Question about rock

Sobo's Reef · Oct 16, 2018

So I have close to 60lbs of rock that I’ll be letting dry out since I’ll be moving soon. I have a couple questions tho.
1. Will it start to stink if I just leave them in 5g buckets with no water?
2a. If I decide to cure them, what would my plan be?
2b. I have some zoas attached to a few rocks, would curing the rocks pose any problems there?

Thanks in advance guys!

TheEngineer · Oct 16, 2018

1. Yep!
2. You can just keep them covered in salt water, no heat or circulation required and they will be curing all the while.
2b. I've had zoas survive this process albeit very ticked off.

Sobo's Reef · Oct 16, 2018

TheEngineer said:
1. Yep!
2. You can just keep them covered in salt water, no heat or circulation required and they will be curing all the while.
2b. I've had zoas survive this process albeit very ticked off.

They’ll still cure even without anything added? I thought people normally used some kind of acid to clean em and cure em. I had a bad hair algae outbreak before shutting down so I want to make sure that stuff is gone before I reuse this rock.

TheEngineer · Oct 16, 2018

Yep. Since there are no nutrients being added the algae will starve out. Don't acid wash the rock. Not only is it potentially hazardous to your health, when you are done you wind up with less rock. That seems counter-intuitive to me.

Sobo's Reef · Oct 16, 2018

TheEngineer said:
Yep. Since there are no nutrients being added the algae will starve out. Don't acid wash the rock. Not only is it potentially hazardous to your health, when you are done you wind up with less rock. That seems counter-intuitive to me.

That was my biggest concern, you read all the horror stories with zoas and palys causing health issues with people. The rock is still sitting in my tank with circulation and heat but hasn’t had the lights on in about 3 weeks. After I move them into buckets, how long until you think they’re good again? I’m getting ready to move the tank so no set time on when I’m setting it back up just yet. I have to get situated with the move first lol

TheEngineer · Oct 16, 2018

The longer the cure, the better in my opinion. When I rebooted my tank, my rock cured for over 6 months. Came out algae free.

40B Knasty · Oct 16, 2018

Since you probably will have no change in your system for nutrients control when you go to set up your tank again. The GHA will most likely come back. I haven't tried them yet, but there are these little critters that you can get online called Chitons. They are supposed to be amazing for GHA and some not so course turf algae. They are reef safe. Best of luck with your move.
1) agreed, it will smell
2) I would personally use saltwater, a cover, a powerhead to help get the die off and ditritus out of the porosity of the rock or keep the existing bacteria established alive as best as possible.
3) Be careful if you use bleach or acid bath. I would personally not go that route ever. Boiling hot water outside for an hour on a deep fryer or grill burner in a pot that you will never use again. I have done this, JUST !!DO NOT OPEN THE LID AND BREATHE IN THE FUMES OR OPEN YOUR EYES!! Wear safety goggles and a mask.

Sobo's Reef · Oct 16, 2018

40B Knasty said:
Since you probably will have no change in your system for nutrients control when you go to set up your tank again. The GHA will most likely come back. I haven't tried them yet, but there are these little critters that you can get online called Chitons. They are supposed to be amazing for GHA and some not so course turf algae. They are reef safe. Best of luck with your move.
1) agreed, it will smell
2) I would personally use saltwater, a cover, a powerhead to help get the die off and ditritus out of the porosity of the rock or keep the existing bacteria established alive as best as possible.
3) Be careful if you use bleach or acid bath. I would personally not go that route ever. Boiling hot water outside for an hour on a deep fryer or grill burner in a pot that you will never use again. I have done this, JUST !!DO NOT OPEN THE LID AND BREATHE IN THE FUMES OR OPEN YOUR EYES!! Wear safety goggles and a mask.

Do you think it’s the type of rock I’m using that’s causing the GHA? I was debating on getting dry rock online at BRS when I restart my tank but if that won’t make a difference then I might as well stick with what I have. I’m gonna 100% avoid the acid bath way for sure! Lol

TheEngineer · Oct 16, 2018

Algae is a natural part of the reef. If you look at the amazing tanks on here they all have it here and there. It's all about balance. When things get out of whack, algae goes crazy.

