Rock help

[Sarel]

Hi there.... new to the reef thing..been watching a lot of BRS YouTube videos and got a tank from my old aunt that they ran as a marine tank ages ago. Would like to know if the rock that was with the tank is any good. Can’t seem to find out what tipe of rock it is and if it would work for a coral setup. They were in a tank with just plain Tropical water and a uv filter and pumps to filter the water. Do I need to soak them for 4 month as advised and will they work. Do have a lot of them so don’t want to spend money if I don’t need to! Thanks in advance..

 

[TriggerFinger]

personally, I would use them after curing them myself. I started with used rock, powerwashed it first. Then Did a vinegar bath with tap water in a brute can for a couple weeks. I then rinsed in bleach and tap water and let them dry in the sun for a week. After that I put them back in the cleaned out brute with saltwater and a mag drive pump where they sat for a few months until I was ready to add them to my tank. I bought the rock from a stranger and had no idea what they had been through so I went pretty hard with cleaning them. If you are sure they aren’t contaminated then you could add them to a new tank and cycle like normal.

 

[Sarel]

Did you see any pictures of my rocks that I posted...? Can seem to see them..

 

[Billdogg]

I see the pictures just fine. Rinse it well. A hose and tap water are plenty for that job. Arrange them in your tank as you see fit, add the sand and water, and start the cycle. It will be just fine. If you are worried about anything leeching from the rock, test for it. You're supposed to be testing during the cycle anyway. If you are worried about copper, get some polyfilter and put in someplace that has good flow. By the time the tank is cycled, you will have all the answers you need, and a happy cycled tank!!!

You really don't need to make it any harder than that. The hard stuff comes later........

 

[Sarel]

personally, I would use them after curing them myself. I started with used rock, powerwashed it first. Then Did a vinegar bath with tap water in a brute can for a couple weeks. I then rinsed in bleach and tap water and let them dry in the sun for a week. After that I put them back in the cleaned out brute with saltwater and a mag drive pump where they sat for a few months until I was ready to add them to my tank. I bought the rock from a stranger and had no idea what they had been through so I went pretty hard with cleaning them. If you are sure they aren’t contaminated then you could add them to a new tank and cycle like normal.

Thank you Triggerfinger. What bleaching procedure do you use? 1 part bleach to 10 water for a week... seems to be the BHS recommendation. Any bleach..

 

[vetteguy53081]

Bleach, coldwater rinse , place in sun to dry (about 5 days0 and then add liquid bacteria to tank water such as Dr. Tims one and only, fritz turbozyme OR Bacter 7

 

[Sarel]

I see the pictures just fine. Rinse it well. A hose and tap water are plenty for that job. Arrange them in your tank as you see fit, add the sand and water, and start the cycle. It will be just fine. If you are worried about anything leeching from the rock, test for it. You're supposed to be testing during the cycle anyway. If you are worried about copper, get some polyfilter and put in someplace that has good flow. By the time the tank is cycled, you will have all the answers you need, and a happy cycled tank!!!

You really don't need to make it any harder than that. The hard stuff comes later........

Thank you Billdog...just worried about some old nasties and organics from previous setup...

Bleach, coldwater rinse , place in sun to dry (about 5 days0 and then add liquid bacteria to tank water such as Dr. Tims one and only, fritz turbozyme OR Bacter 7

1:10 bleach to water? For how long do I soak? Thanks

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thank you Billdog...just worried about some old nasties and organics from previous setup...

1:10 bleach to water? For how long do I soak? Thanks

In the past, soaked it overnite and then placed buckets with rock in it in the bathtub and ran cold water pickup rock occasionally until smell of bleach was faint or not at all.

 

[Billdogg]

Bleach, coldwater rinse , place in sun to dry (about 5 days0 and then add liquid bacteria to tank water such as Dr. Tims one and only, fritz turbozyme OR Bacter 7

I prefer to do it without the bleach and without the bacteria in a bottle. A couple pinches of flake food every day or a single raw cocktail shrimp will do the same

 

[TriggerFinger]

I’m not sure on the ratio of bleach I used, I made it pretty strong and only rinsed the rocks in this bleach solution for a few minutes per rock. I did not soak in bleach. And I used regular cleaning bleach that kills 99.9% of germs. No scents, not outdoor bleach and not the splashless kind. The kind of bleach you won’t be able to find on any shelves right now. I used the bleach because I wanted the rocks to be white. You can probably skip this step unless you feel it’s necessary. Your rock doesn’t look real dirty but that doesn’t mean anything.

 

[Sarel]

I’m not sure on the ratio of bleach I used, I made it pretty strong and only rinsed the rocks in this bleach solution for a few minutes per rock. I did not soak in bleach. And I used regular cleaning bleach that kills 99.9% of germs. No scents, not outdoor bleach and not the splashless kind. The kind of bleach you won’t be able to find on any shelves right now. I used the bleach because I wanted the rocks to be white. You can probably skip this step unless you feel it’s necessary. Your rock doesn’t look real dirty but that doesn’t mean anything.

Thank you