"dead" rock

seanpatrick · 03/22/2006, 08:44 AM

hey i was given some "dead" rock or base rock, im not sure of the real name, but its basicly live rock that has died..it was stored in a box, and now is dry..i plan on putting this in my tank that i am currently working on setting up. the rock looks like it has some dried green stuff on it on some parts(looks like some sort of dried algea or something)..i was wondering:
if i could just put it in my tank when i set it up for the cycle?

do i have to clean it, which if so, how do i do that?

how do i grow it back? do i just add a few pieces of live rock into the tank? and do i do this during or after the cycle period?

thanks in advance,
-sean

okreef98 · 03/22/2006, 08:54 AM

You should definately wash it. I have read many opinions about how to wash it, but I used bleach on my dead rock and rinsed it again and again and then let it dry to make sure no bleach was left on the rock. You can make the rock "live" again by placing it in the tank with some good live rock. You can speed up the seeding of the dead rock by ocassionally brushing the good live rock with a tooth brush or something to spread spores of coraline around, just turn off your filters for a while after you do this so you dont filter out any of the good coraline spores. Good luck, I am doing the same thing now.

okreef98 · 03/22/2006, 08:58 AM

Oh, and IMO you should do it during your cycle. Since you need live rock to cycle anyway.

bjonesjr1 · 03/22/2006, 09:09 AM

A tooth brush works well to scrub anything you don't want away, and to brush on some spores from coralline to your new rock...

seanpatrick · 03/22/2006, 09:16 AM

thanks so much...how much bleach did u use? and is there any thing else i need to do(besides washing it thoroughly with clean water, and letting it dry in the sun)to make sure it is safe to go into the aquarium?
and should i add a couple lbs of live rock right away?
what i was thinking of doing was setting up my tank and mixing the salt and everything and letting it sit over night to allow the salt to dissolve and the temp to come up to spead...then should i add a couple damsels and a few lbs of live rock and the washed dead rock?
thanks

okreef98 · 03/22/2006, 09:51 AM

Just use about a couple of cups of bleach in a five gallon bucket, just really enough bleach to disinfect the rocks really. As far as cycling goes The actual live rock and sand is what cycles. You will have some die off with your live rock in the beginning ( algae, sponges etc..) This will eventually stop dying and polluting your water (the tank is cycled.) As far as Damsels go I would stay away from them, they suck after the tank has cycled and you want to put cooler stuff in your tank ,damsels are mean.

okreef98 · 03/22/2006, 09:59 AM

Boss walked in had to stop earlier. hehe. Anyway, what I did was but a couple of bags of live sand to add to my dry sand, then I added some dead rock to my tank, added some live rock on top of the dead rock, checked water for amonia etc after a couple of weeks, and tank was ready. It has been a couple of months now and I have coraline popping up everywhere. As far as mixing the salt I used buckets with my DI water ( DI water has made this tank a breeze)

seanpatrick · 03/22/2006, 10:28 AM

wow thanks a lot

03/22/2006, 08:44 AM	#1
seanpatrick Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 17	"dead" rock hey i was given some "dead" rock or base rock, im not sure of the real name, but its basicly live rock that has died..it was stored in a box, and now is dry..i plan on putting this in my tank that i am currently working on setting up. the rock looks like it has some dried green stuff on it on some parts(looks like some sort of dried algea or something)..i was wondering: if i could just put it in my tank when i set it up for the cycle? do i have to clean it, which if so, how do i do that? how do i grow it back? do i just add a few pieces of live rock into the tank? and do i do this during or after the cycle period? thanks in advance, -sean

03/22/2006, 09:09 AM	#4
bjonesjr1 Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: St. Petersburg, FL Posts: 1,258	A tooth brush works well to scrub anything you don't want away, and to brush on some spores from coralline to your new rock... __________________ Bobby Current Tank Info: 75gal, LifeReef CLF1 Sump & SVS2-24 Skimmer

03/22/2006, 08:54 AM	#2
okreef98 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: OKC, Oklahoma GO SOONERS Posts: 78	You should definately wash it. I have read many opinions about how to wash it, but I used bleach on my dead rock and rinsed it again and again and then let it dry to make sure no bleach was left on the rock. You can make the rock "live" again by placing it in the tank with some good live rock. You can speed up the seeding of the dead rock by ocassionally brushing the good live rock with a tooth brush or something to spread spores of coraline around, just turn off your filters for a while after you do this so you dont filter out any of the good coraline spores. Good luck, I am doing the same thing now.

03/22/2006, 08:58 AM	#3
okreef98 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: OKC, Oklahoma GO SOONERS Posts: 78	Oh, and IMO you should do it during your cycle. Since you need live rock to cycle anyway.

03/22/2006, 09:16 AM	#5
seanpatrick Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 17	thanks so much...how much bleach did u use? and is there any thing else i need to do(besides washing it thoroughly with clean water, and letting it dry in the sun)to make sure it is safe to go into the aquarium? and should i add a couple lbs of live rock right away? what i was thinking of doing was setting up my tank and mixing the salt and everything and letting it sit over night to allow the salt to dissolve and the temp to come up to spead...then should i add a couple damsels and a few lbs of live rock and the washed dead rock? thanks

03/22/2006, 09:51 AM	#6
okreef98 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: OKC, Oklahoma GO SOONERS Posts: 78	Just use about a couple of cups of bleach in a five gallon bucket, just really enough bleach to disinfect the rocks really. As far as cycling goes The actual live rock and sand is what cycles. You will have some die off with your live rock in the beginning ( algae, sponges etc..) This will eventually stop dying and polluting your water (the tank is cycled.) As far as Damsels go I would stay away from them, they suck after the tank has cycled and you want to put cooler stuff in your tank ,damsels are mean.

03/22/2006, 09:59 AM	#7
okreef98 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: OKC, Oklahoma GO SOONERS Posts: 78	Boss walked in had to stop earlier. hehe. Anyway, what I did was but a couple of bags of live sand to add to my dry sand, then I added some dead rock to my tank, added some live rock on top of the dead rock, checked water for amonia etc after a couple of weeks, and tank was ready. It has been a couple of months now and I have coraline popping up everywhere. As far as mixing the salt I used buckets with my DI water ( DI water has made this tank a breeze)

03/22/2006, 10:28 AM	#8
seanpatrick Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 17	wow thanks a lot