CLEANING LIVE ROCK QUICK!!!!!!!

[playa0069u]

I am starting a tank with mostly a bunch of dried out live rock, and was wondering how I need to clean it. My lfs told me to soak it in salt water for 3 weeks, swishing it around every once and a while, then change the water and soak it for another week to rehidrate any crap that was in there so it wouldnt rot in my tank. Only one problem, I am trying to save money so making 8 gallons of saltwater and dumping it down the drain seems like a waste to me. I have been soaking it for a week or so in freshwater straight from the tap and was wondering if dechlorinated water is good enough to soak it in. It is outside in a cooler (closed) but is still growing some green algae so i put it in my shed where it would get less light. So is it nessesary to soak it for 3 weeks in salt water? or can I just use freshwater? OR also, is there any other way to clean it? THis is an emergency because I really want to buy the salt today if I can...

[AuntKaren]

If you are planning to have the rock be actual "live rock" you probably have a problem. You DO need to cure the rock in salt water. The rock and critters on it require ocean type water in order to survive.

I hope others can back me up here but I think by keeping the rock in declorinated plain water you might have killed what life was left in the dry live rock.

Are you buying salt water from your lfs or are you making your own using sea salts available at LFS? You might try buying ro/di water and adding ocean salt. (Oceanic is one brand, Tropic Marin another and I"m sure others will chime in with the brands that they use.) For now you just need to cover the rocks with the salt water, heat the water to 75 - 80 degrees and test the water for ammonia. Ammonia in the water tells you that the rock is curing. To get the ammonia levels down you do a smallish water change every day. After the ammonia levels drop to 0you test for nitrates and nitrites. You again do water changes to get the nitrates and nitrites down to below 20. THEN you can put the rock in your tank. This was an awfully abbreviated version of what will happen as your rock cures and I am sure others will explain in more detail what needs to be done and why. This process takes from two to six weeks sometimes. The minimum, though is usually 2 weeks.

I sincerely wish you luck!

[lReef lKeeper]

could not have said it any better AK !!

everything that was alive on that rock is now dead. my rock usually cures for at least 4 weeks in a seperate "curing" bin. anything for a SALTWATER tank, NEEDS SALTWATER. i would start it in saltwater ASAP and leave it in there for AT LEAST 4 weeks (because it is dead rock right now) !!
everything in this hobby takes patience !!

[playa0069u]

I'm sorry I really just don't understand why??? There is no life on it so what am I killing?

[playa0069u]

it is dried out rock its not live at all... how could freshwater kill things on it? there IS nothing on it lol????? please fill me in

[seahorsedreams]

I'm not trying to be mean and I understand trying to stay on a budget, but if you are going to nickle and dime 8 gallons of saltwater you will find this hobby quite stressful. Even when at it's cheapest, this hobby is very expensive and 8 gallons of saltwater is nothing in the long run.

Are you presoaking this rock and then plan on putting it in saltwater to cure? I have a bunch of dead rock that I brought with me from Texas to California. The rock died in transit. Today I will be cleaning the rock in freshwater and then I am placing it in a curing vat to try and start a cycle before I set up a new tank. Is that what you are after? Just cleaning? I guess I don't get what you are up to with the freshwater. Trying to understand.

[jojo22]

I think he has (lace) or base rock. In that case the newbie I feel is right. I usually soak base rock for a day or two and scrub it down really good then rinse all in freshwater(RODI) but still fresh.


Was the rock in water when you bought it????

[playa0069u]

no, it was in a smashed tank some redneck through in his front yard lol

[dakar]

I have to agree with the others, you'd be far better off to put the rock in a closed container for a few weeks with saltwater. As you know the rock is now 'dead', the onyl way for it to again liven up is to allow it to build the needed bacteria. Personally, I'd toss it in a rubbermaid container with saltwater, a heater (if needed to keep it around 75-80 degrees), a power head to keep the water moving and toss in a raw cocktail shrimp to create an ammonia load and really kick off the nitrogen cycle, in effect cycling the rock, after the cycle the rock will have established the needed bacteria and it will serve your tank well.

