Live Rock Lifespan

[BioActive]

Hello everyone, I started in the saltwater hobby about 6 years ago and a year ago I took down my 32 bio cube. I started that tank with Live rock and some water from my LFS display tank, so I image it was pretty bio diverse. when I took down my tank about a year ago I scrubbed the rock since I was having issues with green hair so I wanted to get it clean, now it’s sitting in a sealed bucket of my tanks water and has no flow. Now I heard that live rock with no flow will kill the bacteria, is this true or does anyone have experience storing live rock. I’d like to get it as clean as possible and possibly put it in my new tank that I’ll be getting soon for extra sump filtration, but if it’s dead and won’t benefit me I don’t wanna start my new tank with an pests and issues that came up in my old matured tank, mainly thinking of putting it in there for the biodiversit.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Hello everyone, I started in the saltwater hobby about 6 years ago and a year ago I took down my 32 bio cube. I started that tank with Live rock and some water from my LFS display tank, so I image it was pretty bio diverse. when I took down my tank about a year ago I scrubbed the rock since I was having issues with green hair so I wanted to get it clean, now it’s sitting in a sealed bucket of my tanks water and has no flow. Now I heard that live rock with no flow will kill the bacteria, is this true or does anyone have experience storing live rock. I’d like to get it as clean as possible and possibly put it in my new tank that I’ll be getting soon for extra sump filtration, but if it’s dead and won’t benefit me I don’t wanna start my new tank with an pests and issues that came up in my old matured tank, mainly thinking of putting it in there for the biodiversit.

So it's been sitting in stagnant water for 6 years? With no oxygen/gas exchange? I would doubt it's got much useful biodiversity at this point. But it also won't have any pests...

Clean it well before putting it in your tank

 

[wculver]

Hello everyone, I started in the saltwater hobby about 6 years ago and a year ago I took down my 32 bio cube. I started that tank with Live rock and some water from my LFS display tank, so I image it was pretty bio diverse. when I took down my tank about a year ago I scrubbed the rock since I was having issues with green hair so I wanted to get it clean, now it’s sitting in a sealed bucket of my tanks water and has no flow. Now I heard that live rock with no flow will kill the bacteria, is this true or does anyone have experience storing live rock. I’d like to get it as clean as possible and possibly put it in my new tank that I’ll be getting soon for extra sump filtration, but if it’s dead and won’t benefit me I don’t wanna start my new tank with an pests and issues that came up in my old matured tank, mainly thinking of putting it in there for the biodiversit.

Whatever is in that bucket is toxic sludge and should not be introduced to a tank. If you want to use the rock I would suggest cleaning it as good a possible and letting I completely dry in the sun before introduction into the tank.

 

[steveschuerger]

So it's been sitting in stagnant water for 6 years? With no oxygen/gas exchange? I would doubt it's got much useful biodiversity at this point. But it also won't have any pests...

I read it as the tank was taken down a year ago, but it’s still a moot point. After a year of sitting around it’ll be kinda biodiverse-dead in any case. . You can clean it up and use it but it’s gonna need a restart.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I read it as the tank was taken down a year ago, but it’s still a moot point. After a year of sitting around it’ll be kinda biodiverse-dead in any case. . You can clean it up and use it but it’s gonna need a restart.

You're correct, I mis-read that first line. Thanks.

 

[BioActive]

So it's been sitting in stagnant water for 6 years? With no oxygen/gas exchange? I would doubt it's got much useful biodiversity at this point. But it also won't have any pests...

Clean it well before putting it in your tank

I read it as the tank was taken down a year ago, but it’s still a moot point. After a year of sitting around it’ll be kinda biodiverse-dead in any case. . You can clean it up and use it but it’s gonna need a restart.

update I mistyped I meant to say it’s been in the bucket for 3 months.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

update I mistyped I meant to say it’s been in the bucket for 3 months.

I'd still treat it as used dry rock and clean it off before putting it in my tank. If you're starting out with a brand new system (no livestock), then you can probably get away with a quick rinse and then let it cure in the tank. Otherwise, a soak in an acid (vinegar, citric, muriatic, etc) or bleach might be wise.