Making MORE Live Rock

[fishyman12]

I have a very very tight budget and am looking to save some $$$. My custom tank won't be here for about a month so I was thinking I would buy a Rubbermaid and a couple pieces of LIVE ROCK and Pieces of "dead" Rock. If i left them in a rubbermaid together with heater, flow, lighting... would i have a bucket full of live rock in a month? Any tips or criticism?

[chuckdallas]

I have just gone through this whole process. Found some carbonate-based rocks in the back yard. Has pieces of shells mixed with either concrete or corals. I cleaned them up about 3 months ago and then didn't use them. Left them outside.

Asked here again and here are the consensus results:

1 - Pressure wash with hose or pressure washer and tap water. Soak for 2-3 days in bleach. Rinse out. Soak in vinegar and tap water for 2-3 days, then rinse and soak in fresh tap water. Take out of water & let them dry in air. Insert saltwater with heater, powerhead and insert one live rock to transfer bacteria to new rock in 3-4 weeks.

2 - Rinse as above, but after the second or third fresh water soaking, dry out and let the rocks in the tank put the good bacteria back in the new rock in the main display tank.

3 - Use muriatic acid in the process somewhere to make sure the phosphates are extracted before inserting this new rock into the tank.

4 - Use a dechlorinator after the fresh water soaks to make sure that all of the chlorine has left.

I plan on using my new rock as a base for acan and zoa frags to grow out on, so I'm using choice 1 for the first 2-3 small pieces and then I'm going to cure the other 2 large pieces of rock, as in step 2.