What should I do with this rock I bought?

[HighChiefKC]

Got a steal on some rock today from a customer of mine. He said he hadn’t put it in water, but I don’t know where he got it from. Most looks like base rock but some has some color to it. Does it need to be cooked? Or can I just put it in new tank and cycle? Got some awesome shelf pieces
Thanks for any tips!

 

[me & my baby]

The thing is you don’t know where the rock has been so I would still soak it and see what comes out of it . It could be loaded with all kind of dead stuff you can not see with your eyes

 

[Malifry97]

I’d soak it in saltwater for a month so it leaches everything. Kind of a shame because some of that looks like it was at one point quality live rock. If you own a LFS, I would, after soaking, get a large Rubbermaid tub and put the rock in there. Then I would throw some hermits, snails, macros maybe a few cheap zoa frags or other corals, a few bottles of Coraline (purple and pink) and assorted bottled bacteria. Throw some lights over it like a cheap led black box. You can now market it as live rock and sell it for 6-8$ a lb. total project cost would be like 250$. Judging by the photos, you have around 800$+ worth of rock if it is live.

 

[HighChiefKC]

I’d soak it in saltwater for a month so it leaches everything. Kind of a shame because some of that looks like it was at one point quality live rock. If you own a LFS, I would, after soaking, get a large Rubbermaid tub and put the rock in there. Then I would throw some hermits, snails, macros maybe a few cheap zoa frags or other corals, a few bottles of Coraline (purple and pink) and assorted bottled bacteria. Throw some lights over it like a cheap led black box. You can now market it as live rock and sell it for 6-8$ a lb. total project cost would be like 250$. Judging by the photos, you have around 800$+ worth of rock if it is live.

Lol no I don’t own a LFS, this is for my 225 build.

 

[Victor_C3]

I wouldn’t even bother soaking it. Any excess nutrients should just cycle themselves out.

About two months ago I built a large plywood sump and filled it with 140 pounds of dry rock that looks a lot like what you have and I seeded it with 60 pounds of live rock. I had a heater, two kessil H80 refugium lights, and a few pumps/powerheads.

I occasionally dropped a cube or two of frozen food into the tank and dosed 60ml of live plankton each day so as to add some nutrients to the system so bacterial blooms and algae growth would take off.

After a week or two, I bought some macro algae and added it to a refugium area. 2-3 weeks later, I added 50 hermit crabs, a few shrimp, and some snails.

This week (after 6 weeks of running) I’ve added 4 fish to the tank and they’re doing great.

I have a little bit of hair algae, but only a few bits growing off of some pieces of egg-crate that I used to make a divider for my macro algae.

The white rock is starting to get some color and things are starting to grow. I just ordered my display tank yesterday and it’ll be about two months before it shows up. I’ll just keep feeding the system and let my rock mature until my display tank shows up.

These pictures are about 3-4 weeks old. The rock doesn’t look nearly as barren now.