Scrubbing the rock with a stiff nylon brush and tap water is fine, though RO/DI water would be better (depends on the quality of your tap water, IMO most 'city water' isn't fit for people to drink).

Adding base rock (dead rock) to a well established tank works in 4-6 months you will have very much alive rock, but only reccomend this if the tank has been up and running for at least 6 months or your total rock weight is > 50% established live rock.

[jojo22]

no, it was in a smashed tank some redneck through in his front yard lol


Ok either youre trying to get really smart with someone who is trying to help you ( which if that is the case it really works well when you check you grammer,they are called homophones, what you ment to say was threw, I knew you would think grammer was FUN)

If that is not the case I would really suggest being a little more picky about what you put in your tank.:WHY:because if you are trying to save money on 8 gallons of water it would be a shame for you to have to spend gas going back to the beach to steal more live rock and clean-up crew.

[playa0069u]

NO it wasn't trash, it was just a redneck it wasnt gross or anything, and as I said b4 i took 2 rocks, i know i know bad . i'm not going to again... and i bought my cleanup crew if that redeams me at all. I'm not trying to be "smart" with you, i appreciate your help but w/e i already did it a while ago this was an old post so it doesnt matter anyways. Dave, thanks for the idea that actually sounds like a really good idea how long will that take and umm... how bad will that smell lol I got a guy who is going to sell me LR for a dollar a pound in clearwater but i have a few interesting dry pieces from my anatomy and physiology teacher that I would still like to use on my girlfriends 30 long when we start it.
ps: thanks again Dakar u have been there since my first day on here in the chatroom.

[AuntKaren]

playa, I went back and read all the posts here. Sometimes we forget to start at the top and really READ what has been posted...sorry about that! It looks like you have asked one question that none of us has really answered and that would be....if it's dead what am I killing?

The life that WAS there was killed and you are essentially helping create new life from within the rock. Even "dead" rock has some life in it somewhere and by starting a curing cycle you will revive the life that is dormant. (DON"T DO THIS but if you had taken a chunk of concrete, put it in saltwater kept the heat correct and had a good flow going and added a dead shrimp you would see an ammonia spike which mean that life is re-cycling). So, saying that....your rock WILL become live again. Does that help? :-)

[ReefNeck]

it was just a redneck it wasnt gross or anything,

You may just as well have said "The guy was an idiot, Not sick or anything, Just stupid"
This is insulting to many people. Like calling some people Yankee is offensive.

We already know many other names that are offensive so no need to post those but let's not insult people just because of the lifestyle they may choose to lead.

[lReef lKeeper]

good point Keri !! i know a lot of "rednecks", and most of them are great people and would give you the shirt off of thier back if you needed it !!

[marinefiend]

The best way to fix the issue you have with the live rock being dead is - once it is dead you are not going to kill anything as it is already dead.

Having it sit in regular freshwater is not going to do any good at all.

A really good way to get that live rock back is to get it back into a tank of water, have a cheap skimmer on it, also add some powerheads to the tank so you have good circulation and wait a week.

Do a 25% water change on the system and then add in one or two pieces of new real live rock.

Wait another week, again small 25% water change.

Do this for four weeks and start checking your amonia and nitrate levels.

Next is goto your buddies reef tank and ask him to scratch off some of the coraline from the glass and place this in a jar with some saltwater.

Try to crush the scrapings so the water goes pink or purple(depends on the color of coraline) dump this into your tank and then turn off the pumps for four hours.

And of course due to me posting this almost a month late I am sure I am of no help to you. But at least I posted.

LOL

One thing to note is that of all the things that live on the rock they will come back to life over time as the eggs that they leave in the rock can survive some of the worst cases of drying you can ever do to rock.

There would be one thing that I would do before adding any corals to the system and that is testing the tank for copper. If the liverock was used in a fish only system and they dosed copper to fisx the fishies problems the live rock is pretty much F'D, as it will leach out copper forever.

The only real sure way to kill live rock if boil it in hot water. Scrub it well with a new unused scrub brush.

So in all you should be good

[playa0069u]

thanks alot man

[marinefiend]

No problems Playa always glad to be of some help.