Dead Live rock

[Timmy]

Hi guys I have a question I hope you can help me with. I was given about 40# of Live rock that has been out of water for about 4 years. The reason it has been out of water is because he had a huge tank crash. The day everything died he did a huge 50% water change. (didn't premix the salt) He also added some shells he got from the ocean. Do you think I can cure the rock and add it to my tank.

Thanks

Tim

[Jrmass]

Most definately you can do that. That's how I started my whole tank. It was nothing BUT dead rock. All you need to get it rolling is a tank w/ nothing in it some established rock (you wouldn't need much 5-10 lbs would be fine) *just to get it rolling*. And if you wanted to get it curing even faster yet go to the grocery store buy a single PRAWN (it needs to be a prawn don't ask why because I'm not sure myself) a womans legging and place the prawn into the legging. Place that into the tank which will start to decompose getting the ammonia to build in the tank which triggers the denitrAfying bacteria to go and soon after that the denitrIfying bacteria will develope to remove the nitrAte. I've started many a freshwater tank using this and I know for 100% sure that it does work on saltwater tanks as well. when you notice that the tank is starting to level out (meaning no nitrAtes *after the nitrItes are already gone*) then remove the stocking with the decaying prawn and the tank is cycled and the rock is fully established. Mearly do a water change 50% and you can begin your stocking.


Jason

[reefmanwannabe]

I agree with most of what was said , the only difference is it doesn't actually have to be a prawn , you can use a shrimp as well just make sure its uncooked.The other thing is don't wait till the Nitrates are gone to do water changes , you will have to do them every week . Even though the rocks been out of the water for 4 years theres going to be dead stuff traped in the nooks and crannies of the rock and thats most likely going to put your Ammonia through the roof . And make sure you have a good test kit as well , your going to need it

[ScruffyRubicon]

Here is a thread you may want to look at. Instead of adding dead seafood, you can actually just add ammonia.

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f6...hlight=ammonia

[Jrmass]

I have heard of using strictly ammonia as well.. I've even heard of people "peeing" in their water to generate the ammonia... That's not really my idea of what to use... But, it would work lol. As I had said I wasn't sure why it had to be a prawn... But, I had just heard that it should be so. But, guess any seafood will work =)

As far as the water changes go... I guess it all depends on how bad your ammonia spike is... As I didn't do a single water change on my tank until the week I was going to add my fish and corals. I cycled the tank for 8 weeks, did a water change after the 7th *50%* and did another 50% on the 8th week then added. So, it was like 65% new water before the introduction.

[hansmatt]

I believed that a prawn was simply a jumbo shrimp...ok, maybe the size above jumbo just before lobster Can any gulf states people help here?

[jakecaps]

Originally Posted by hansmatt

I believed that a prawn was simply a jumbo shrimp...ok, maybe the size above jumbo just before lobster Can any gulf states people help here?

All I know is they taste quite a bit the same !

[tlgreve]

I cooked all my "dead" live rocks with one rock from my current tank. They turned out very nice.

[Jrmass]

I started my tank the same way. I put all 150 lbs of Dry Weight rock in with aprox 40 lbs Wet Weight rock and in 8 weeks it was ready to rock.

[schneijt]

Originally Posted by tlgreve

I cooked all my "dead" live rocks with one rock from my current tank. They turned out very nice.

I second the idea of cooking your rock. There will be an incredible amount of dead organics nestled deep within the rock. Cooking rock is basically starving the rock of light, which forces the rock to "shed" its organics. You switch out the water regularly while the rock is cooking and you will end up with rocks full of beneficial bacteria that will not potentially leach any phosphates or anything into the tank in the future. If you Google "live rock cooking," you can find a wealth of information. I won't elaborate on the process since it's already been done in a whole bunch of places on the internet.

I have ~70lbs of (now) dry rock from my tank that I broke down back in February. When I get the tank started again, it's going back in. However, I'm going to cook the rock for at 4-6 weeks along with a couple pieces of fresh live rock. The result will be a pristine tank with a much lower chance of persistent algae problems than a tank full of rock with "hidden" organics waiting to cause problems. The reason for the fresh live rock is because it will help the cooking process speed up since it already is full of beneficial bacteria. It will also help seed the dead rock and help make it "live" again over time in the tank.

-Joe

[stemanc]

hi im trying to start up a reef aquarium im just wondering can anyone help me.
im trying to seed my dry dead rock with live rock half and half, but was wondering how long does the cycle take whilst trying to do this, or is the cycle stage as normal as if it was all live rock?
any help on this subject would help alot thanks

[schneijt]

The cycle will probably take you roughly 6-8 weeks, depending on the amount of dead stuff in the dry rock and the amount of dead life on the live rock that didn't survive shipping and handling by the time it gets back into saltwater. If the rock is really clean, it might be less than six weeks. You just have to go by the water readings. First you'll get a huge spike of ammonia. As that starts coming down, nitrites will spike, and then nitrates. Once the nitrates start coming down, do a decently-sized water change, wait a few days to make sure you're good to go, and then you can slowly start adding fish to the tank.

Also, it will take many months for the dead rock to be "seeded" by the live rock. Give it time and don't expect it to happen overnight. The critters and algae and everything need time to migrate to the new rock. You can help speed this process by mingling the dead rock and the dry rock in your aquascaping.

-Joe

[hansmatt]

I recently put a few big, dried rocks in my sump, and let them do their thing. I know that they will likely cycle a bit, but my hope is that a few 10 lb rocks will not upset the overall balance of 130g of water. Yes, I skim pretty well and run carbon. Nothing has died, and everything looks great. It's been a month. I don't think I could get away with more than a few rocks at a time doing this without putting my tank in peril.

[firsthesitation]

Dead live rock. Kidnda oxymoronic isn't that? Like how cold this fire is?

Biggest problem I've seen in uncooked liverock usually had bad algae growth.