How to treat used dry rock

[Kamikaze's Firefly]

Hi everyone! I am starting my first reef tank (90 gallons with 35 gallon sump). I bought the tank used from a friend which is in great shape and he gave me his previously used dry rock with it. Is there anything I should do to the dry before aquascaping and putting it in my tank? Do I need to cure it? I've heard of putting it in a tub and putting boiling water over it. Should I do that? Help!

 

[Idoc]

I personally wouldn't boil the rock.

I have some dry rock right now in a tub with saltwater, heater, and a powerhead. I added some bottled bacteria and occasionally add some ammonia to cycle the rock.

I plan on adding it slowly to my existing tank in order to not throw off the current tank's balance with mini-cycles.

This sounds like what you are planning to do a well?

 

[Kamikaze's Firefly]

I personally wouldn't boil the rock.

I have some dry rock right now in a tub with saltwater, heater, and a powerhead. I added some bottled bacteria and occasionally add some ammonia to cycle the rock.

I plan on adding it slowly to my existing tank in order to not throw off the current tank's balance with mini-cycles.

This sounds like what you are planning to do a well?

Thanks! That what I was concerned about as well. Haven't started my tank cycle yet so could I just cycle the rock in the tank? Should I do anything to the rock before putting it in my tank? The rock has been out of my friends old tank for a couple of months sitting in the garage and outside.

 

[Idoc]

Thanks! That what I was concerned about as well. Haven't started my tank cycle yet so could I just cycle the rock in the tank? Should I do anything to the rock before putting it in my tank? The rock has been out of my friends old tank for a couple of months sitting in the garage and outside.

Yes, you could "cure" and "cycle" the rock in your tank. But, the curing process if there happens to be any biological stuff on the rock can be very messy/smelly and require large water changes. If the rock is extremely clean, then you can just spray it off with a hose, let it air dry in the sun a couple of days, then use in your tank.

But, I think I would do a quick cure of the rock in a separate bin with a heater and powerhead. You can do this for a couple of weeks just to see if any "dirt" comes off the rocks in the form of organic matter breaking down. Check the water regularly for ammonia...if you are getting a large amount of ammonia off the rocks, then there was a lot of organics in the rock to break down. Doing it in a small bin allows you to do 100% water changes every couple of days until you don't see any further ammonia present....then your rock is cured.

Then, you can cycle the rock in the main tank with saltwater, bacterial starting agents, etc...

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

You may want to consider bleaching the old rock in a 10:1 solution for about 72 hours. Rinse very well and put in a sunny spot or ventilated area until the bleach gasses off. This will kill the organics and leave you without a massive ammonia die off.

 

[Kamikaze's Firefly]

Yes, you could "cure" and "cycle" the rock in your tank. But, the curing process if there happens to be any biological stuff on the rock can be very messy/smelly and require large water changes. If the rock is extremely clean, then you can just spray it off with a hose, let it air dry in the sun a couple of days, then use in your tank.

But, I think I would do a quick cure of the rock in a separate bin with a heater and powerhead. You can do this for a couple of weeks just to see if any "dirt" comes off the rocks in the form of organic matter breaking down. Check the water regularly for ammonia...if you are getting a large amount of ammonia off the rocks, then there was a lot of organics in the rock to break down. Doing it in a small bin allows you to do 100% water changes every couple of days until you don't see any further ammonia present....then your rock is cured.

Then, you can cycle the rock in the main tank with saltwater, bacterial starting agents, etc...

Thanks! I think I will give this a try! I'm new to curing so would you recommend I put the rock in purified water? Does it need to be treated with anything? Also, I'm still learning the reefing lingo, what is the powerhead?

 

[KrisReef]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Try using the search feature for "curing" live rock. Old rock can bring nutrients or copper that was present in the old tank. Put your rock in a tub with a heater and small pump ( aka powerhead) and read up about cycling a tank.

 

[Kamikaze's Firefly]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Try using the search feature for "curing" live rock. Old rock can bring nutrients or copper that was present in the old tank. Put your rock in a tub with a heater and small pump ( aka powerhead) and read up about cycling a tank.

Thanks! This is dry rock, does the same process apply?

 

[Idoc]

Thanks! I think I will give this a try! I'm new to curing so would you recommend I put the rock in purified water? Does it need to be treated with anything? Also, I'm still learning the reefing lingo, what is the powerhead?

I use basic tap water when curing rock since you may be changing the water every day or so at the beginning. I wouldn't worry about using purified or RODI water for this part.

Put a heater in with the rocks and elevate the temp to around 82-85 degrees. Warmer water will help break down organics more quickly.

A powerhead is a pump that is used in aquariums to move water around the tank. You're going to need these when you set up your tank.

 

[chadfish]

Thanks! I think I will give this a try! I'm new to curing so would you recommend I put the rock in purified water? Does it need to be treated with anything? Also, I'm still learning the reefing lingo, what is the powerhead?

I also started my 60 gal with hand-me-down dry rock. Mine was a bit dusty, so I just hosed it off, rinsed a few times with cold tap water and let it dry out. Then I just put it in the tank and started scaping. I figured any remaining die-off would just feed the nitrifying bacteria anyway. It didn’t lengthen my cycle or anything. Worked well and I didn’t have to deal with bleach or anything.