question about re using old live rocks

fiberartist · 01/05/2014, 06:16 PM

I had a SW tank for 5 years (55 gal) which did very well. Sadly, had to give it up for personal reasons. I am now ready to start a 55 gal. FOWLR tank again. Someone has offered me live rock that they had in an old tank that they had let go. The rocks were in the water that had been evaporating, until the tank was half full. Also, the rocks are covered in green algea. Is there any hope to use them again, or am I just asking for trouble? I will be putting in 50 pounds of new live rock next week to start cycling the tank. There is about 30 pounds of this old rock available. I've been planning to use a raw shrimp to help with the cycling. Won't put fish in until water parameters have stabilized. Thanks in advance for any help you more experienced people can give me.

oscarinw · 01/05/2014, 09:41 PM

See the reincarnation method of restarting rock. It uses muriatic acid and bleach. It will get rid of mostly everything on and in the rock. With that you get a start from zero, but you won't risk adopting pest algae or other pests. That would be my recommendation for you.

HumbleFish · 01/05/2014, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oscarinw

see the reincarnation method of restarting rock. It uses muriatic acid and bleach. It will get rid of mostly everything on and in the rock. With that you get a start from zero, but you won't risk adopting pest algae or other pests. That would be my recommendation for you.

+1

01/05/2014, 06:16 PM	#1
fiberartist Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Maryland Posts: 2	question about re using old live rocks I had a SW tank for 5 years (55 gal) which did very well. Sadly, had to give it up for personal reasons. I am now ready to start a 55 gal. FOWLR tank again. Someone has offered me live rock that they had in an old tank that they had let go. The rocks were in the water that had been evaporating, until the tank was half full. Also, the rocks are covered in green algea. Is there any hope to use them again, or am I just asking for trouble? I will be putting in 50 pounds of new live rock next week to start cycling the tank. There is about 30 pounds of this old rock available. I've been planning to use a raw shrimp to help with the cycling. Won't put fish in until water parameters have stabilized. Thanks in advance for any help you more experienced people can give me.

01/05/2014, 09:41 PM	#2
oscarinw Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Western Massachusetts Posts: 1,091	See the reincarnation method of restarting rock. It uses muriatic acid and bleach. It will get rid of mostly everything on and in the rock. With that you get a start from zero, but you won't risk adopting pest algae or other pests. That would be my recommendation for you.