Live rock and Dead rock

[scarface70706]

hey guys im putting together a 90 gal reef tank and i have some dead rock about 50 lbs. i was thinking ill buy 40 lbs of live rock to make up the difference in lbs from the dead rock i was wondering if i can mix live rock and dead rock together. I was told it will take 5 to 6 months for the dead rock to come alive. is it worth the hassle or to just buy all new live rock? also if i mix it up what kind of live stock can i hold in the tank while waiting for the dead rock to come alive i.e. fish, soft corals, anemone.

[sponger0]

If you get live rock along with the dead, it will help your cycle and give a boost on beneficial bacteria. I dont think itll be work the money to get all new live rock.

On the other hand, depending on where the live rock comes from, you could get some bad hitchhikers. But you can solve that problem once the tank is cycled. But sometimew you can get good hitchhikers too. But if the live rock you get has coralline, that will help begin some growth in your tank too

[robertjk7005]

you could just start the tank with the 40lbs of live rock you want to buy and cycle the dead rock you have in a separate container until its ready to add to your tank. that way your not spending a boatload on all new live rock.

[billdogg]

You can use all live rock, all dead rock, or any combination thereof. I have always used all dead (base) rock, and then, by adding corals and other livestock, populated it that way. It is much slower that way, but you can avoid most (but never all) of the nasty little hitchhikers otherwise imported.

Remember - nothing GOOD ever happens FAST in this hobby.

[scarface70706]

thanks for the fast response. the dead rock i have has been dead for over a yr or two. so would the dead rock be ok or would i need to add something to the water to bring em back to life. also i heard that i should put the dead rock on the bottom of the tank and use the live rock to stack on top of the dead rock. is tha true? and why is that?

[scarface70706]

yea i agree with nothing good happens fast but another delay in the cycle would annoy me if it can be avoided by buy new live rock but its so much for just some rock. i also dont have and plan on to have another tank to cycle the dead rock. good idea but cant do it.

[sponger0]

Some hitchhikers are good though. I have a colony of palys that came with mine, along with brittle star and worms. Some say the worms are bad but they have never harmed anything of mine

[akando]

I usually build my bases with dead rock and buy a few select pieces of live rock to seed my tank.

[Todd_Sails]

Originally Posted by akando

I usually build my bases with dead rock and buy a few select pieces of live rock to seed my tank.

+1, word!

[scarface70706]

ok is there anything i should keep an eye out for in dead rock. i see some black stains on the rock but not sure if thats good or bad

[papagimp]

the 58g mentioned in my signature was started with nothing but dead rock. Had close to 300 lbs laying around the garage, cleaned it up a little, aquascaped, and filled her up. It's had plenty of decomposition lately to spike nitrates sky high but also getting that cycle going full blast. Probably going to be cycling for 2-3 months for other reasons but I'll keep testing until water quality is optimal BEFORE i consider the livestock purchases. It'll liven up the same as any other live rock eventually. Once water quality is better I'll get a chunk or two of some "newer" live rock from the lfs to help seed it with microfauna/flora

[robertjk7005]

Originally Posted by scarface70706

i also dont have and plan on to have another tank to cycle the dead rock. good idea but cant do it.

you can just get a 32 gallon garbage can for like $15 and use a small powerhead and heater to cycle the rock for a couple months. just make sure your tests read zero before adding it to your display tank.
Thats what i did with approx 120 lbs of dead rock. i was surprised that I fit all of it in there lol

[Wiggie]

So do you let the dead rocks cycle before you put in the live rock?

[sponger0]

Put them in together. I will help them cycle

[RDHDDRAGON]

I filled my 95gallon with mostly dead rock then put 2 pieces of liverock on it to seed it. I also put live sand from another tank in the bottom.

My advice is to wash it wash it wash it, get off as much dead matter as you can. You will still get some in the water after it soaks for awhile.

My cycle didn't last any longer than normal BUT....I did get a horrible bloom of some type. Water so cloudy and white couldnt see an inch into the tank. It didn't come on until about 2-3 weeks after initial set up. It would go away, come back, get better, get worse, even turned from white to light green then back to white.
I tried no lights for several days, water changes, i even wrapped the tank into total darkness. It cleared then came right back after a couple days of lights back on.

I finally got rid of it using a UV sterilizer. Ran it for 4 days straight then it never came back!

Would I do it again? Probably, it was sooo much cheaper, but like they said above you must have patience!

Good luck!

[crvz]

Originally Posted by scarface70706

ok is there anything i should keep an eye out for in dead rock. i see some black stains on the rock but not sure if thats good or bad

As has been recommended, rinse it out as much as possible. whatever life was on it when it came out of the system could have simply died and stayed in the rock. This dead waste, when reintroduced to a tank, can be a fuel for algae blooms or other nuisances. So I'd recommend cleaning it well, and some folks would even point you towards a muratic acid bath. I've never done that, but it's something to consider.

[robertjk7005]

ok so what way you want to do this is going to depend on how patient you are.

first way is to set up your tank get it running but your sand or substrate down, add some live rock and then gradualy start adding some livestock while at the same time you start your tank in a sepreate container(garbage can) you have the dead rock cycle until it is ready then you can add it.

second way you can do it is add the dead rock and any new live rock and cycle it in your tank. then wait till it is complete and add livestock. the reason i dont like this way is because when the dead rock is cycling it stinks

what i did was buy live rock from ppl that were getting rid of their tanks that way i knew the colonies were there and i had minimal die off my tank cycled in about 3 months and while i had that i also had dead rock "curing" in the garbage can. at 4 months i added it to my tank and now its going thru a mini cycle again which is fine.

so if you want your tank up and to start adding livestock the fastest way would be the first one i described. now i am in no way an expert of any kind. just wanted to make that clear. whatever way you do it is up to you. just make sure you give the tank time to grow the beneficial bacteria before adding livestock.

[bamf25]

I used 100 dry and 30 lbs live in my 120g and it has worked very well. As for hitch hikers I got loads of pinapple sponges, coralline, and halimeda. I did get an aptasia or 2 but i seem to have killed those off.