Add Dead rocks

[kraels]

Hello everyone,
I Need your experience.
I had some live rock from a union of tanks about 7-8 months ago and as I had no more space in the sump I had to put it aside. I kept them for a couple of weeks in the sun this summer and then put them in a box and set them aside.
Now as I have gradually added rocks to the tank taken from the sump and thus made space, do you think if I add some of the dead rocks to the sump it will bring imbalance to the tank? Will they take months to come back alive? Before putting them in the sump how should they be sterilised best?
PS my tank is around 300 liters

 

[dedragon]

i would just do a soak in rodi water for about a week. There will be die off but as long as you dont add the rock all at once you should be fine. Just go slowly with 1 rock at a time

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

If the rocks were never cleaned, personally I like to clean them. I toss them in a bucket of bleach water with a powerhead for a week, then another few days in rodi water to rinse off.

 

[kraels]

Thank you for your suggestion!
Someone told me that can start a new maturation. How can it affect my tank?

 

[kraels]

PS: Does 1 rock at a time mean adding 1 rock per week?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I would not expect any particular imbalance, except perhaps relating to phosphate, which will depend on whether the tank was high or low or just right in phosphate when that rock was removed.

I have some rock from my old tank that has been sitting behind the garage for 8 years getting rained on and whatever. One has moss on it. If I reuse them, I'd give them an acid dip in 1:10 diluted muriatic acid in water to clean off the surfaces, likely including phosphate, quick rinse in fresh water, and good to go.