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Introducing Dead Live Rock

R

rafal07013

as the title says: Introducing Dead Live Rock. what is the way to it right? I have about 100pds of the dead LR that was out of the tank for 7 years. some nice shapes. is there someone who is cycling and would be interested in helping me with it? is it safe to introduce one rock every 2-3 weeks to the tank?
 
jsantoli

jsantoli

I used all dead rock in my tank, it was sitting in a garbage can at my friends house for years. What do you want help with?
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
You should cycle it first, especially the big pieces or pieces with significant bio materials.
 
C

calaxa

If it is truly dead, you can introduce them to the tank no problem. Introduce 1 piece at a time every few weeks like you suggested. It will be highly unlikely for there to be any ammonia/nitrite/nitrate spike from their introduction since they have been dead for so long.
 
blange3

blange3

calaxa said:
If it is truly dead, you can introduce them to the tank no problem. Introduce 1 piece at a time every few weeks like you suggested. It will be highly unlikely for there to be any ammonia/nitrite/nitrate spike from their introduction since they have been dead for so long.
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You have to be carful here. When they 'died' the organinc material on them at the time probably is still in the rock. Dead dry organics will still cause a spike.

Best to cycle them. All you need is a few rubbermaid totes or a brute trashcan, a power head and a heater. Oh yeah, and some patience. ;)
 
ricwilli

ricwilli

No skimmer or light. All you are trying to do is remove all the dead stuff in the rocks. I have three large rocks thats been sitting in my garage for over a year and I will be re-cycling them with water from my water changes.
 
R

rafal07013

kind of what i will do. i will get a small heater and put two power heads and use water from the tank. how long should i do this for? 2-3 weeks? how often change the water?
 
blange3

blange3

rniedzia said:
kind of what i will do. i will get a small heater and put two power heads and use water from the tank. how long should i do this for? 2-3 weeks? how often change the water?
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I use the water that I remove from my display tank when I do water changes. So I change once a week or once every other week.

3 weeks is probably the minimum. Depending on how much organics are in them it usually takes 4-6 weeks.

If you are anxious to get them in the tank as soon as possible, test ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. When you see the first two staying at zero and the nitrates dropping to a reef friendly level, under 10ppm I would say (but zero is best), then you can move them.
 
R

rafal07013

so now i have a road map on how to do it. they are some nice shapes in it. once it is ready plus what is the tank already will create an amazing display. thank you.
 
R

rafal07013

there is not much to brag about it now. i fight one battle at a time. this week: improving water flow to limit red allege. although over feeding might be the real culprit. new water pumps 1300gph are coming. next week: getting current nova pro T5 ligths. in 3 weeks there will be group buy on inverts, although nothing major just to replenish existing group. in 4-6 weeks rescaping the landscape. any good website/ideas on how to do it? than at the end of February i will be ready for some zoas shopping :)
 
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