent sized power head in there and put the lid on the bucket and it'll stay warm enough.

 

[itisjp]

I would get a few bottles of peroxide for the rock cleaning. It will kill off some of the stubborn algae that’s going to grow. Just add in another bucket and let them soak in it then clean the rock and chunk em back in the saltwater bucket.

 

[HB AL]

All I've ever done when adding dead rock is hose it off with the garden hose and place in the dt or sump a little at a time. I've never encountered any kind of issue adding dead rock to a well established system weather it only has fish or full of corals and fish.

 

[Tokash23]

All I've ever done when adding dead rock is hose it off with the garden hose and place in the dt or sump a little at a time. I've never encountered any kind of issue adding dead rock to a well established system weather it only has fish or full of corals and fish.

Interesting. I thought of pressure washing the rock and going this route, but would rather be safe than sorry. Ill let it soak a few weeks see where that gets me.

 

[jda]

You can get a box shipped to you for $200 with 40 pounds of real live rock in it that is phosphate free. While this is not free, it is not expensive, either. Figure out your time, afford and cost of reactors and media and see how much you want to mess with dry rock. There are people who would happily buy it if you live in a populous area.

If you do go with the dead rock, you can get the stuff on the exterior in a few months. The stuff bound up in the proes will take a few years once you add it to you tank... YMMV, but some people cuss their rock for two-three years with turf algae and phosphates... some have a shorter amount of time. If you know where the rock came fro and how it was treated, this could help you frame an expectation.

 

[Billdogg]

All I've ever done when adding dead rock is hose it off with the garden hose and place in the dt or sump a little at a time. I've never encountered any kind of issue adding dead rock to a well established system weather it only has fish or full of corals and fish.

^^^This^^^

I have a large pile of old rocks sitting in a corner of my yard. As I find the need for more int he DT/sump/FT/etc, I go out, grab a likely suspect, rinse it off and toss it in. Never had an issue. If you tank is established it should have no trouble at all even if there is a little bit of PO4 leeching out, not that there should be anyway unless it was heavily contaminated before. PO4 doesn't just magically appear.

 

[Bayareareefer18]

Thought about that but thats about as far as i went. Dont want to mess with fumes that it could let off (meaning i would have to do it outside) plus its just a little bit more effort than i want to put into it at the time. Am i looking at phosphate issues in my display down the road if i dont use a remover or bleach the rock?

I just started my first build and bleached the rock I got from a friend.

Bleaching was super simple and really no "fume " issues.

I just put the rock in a brute can with a 30:1 bleach solution. I did use a gallon of pool chlorine though which is more concentrated than your household bleach.

Left it for a month then rinsed and dried. I am about 6 weeks into cycle and phosphate peaked at 1ppm and nitrate at 20