Live Rock question

[Salinas Hawk]

I have to take down my tank, but I am definitely going to set it up again in about a year.

Is it ok to dry out my live rock and then use it again in a year. It'll be dead rock by then but still, I could seed it again, right?

Or is this just a bad idea. I heard reusing sand was bad? Why?

The tank is a 180g, so we are talking about quite a bit of rock and sand.

Thanks for any info

 

[Saltgator]

IMO, I would dry it out. When your ready to use it again, you might have to boil it or let your cycle take a bit longer. I have done this twice with no ill effects. After a week or 2 of sunny FL, I rinsed the LR off and stored it with other equipment. Just my .02 cents. Kinda like starting with dry rock to become live rock.

 

[Wy Renegade]

You be fine if you dry it, you want to make sure you have a large, well-ventilated area to do so however, as it can be a very smelly process as stuff dies off. When you go to reuse it, you will need to scrub all the dead material away. Its not recommended to reuse sand because some studies have shown that sand will bind organics (nitrates and phosphate) and release them back into the water column.

 

[Salinas Hawk]

thanks for the info. 1smile1