You Have Phosphates In your New Dead Rock ?

[427HISS]

I have a bunch of the dead white reef rock, like what BRS has.

According to them, there's no need to test, but a fellow reefer said he found nitrates, but also a high amount of phosphates after,....he had the tank running, so he's been chasing the levels for months now, and wish's he ran all the rock through a normal "live rock" cycle to begin with.

I have a refill test kit on order to test for nitrates and phosphates, when I get to that point with a new build.

Question, did you test your rocks before adding to your display ?

 

[PatW]

I did not. I would have been better off if I had. You can toss your dry rock into saltwater or RODI for say a few weeks and test. Sometimes it is not necessary. Of course, sometimes the rock is loaded with the stuff.

 

[427HISS]

I heard a long timeago, that this guy cleaned his rock with a sort of acid, then dried well.

 

[ReefingwithO]

I always cure rock before placing in the display. You never know what's on it, even if it looks sterile.

 

[427HISS]

I agree with that.

I'll be curious what resting will show. Maybe.

I'll wash the rock in my wifes new front load washer, it has many great settings !

 

[DarkSky]

I put my rock into a brute can for 3 months with saltwater, a heater and a power head. I changed the water a few times over this period. The first couple of times it was nasty.

At the end of month three the water consistently tested at 0 for nutrients and that's when I started my tank.

 

[Y2KReef]

Who did you get "a bunch of dead white reef rock" from??

 

[427HISS]

Local reefers.

 

[Bdog4u2]

I have about 250lbs of dry fiji rock in my shed I dried it out 10 years ago. I'm saving it for my next build will be my dream build. I can't imagine he nutrients this stuff is gonna put out.
I'm going to have to cure it for 6 months. after the funk is gone I'll probably mix in 50lbs of of my never been dry fiji to re seed with critters. I spent thousands on all this rock when it used to go for $15-20 a lb and I have almost 500lbs between my tank and she'd.

 

[PatW]

You can acid wash your rock. People use diluted muriatic acid which is just the trade name for hydrochloric acid. The thing is that calcium carbonate (dry rock) plus HCl produces CO2 and CaCl2. You are just taking off a layer of your rock. Use enough acid and you will consume your rock which is not likely. I would favor the slower approach of curing in RODI or saltwater.

HCl is great stuff. Dilute HCl

 

[427HISS]

What do you meam,.... "Use enough acid and you will consume your rock which is not likely" ?

I have a couple of other tanks that quite a bit of very seasoned, original ocean "live rock", that I'll be transfering to the 125g mixed reef tank that we are buildng now.

So adding a lot of the dried rock is in question now. My wife says to stop buying stuff and get the tank done ! lol......

She'll crap on me if I say we need to cure the white rock for 2-3 months ! eek......

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

She'll crap on me if I say we need to cure the white rock for 2-3 months ! eek......

itll only take a month and do a standard cycle in a bucket. . after 24hrs in salt water test the po4. then use lanthanum chloride and water change or gfo in a reactor if its high.

 

[427HISS]

What is lanthanum chloride and how is it used with cycling ?

I do have 3 Brute's.

 

[427HISS]

Lanthanum chloride is the inorganic compound with the formula LaCl₃. It is a common salt but is mainly used in research. It is a white solid that is highly soluble in water and alcohols.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/ATM-Agen...0035&wl11=online&wl12=124411519&wl13=&veh=sem

$10.00-
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/produ...8wIKHqNpymQmkCeCmOwGIrZ3po666DMjFMaApze8P8HAQ

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2059711
http://www.marinedepot.com/Brightwe...-Brightwell_Aquatics-BW01144-FIADSAPR-vi.html

you blast the Po4 off the rock and remove it via water changes, then the bacteri keeps processing whats left. if there's a negligible amount detected in the first place the cycling process may in fact remove it. The reactor in that case would be good for the last on or two weeks to remove the excess as well..