“Dead” rock ready for use?

[wolfeboromatt]

I’ve been treating some mostly dead live rock in heated, circulated, no light saltwater with microbacter clean. Going on 4 weeks. Never any measured ammonia. Weekly water replacements and redosing. Scrubbing rocks each week. Rocks still look like this. Seems to me they’re dead and can be used to start from scratch, but what are your thoughts on the “old” green algae and what I was told are old dead snails(?) (the white spots). Anything to be concerned with, or will things just grow over it?

 

[rc8t6353]

Test for nitrates. That will let you know if they're live rock or dead. If they are live, you might not get any ammonia readings because they're doing their job. Add some fish food and retest after a few days.

 

[wolfeboromatt]

Nothing. No ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates.

 

[rc8t6353]

I would add some food or ammonia then retest just to be sure.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

what does "mostly dead rock" mean? Why not just bleach the rock if its dead? Were you trying to cycle the rocks by adding microbacter?

 

[wolfeboromatt]

what does "mostly dead rock" mean? Why not just bleach the rock if its dead? Were you trying to cycle the rocks by adding microbacter?

It was rock from a previous reef tank that had sat in cold salt water for a couple weeks. I’m trying to prepare it for reuse in a new tank. I’d read that macrobacter clean would give the rock a good cleaning and prep it well for reuse. I’d read mixed reviews on bleaching.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

It was rock from a previous reef tank that had sat in cold salt water for a couple weeks. I’m trying to prepare it for reuse in a new tank. I’d read that macrobacter clean would give the rock a good cleaning and prep it well for reuse. I’d read mixed reviews on bleaching.

If the rocks were in cold water then they are dead. MB7 will not clean and prepare the rocks for you, its not a real cycling bacteria.

What mixed reviews have you read about bleaching? I've done it countless times

If you don't want to use bleach, you can muriatic acid, or even citric acid to clean the rocks. What most of us do, is run the rocks in tap water with bleach or acid - whichever you chose - with a powerhead for a week, then rinse well under tap water and then run the rocks in rodi water with a powerhead for a week (I even like to change the rodi water half way through). You now have 100% brand new base rock.

Now you can cycle the rocks in a bucket with fritz turbo or some other cycling bacteria with a heater and a powerhead, and add some ammonia to start the nitrifying process. You have 0-0-0 reading because you did not add ammonia and no cycling bacteria. You should be able to track the cycle with a testing kit.

This is the correct way of cleaning and preparing old rocks, its a 2 step process. Good luck

 

[wolfeboromatt]

If the rocks were in cold water then they are dead. MB7 will not clean and prepare the rocks for you, its not a real cycling bacteria.

What mixed reviews have you read about bleaching? I've done it countless times

If you don't want to use bleach, you can muriatic acid, or even citric acid to clean the rocks. What most of us do, is run the rocks in tap water with bleach or acid - whichever you chose - with a powerhead for a week, then rinse well under tap water and then run the rocks in rodi water with a powerhead for a week (I even like to change the rodi water half way through). You now have 100% brand new base rock.

Now you can cycle the rocks in a bucket with fritz turbo or some other cycling bacteria with a heater and a powerhead, and add some ammonia to start the nitrifying process. You have 0-0-0 reading because you did not add ammonia and no cycling bacteria. You should be able to track the cycle with a testing kit.

This is the correct way of cleaning and preparing old rocks, its a 2 step process. Good luck

If the rocks were in cold water then they are dead. MB7 will not clean and prepare the rocks for you, its not a real cycling bacteria.

What mixed reviews have you read about bleaching? I've done it countless times

If you don't want to use bleach, you can muriatic acid, or even citric acid to clean the rocks. What most of us do, is run the rocks in tap water with bleach or acid - whichever you chose - with a powerhead for a week, then rinse well under tap water and then run the rocks in rodi water with a powerhead for a week (I even like to change the rodi water half way through). You now have 100% brand new base rock.

Now you can cycle the rocks in a bucket with fritz turbo or some other cycling bacteria with a heater and a powerhead, and add some ammonia to start the nitrifying process. You have 0-0-0 reading because you did not add ammonia and no cycling bacteria. You should be able to track the cycle with a testing kit.

This is the correct way of cleaning and preparing old rocks, its a 2 step process. Good luck

Thanks Mr. Mojo. I’d read some concerns about the bleach seeping into the rock and then releasing into the tank when eventually set up.

What ratio of bleach to water?

What does the bleach soak achieve? I guess at this point of the rock is truly dead I’m don’t need to be worried about killing a thing bad on it. Will the bleach soak clean off some of the dead algae or dead snails?

 

[NorCalReefing]

I recently did the whole bleach thing. Didn’t harm a thing in my tank. The biggest issue is finding the generic, not “splashless”, bleach at the stores in my area.

If you let the rocks fully dry, there’s not issue with residual bleach.