Hello all after many years of being out of reefing I'm jumping back in. I have live rock that I stored in a container with salt water for many years, no powerhead or heater. My tank that I had back then was having algae problems so I broke it down. Two months ago I took rock out of water to dry out, it had no algae on it. My question is could there still be problems with phosphate and nitrate should I do a muratic acid bath or after 5 years of sitting in a Rubbermaid with no light kill everything. Thanks Walt
Muratic Acid to clean dry rock
- Thread starter Walts O
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.I do a gallon of Muratic acid with the rest tap water in a Rubbermaid container just enough to cover the rock and let it sit overnight. I put 2 gallons of acid in the last time and dissolved some of the "good rock" so that's too much (unless you have 100 lbs. or more of rock). It foams like crazy and overflows so I do it outside. I then drain that and rinse twice in RO (not DI, could probably use tapwater) water. Then I fill with fresh RO water and add PoolTime (SeaClear is another manufacturer) lanthanum chloride, about 1-2 cups, and leave overnight with a power head. Drain and rinse (lots of precipitate in the bottom of the container) and repeat twice or until precip is virtually non-existent. Final rinse is RO/DI water and you're ready to go.
mcarroll
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If the container smelled OK when you opened it I would be tempted to put the rock in a tank of new saltwater and let it start cycling. Give it time so you can see if anything funny is going to happen, but I doubt you'll see anything too abnormal.
Add a small amount of snails or crabs and keep them fed to get the ball rolling. (Crabs are easier...only need a small number.)
There are also better ways of handling nutrients these days, so if you see a buildup of just about anything, you will have options. Don't worry too much about this.
I wouldn't start off assuming there will be a problem anyway....just go slowly and don't repeat the same mistakes as last time – I bet things work out.
Add a small amount of snails or crabs and keep them fed to get the ball rolling. (Crabs are easier...only need a small number.)
There are also better ways of handling nutrients these days, so if you see a buildup of just about anything, you will have options. Don't worry too much about this.
I wouldn't start off assuming there will be a problem anyway....just go slowly and don't repeat the same mistakes as last time – I bet things work out.
The container smelled fine the rock is pure white with a few speckles of coraline algae it's been sitting for at least 5 years do nutrients die off after time? It's also been dry for two months think I might try to use it as is.
