Reusing old Live Rock

noj3333 · 04/09/2012, 06:58 AM

About 15 years ago my father had a salt water tank, and when he broke it down we ended up with a lot of live rock. The rock was originally stored in a garage, and later ended up outside, under a covered overhang.
My questions is, can this rock safely be treated and used in a new tank? It would save me some $$$$ if it could be done on the cheap, it would use it up and help conserve the resource.
Any fool proof methods to treat it?
Thanks, this forum is a great tool for someone like myself!

noj3333 · 04/09/2012, 07:04 AM

Sorry... just let this topic die, I did a search (should have started with one... before I asked this question) I found my answer.

Jocko · 04/09/2012, 07:09 AM

There is no way to know 100% until you have a successful reef running with it. If it was working well before and you are pretty sure it was not contaminated by anything during storage, then it's probably not a terribly bad idea to give it a shot. It would certainly be the environmentally responsible thing to do.

To be on the safe side, it would probably be best to soak it in a separate container for a few weeks or more. Then maybe swap out the water, wait another week and test various water parameters and see if anything looks weird. But there are a million things we don't/can't test for, so that's why you'd never be able to know for sure until you actually put it into use.

Edit: LOL, ok. Pretend this post isn't here. Heh.

04/09/2012, 06:58 AM	#1
noj3333 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Albany, New York Posts: 235	Reusing old Live Rock About 15 years ago my father had a salt water tank, and when he broke it down we ended up with a lot of live rock. The rock was originally stored in a garage, and later ended up outside, under a covered overhang. My questions is, can this rock safely be treated and used in a new tank? It would save me some $$$$ if it could be done on the cheap, it would use it up and help conserve the resource. Any fool proof methods to treat it? Thanks, this forum is a great tool for someone like myself!

04/09/2012, 07:04 AM	#2
noj3333 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Albany, New York Posts: 235	Sorry... just let this topic die, I did a search (should have started with one... before I asked this question) I found my answer.

04/09/2012, 07:09 AM	#3
Jocko Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Boston Posts: 595	There is no way to know 100% until you have a successful reef running with it. If it was working well before and you are pretty sure it was not contaminated by anything during storage, then it's probably not a terribly bad idea to give it a shot. It would certainly be the environmentally responsible thing to do. To be on the safe side, it would probably be best to soak it in a separate container for a few weeks or more. Then maybe swap out the water, wait another week and test various water parameters and see if anything looks weird. But there are a million things we don't/can't test for, so that's why you'd never be able to know for sure until you actually put it into use. Edit: LOL, ok. Pretend this post isn't here. Heh.