Free live rock!! (Now what to do with it?)

Stacef

Well-Known Member
We just picked up about 300 lbs of used rock from a neglected tank. About half was in one tank and is algae free. The other half.... Not so much.

Along with free live rock we got lots and lots of hair algae, aiptaisa, and bubble algae.

We don't need it right away. Our DT still isn't even delivered. We have our 125 with water in it to put the "good" rock in so keep it going. What the heck do we do with this "dirty" rock? Let it dry? Put it in water but no light? Power wash it? What do you guys think?

We're at least a month from starting to think about using it.
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
What you do with rock like that is "cook" it. What you do is take a large container, put the rock in it and fill with normal SW. Add a heater and a couple of powerheads. Keep it in total darkness for 2 - 3 months as a minimum. When you see the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate all drop to 0 the "cooking process" is done. It will then have a certain amount of bacteria, and no algae because you kept it in the dark, and no nitrate because the anaerobic bacteria deep in the rock consumed it.

This is a long slow process, and takes a lot of time, so don't rush things.

One other thing. Be sure the rock has never been in a tank that was medicated with copper. You can test the water if in any doubt, if you get any reading at all, you should not use the rock in any tank that will contain corals.
 

spiraling

Well-Known Member
I had bad hitchikers with someone else's live rock. and good ones too. If I did it again I would first pour boiling freshwater over the rock several times to get rid of all life. then start again as DaveK mentions above. The other thing I didn't know - Keeping rocks in the dark while they cook / start cycle not only keeps algae off them, but it builds a film to help with algae once they are in the light.
 

Stacef

Well-Known Member
Dave, THANK YOU! I was thinking we needed to "black out" the rock if memory served me right. Thanks for the info. Water temp, where should I keep it?
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
This is a major mistake. You kill off all the good bacteria you need. You will also kill off anything good on the rock, like sponges, tube worms and so on. If your going to do this, you might as well go with dry rock.

Agree
 

spiraling

Well-Known Member
This is a major mistake. You kill off all the good bacteria you need. You will also kill off anything good on the rock, like sponges, tube worms and so on. If your going to do this, you might as well go with dry rock.

You are 100% correct Dave and Oxy, but I got some rock off CL and used it in my tank. The tank I got it from was quite healthy and beautiful. But unknowingly I picked up a bunch of unwanted hitchhikers. I still battle them 2 years later. I'm just saying that next time I will start dry and then add rocks from tanks that I KNOW are good to get the diversity.
 

Squatch XXL

Well-Known Member
if your going to do this, you might as well go with dry rock.
This is fact.

Another option that no one has suggested is to literally dry the bad rock out. Scrub the algae off, then just let them dry out for a few weeks. This will kill EVERYTHING, but no different than the boiling water method.

I prefer dry rock vs live rock. I like to think that I have control over hitchhikers in my tank, and LR is one of the big issues with HH.
 

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
This is fact.

Another option that no one has suggested is to literally dry the bad rock out. Scrub the algae off, then just let them dry out for a few weeks. This will kill EVERYTHING, but no different than the boiling water method.

I prefer dry rock vs live rock. I like to think that I have control over hitchhikers in my tank, and LR is one of the big issues with HH.

Personally, this is what I would do. I'd want everything dead on it rather than risk a headache. BUT, I prefer dry rock vs. live rock for the same reasons you do. So, someone giving me 300lbs of messy live rock is basically giving me dry rock that requires some work before I can use it.

Still, free is free. :)
 

Stacef

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the help guys. In the end we decided to dry the rock. We know it will need seeded, but we are most comfortable with it drying for the sake of hitchhiker control.

Here's the rock! Weighed it, 424 lbs.
 

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