Bat120
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2019
- Messages
- 8
- Reaction score
- 1
- What state or country do you live in
- United Kingdom
Hi all
I have just upgraded to a 250 litre (66 gallon) tank plus sump after my 100 litre tank starting leaking a couple of night ago. Nightmare but I saved the corals - all softies (ricordas/xenia/mushrooms/kenya tree/palys/cabbage/gorgonian) - and the fish before too much water had leaked out! It is now all in a big plastic tank with heating/light/wavemakers/skimmer/algae reactor and everything looks happy - all corals are open and the fish is feeding. Not a great "tank" but it is serving a purpose!
Obviously with a much bigger tank I need more live rock. A friend has donated a load of rock which he had in a reef tank about 10 years ago - he said he switched off the tank once all the corals and fish were out of it but kept the water in there (no heater or circulation) so basically over the last 5 years half of the water had evaporated leaving the rock sitting in very salty cold water. He has since taken it out and put it in a plastic tub dry with a lid on it for 5 years - it has still not completely dried out as the lid has prevented it all evaporating. So my question is how to get it useable for the new tank? So far since yesterday I have put it in a plastic tub with RO water in it - no circulation or heater yet, or saltwater.
What would you do next in terms of the rock? I do not want to go down the route of bleaching or harsh chemicals - I'd rather take my time. Shall I cut my losses, buy "new" live rock and make the donated stuff into a rock garden outside?
or would you try to resurrect it? I have a spare heater and wavemaker to use if necesary.
Sorry for long post - I keep changing my mind on what to do!
I have just upgraded to a 250 litre (66 gallon) tank plus sump after my 100 litre tank starting leaking a couple of night ago. Nightmare but I saved the corals - all softies (ricordas/xenia/mushrooms/kenya tree/palys/cabbage/gorgonian) - and the fish before too much water had leaked out! It is now all in a big plastic tank with heating/light/wavemakers/skimmer/algae reactor and everything looks happy - all corals are open and the fish is feeding. Not a great "tank" but it is serving a purpose!
Obviously with a much bigger tank I need more live rock. A friend has donated a load of rock which he had in a reef tank about 10 years ago - he said he switched off the tank once all the corals and fish were out of it but kept the water in there (no heater or circulation) so basically over the last 5 years half of the water had evaporated leaving the rock sitting in very salty cold water. He has since taken it out and put it in a plastic tub dry with a lid on it for 5 years - it has still not completely dried out as the lid has prevented it all evaporating. So my question is how to get it useable for the new tank? So far since yesterday I have put it in a plastic tub with RO water in it - no circulation or heater yet, or saltwater.
What would you do next in terms of the rock? I do not want to go down the route of bleaching or harsh chemicals - I'd rather take my time. Shall I cut my losses, buy "new" live rock and make the donated stuff into a rock garden outside?
or would you try to resurrect it? I have a spare heater and wavemaker to use if necesary.Sorry for long post - I keep changing my mind on what to do!
