Used Equipment and dead "live"rock

Splitcane · 08/06/2016, 04:55 PM

I'm looking for the best way to clean a skimmer and other plumbing parts and pumps and rejuvenate the rock (probably 50-60 pounds worth) .

Here's the background. My wife has a friend who husband passed away. Shortly after his passing, his tank crashed because she didn't know / didn't care to take care of it. When the livestock died, they drained the tank and put the whole thing in the garage where it has been sitting for almost a year. They put the live rock in a couple of 5 gallon buckets and sat them outside of the garage where they've been exposed to elements this while time. I've been told that I can have it all. I can clean the tank but the skimmer is rather nasty as are some of the other plumbing parts. I'm looking for the best way to clean the skimmer and more importantly rejuvenate the rock. I've researched every thread I can find and vinegar seems like a good way to go. I'm just a bit stuck on deciding the best way to go about bringing back the rock. I've read about cooking it, acid bath, bleach bath etc. I don't know which way to go but I'd hate to just throw it away. Anyone with experience and a helpful suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

Sk8r · 08/06/2016, 05:04 PM

White vinegar from Costco or Sam's. You'll need a lot. Use it straight. Soak towels in it and leave them lying on 'bad' cases. Run pumps in it. It's safe enough to use as carbon dose in live reefs, so if you leave a little behind, no problem.

As for the old live rock, no problem again: big barrel, salt water, heater, lid, circulation pump, and just keep doing water changes, so it can lose all its prior sins and become good rock,

Splitcane · 08/07/2016, 02:25 PM

Thanks for the advice. The plumbing parts and pumps will be easy..at least in regards to the process. With the live rock, I'm considering the bleach and muriatic acid bath. The buckets the rock was kept in filled with rain water and then got nasty (algae, mosquitos etc) I'm thinking none of that is good for rock that I plan to put in a salt water tank but maybe I'm over thinking it. I'd also like to proceed with the fastest possible way of getting this rock ready to go in a new tank. I will certainly add some functioning live rock to help "seed" the dead pieces but what do you think about the bleach and acid process?

NAClFiSHy · 08/07/2016, 03:00 PM

blast it with the hose scrub it with a brush and let it bake in the driveway.

08/06/2016, 05:04 PM	#2
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	White vinegar from Costco or Sam's. You'll need a lot. Use it straight. Soak towels in it and leave them lying on 'bad' cases. Run pumps in it. It's safe enough to use as carbon dose in live reefs, so if you leave a little behind, no problem. As for the old live rock, no problem again: big barrel, salt water, heater, lid, circulation pump, and just keep doing water changes, so it can lose all its prior sins and become good rock, __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

08/07/2016, 02:25 PM	#3
Splitcane Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Ocean City, MD Posts: 30	Thanks for the advice. The plumbing parts and pumps will be easy..at least in regards to the process. With the live rock, I'm considering the bleach and muriatic acid bath. The buckets the rock was kept in filled with rain water and then got nasty (algae, mosquitos etc) I'm thinking none of that is good for rock that I plan to put in a salt water tank but maybe I'm over thinking it. I'd also like to proceed with the fastest possible way of getting this rock ready to go in a new tank. I will certainly add some functioning live rock to help "seed" the dead pieces but what do you think about the bleach and acid process?

08/07/2016, 03:00 PM	#4
NAClFiSHy Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Posts: 61	blast it with the hose scrub it with a brush and let it bake in the driveway.