Webslinger · Oct 16, 2018

http://www.saltwateraquariumblog.com/cure-live-rock/

40B Knasty · Oct 16, 2018

Sobo's Reef said:
Do you think it’s the type of rock I’m using that’s causing the GHA? I was debating on getting dry rock online at BRS when I restart my tank but if that won’t make a difference then I might as well stick with what I have. I’m gonna 100% avoid the acid bath way for sure! Lol

TheEngineer is telling you like it is. Algae is part of all reefs. It only takes 1 cell and a little love from your lights to create life. Have a good balanced clean up crew. Not to much where ya get die off, because that will cause more nutrients in the water for algae to grow off of. I have bryopsis which I can't stand! Bubble algae that is easy to manage. GHA a little. Turf that is a pain.

Coralreefer1 · Oct 16, 2018

How long will the rock be out of the tank? Will this be a quick move? Based on your answer, we can offer better gathering more info.

Sobo's Reef · Oct 16, 2018

Coralreefer1 said:
How long will the rock be out of the tank? Will this be a quick move? Based on your answer, we can offer better gathering more info.

Well I’m debating on upgrading since I’m moving, I have enough room on my custom stand to upgrade substantially so I’m considering it. If that’s the case it might be a few months before everything is back up and running. The rock will just be sitting in 5g buckets in my backyard

Coralreefer1 · Oct 16, 2018

Its best to just the all your rock die off and dry out. Save you a lot of time with trying to maintain live rock in buckets for that long. Not to mention, any dry rock that has been added to a reef tank, ultimately becomes live through time.

Sobo's Reef · Oct 16, 2018

Coralreefer1 said:
Its best to just the all your rock die off and dry out. Save you a lot of time with trying to maintain live rock in buckets for that long. Not to mention, any dry rock that has been added to a reef tank, ultimately becomes live through time.

But if I just let it dry out, wouldn’t I have to do something else to it before adding it back into a tank? I was just gonna fill up some 5g buckets with rock then fill it up with the saltwater from the tank and let it sit in my backyard til I was ready to go

ScooterV · Oct 16, 2018

A few months in the backyard sounds like a long time to me. Maybe pick out a few smaller, better pieces and try to maintain them in a bucket, but you're going to have a huge die off, and it will get stinky! It will be full of bacteria though when done

I think I'd just let it dry out, but when closer to needing it rehydrate it (stinky again) and cure it from there. If it will be an entirely new tank it could even help cycle it. Or, take the opportunity to treat it in buckets with lanthum chloride before use.

Nothing wrong with stinky buckets for a bit though

Sobo's Reef · Oct 16, 2018

ScooterV said:
A few months in the backyard sounds like a long time to me. Maybe pick out a few smaller, better pieces and try to maintain them in a bucket, but you're going to have a huge die off, and it will get stinky! It will be full of bacteria though when done I think I'd just let it dry out, but when closer to needing it rehydrate it (stinky again) and cure it from there. If it will be an entirely new tank it could even help cycle it. Or, take the opportunity to treat it in buckets with lanthum chloride before use.

Nothing wrong with stinky buckets for a bit though

Oh I could careless about the smell, they’ll be in the backyard with lids on em lol

TheEngineer · Oct 16, 2018

Coralreefer1 said:
Its best to just the all your rock die off and dry out. Save you a lot of time with trying to maintain live rock in buckets for that long. Not to mention, any dry rock that has been added to a reef tank, ultimately becomes live through time.

This is not true. We spend all this time making rock live and the older it gets the better it is. There is zero reason to dry it out when all that is required is a bucket and some water.

Sobo's Reef · Nov 28, 2018

Bumping this thread up.. I’m in the process of ordering my new tank. I ordered some more rock and I wanna aquascape ahead of time. I also want to do this the right way so I bought acrylic rods and some putty.

Is there any downside to taking the rock out that was sitting in the saltwater buckets? Like I’m planning on drilling the rock and sticking rods in there so that they’re sturdy. But once the aquascape is done, they’ll just be drying out

Coralreefer1 · Nov 28, 2018

TheEngineer said:
This is not true. We spend all this time making rock live and the older it gets the better it is. There is zero reason to dry it out when all that is required is a bucket and some water.

So you would keep rock in a bucket and maintain it for months instead of just letting it dry out? Better have a heater and filtration and water flow and light if you have coral you want to keep and want the bacteria to remain alive.
Seems like a lot of time and effort, rather than being able to seed the rock once it gets placed in the tank with live rock and maybe a few pieces of live rock.