Pulled some LR out, is this ok?

[Justin_92_92]

I pulled some Live rock out of my tank and put it in a bucket of saltwater from a water change. I scrubbed the rock some to get some algea off it. Its been out of the tank for a couple weeks now in the bucket (I changed the water a couple times after the water smelled real bad).

Basically what Im wondering is, Will I be ok to put the rock back in the tank or will it cause a cycle? I didnt have heat or powerhead in the bucket.


My main reason for taking them out of the tank was poor placement causing dead spots in the tank for waste to collect. Then after pulling out, I realized how nasty they were and wanted to clean them)

Thanks for reading

 

[mike007]

Should be fine I have done this myself. I actually scrubbed the rock to get algae off.

 

[Justin_92_92]

Cool, Yeah thats what I did after i saw how the bottom of the rock looked. Really wanted to get a bigger tank but I just didnt make it happen yet. So Im making this one better off. Thanks for the quick reply!

 

[Trex]

Did you have it inside? (( concerned since you mentioned no heater )).

Assuming it was inside, there shouldn't be any issue. However, to be safe, I would make sure to be ready for a water change --- just in case you notice an ammonia spike.

 

[jsnrice]

Are you using Reverse Osmosis (RO) water? I have a small 12 gallon biocube, and ever since I started using RO water I've been doing very well with algae mitigation. I also use an algae blenny to keep algae down. I agree with the temperature. You can purchase an inexpensive heater to keep the degrees around 76 Fahrenheit. Before I picked up my algae (lawnmower) blenny, I used to cycle live rock. I had a bucket and would put the LR into it and then put it in the closet. This would kill off the algae. Then cycle it back in. But if you watch your lighting, ensure clean water changes with RO, and have a cleanup crew (algae blenny and turbo snails), you can keep the algae down to a minimum.

 

[Justin_92_92]

Yea I have the lr in buckets in the laundry room.

I just started to use ro-di water lately. This is why I'm trying to clean things up. I finally broke down and bought the system. Very happy I did too. I had a heater in the bucket but it broke. Water level went down and the glass shattered when water touched it. Not good at all. I'm going to get a nice heater like the jäger one I have in my DT.

Thanks for the help everyone. I lost my very first fish today my scooter blenny was dead when I came home from work. I think another fish was being mean to him and me removing half of the LR gave him less places to hide. I have been a year and two
Months and this is the first loss I have had. I blame myself though

 

[jsnrice]

So I used to take out LR, but ever since I picked up my lawnmower blenny things have been very clean. He's eaten almost all the algae off the rocks and glass. Do you feed your lawnmower nori or algae pellets? If so you could stop feeding him and see if he picks away the algae on your rocks.

 

[icsparks]

I would rinse the rocks off and let them sit in a bucket of clean salt water for a week. Test the water in the bucket if it tests fine then the rocks should be ok to place back in the tank. When you said the water smelled bad its because all of the bacteria died off the rocks while sitting in the bucket. You may get a small bacteria bloom when you add the rocks back to the tank.

 

[ETORRES477]

The RO/DI will do wonders for your tank. I don't think a lot of people realize in the beginning how much healthier using rodi for your tank is compared to that water purifying chemical stuff.

 

[Trex]

The RO/DI will do wonders for your tank. I don't think a lot of people realize in the beginning how much healthier using rodi for your tank is compared to that water purifying chemical stuff.

To expand a bit --- RO/DI water with 0 TDS. Eons ago I used RO/DI water from an LFS and yet still had algae issues. Finally tested the TDS, it was around 100, the next day I bought my own RO/DI, problems slowly went away, with no other changes.

 

[Dalmatia]

I pulled some Live rock out of my tank and put it in a bucket of saltwater from a water change. I scrubbed the rock some to get some algea off it. Its been out of the tank for a couple weeks now in the bucket (I changed the water a couple times after the water smelled real bad).

Basically what Im wondering is, Will I be ok to put the rock back in the tank or will it cause a cycle? I didnt have heat or powerhead in the bucket.


My main reason for taking them out of the tank was poor placement causing dead spots in the tank for waste to collect. Then after pulling out, I realized how nasty they were and wanted to clean them)

Thanks for reading

If you've kept your rock in a bucket for a couple of weeks with no flow, it's dead,, stagnant! Your bacteria has mostly died off. You will have to cure it again.
But just taking your rock out and scrubbing it is very good for your LR using your water from the tank if you place it back the same day

 

[Justin_92_92]

I am getting 0 tds out of my to-di. So I'm glad about that. Wish I had gotten my rodi back a year ago but I was trying to ease the expenses on the wife lite at a time she hadn't a clue lol

Yeah the rock has been in stagnant water now for a while. It was in water from the tank but like I said, that got really stinky so I dumped it and put it in new fresh SW.

I'm going to assume the worse, and be ready for a cycle. My best bet would be to just have mixed water ready to go correct? Test and do water changes a few times a week till it settles. (I may be totally wrong on this so please correct me if I am)

I haven't done it yet because I'm waiting on my heater to get here. The old one broke

I'm planning on pulling the other rock I have left in the tank out for a QUICK scrub. But I have a big bristle worm in one of those rocks. I'd really like to remove. I know some say there good for the system but I can't stand to see them. This one is getting pretty big too. Bigger then the others I've ever had. How should I go about removing it if I can't get it while it's out of the rock.

 

[Dalmatia]

DIY worm trap, shouldn't be hard and prob easy to find. Or you can buy one.
Do you have live stock in your tank?

 

[Justin_92_92]

I will look up the trap idea.

Yeah it is stocked. I just updated my SIG to show what I have.

 

[Dalmatia]

I would put that LR in a bucket with a pump to see if there will be a spike. If you put it in your tank and there is a spike you'll have to keep up with water changes