Is this good live rock?

[MarcosTacos]

So i bought rock from a local reefer with a 5 year old red sea tank that blew a seal an emptied itself on the floor.
The rock is about 10 years old and was originally live rock. The guy placed the rock in some bins with flow in his garage, but the temps got low for about a day (maybe 60-65 max) since there was no heater.

There were a handful of mushrooms and zoas on the rocks , which seem to be toughing it out but some are detaching from the rocks. I also spotted a ton of bristle stars and bristle worms.

My questions are:
Do I need to QT the rock for ich and velvet ?
Do you think the temperature drop has made the rock useless (loss of alot of beneficial bacteria) ?
Will the dead or dying zoas and mushrooms cause harm to the tank?

 

[Troylee]

The rock should be fine.. if anything run some carbon in case there is any die off.. as for quarantine I’d ask the guy if he had ich or velvet which I doubt it’s not like he pulled his tank for it or anything..

 

[RedoubtReef]

How long has the rock been fishless? Bring it up to temp and keep it QT from your display for 2.5 months, feed it a little every other day, and you should be fine. Any fish pathogens will die off in that time with nothing to host in/on.

 

[therootcause]

Both replies above or good advice. Lastly, watch yourself around those ticked off zoas.

 

[MarcosTacos]

The rock has been fishless for about 12 hours, he had a chromis in there which he gave me, he wasn't doing too hot and eventually died and I disposed of it a couple minutes after its death, R.I.P. (because of the low temp of the water).

The guy said he had no diseases of any kind, I doubt he is lying, he practically gave me the rock, he was going to throw it away otherwise.

I was planning on starting my new tank with this rock to seed it (in the sump). So even with all the points mentionned above I should quarantine it for 2 months?

 

[RedoubtReef]

If you want to be sure there are no fish pathogens, then yes, leave it fishless. You can do this in your display since it sounds like this is a new setup.

 

[MarcosTacos]

Both replies above or good advice. Lastly, watch yourself around those ticked off zoas.

I always wash my hands after handling them, what should I be worried about since they are ''ticked off'' ? Release of palytoxins in the water?

 

[therootcause]

The rock has been fishless for about 12 hours, he had a chromis in there which he gave me, he wasn't doing too hot and eventually died and I disposed of it a couple minutes after its death, R.I.P. (because of the low temp of the water).

The guy said he had no diseases of any kind, I doubt he is lying, he practically gave me the rock, he was going to throw it away otherwise.

I was planning on starting my new tank with this rock to seed it (in the sump). So even with all the points mentionned above I should quarantine it for 2 months?

1. Nobody can tell you with any degree of certainty that there are no diseases in their tank.
2. I would personally start my own tanks with the rock and throw caution to the wind, bc that's my personality.

 

[Troylee]

The rock has been fishless for about 12 hours, he had a chromis in there which he gave me, he wasn't doing too hot and eventually died and I disposed of it a couple minutes after its death, R.I.P. (because of the low temp of the water).

The guy said he had no diseases of any kind, I doubt he is lying, he practically gave me the rock, he was going to throw it away otherwise.

I was planning on starting my new tank with this rock to seed it (in the sump). So even with all the points mentionned above I should quarantine it for 2 months?

I personally wouldn’t but that’s me… it wouldn’t hurt I guess if you’re worried. I’d throw it in my tank and deal with what ever happens if it happens… lol

 

[Spare time]

I would QT it. Put it in a bin or tank with a light at 81F for 45 days. Add some coral food too.

 

[Derrick0580]

I’d wear gloves when handling the rock if there are zoas on them. One small cut on a finger is just an open invitation to palytoxin

 

[Spare time]

1. Nobody can tell you with any degree of certainty that there are no diseases in their tank.
2. I would personally start my own tanks with the rock and throw caution to the wind, bc that's my personality.

The 1st statement isn't necessarily true if they were QT-ing everything that went in.

 

[jda]

That rock is fine. If you want to save the corals, then get some light on it. If not, then you can keep it dark.

If you are worried about fish parasites, then you have to do this yourself - my fish have not shown any signs of disease in a decade, or more, but I make no promises that there are not some in there. Make a fishless reef. You will need to help it along a bit, so add some ammonium to get nitrogen to those corals. If you have another tank, then juice from frozen food can help too. Up to your and your plan... but don't trust anybody since even the QT fish sellers have had fish get through their systems with diseases. If you only trust yourself, then you know what was done and also only have yourself to blame (and learn) if you messed it up.

Most Z&P do not have palytoxin that can really harm you, but some do and being cautious is smart especially since you don't know the kinds yet. Besides, I have known folks whose skin reacts to Z&P that are not issues for other people.

This rock is probably more diverse than what you are going to get, so I would put most if it in the display. Some things that you might want, like worms, pods, starfish, have a hard time making it from the sump to the tank.

 

[7of9]

A lot depends on your personality. For me, I got live rock from two different sources to start my latest tank. I just tossed it in and made sure my tank cycled and then went on my merry way. Different people have different tolerances for risk.

I'd just go for it if it was me.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Rock appears it would be very seeded however with any dying organisms, you want to if possible isolate the rock to assure its not going to affect other corals in tank.
Please post pics under white light intensity of rock and areas of concern

 

[MarcosTacos]

That rock is fine. If you want to save the corals, then get some light on it. If not, then you can keep it dark.

If you are worried about fish parasites, then you have to do this yourself - my fish have not shown any signs of disease in a decade, or more, but I make no promises that there are not some in there. Make a fishless reef. You will need to help it along a bit, so add some ammonium to get nitrogen to those corals. If you have another tank, then juice from frozen food can help too. Up to your and your plan... but don't trust anybody since even the QT fish sellers have had fish get through their systems with diseases. If you only trust yourself, then you know what was done and also only have yourself to blame (and learn) if you messed it up.

Most Z&P do not have palytoxin that can really harm you, but some do and being cautious is smart especially since you don't know the kinds yet. Besides, I have known folks whose skin reacts to Z&P that are not issues for other people.

This rock is probably more diverse than what you are going to get, so I would put most if it in the display. Some things that you might want, like worms, pods, starfish, have a hard time making it from the sump to the tank.

Thanks for your input.
I think I may add some of it to the display, especially the pieces with corals on, and see how they react. In time I will put them in the sump since my aquascape is pretty much done already and I don't have a ton of room left for live rock.

 

[Spare time]

Thanks for your input.
I think I may add some of it to the display, especially the pieces with corals on, and see how they react. In time I will put them in the sump since my aquascape is pretty much done already and I don't have a ton of room left for live rock.

You sure you don't want to just wait 45 days to make sure its disease free?

 

[MarcosTacos]

Rock appears it would be very seeded however with any dying organisms, you want to if possible isolate the rock to assure its not going to affect other corals in tank.
Please post pics under white light intensity of rock and areas of concern

I am currently waiting to do a tank transfer, I will probably add the live rock to my new tank and leave my fish and corals in the old tank while I monitor the corals on the live rock.

 

[jda]

Don't discard or let much die on those live rocks until you find out how much of a pain dinos, hair, etc. are on your dry/dead aquascaped rock. Real live rocks don't usually get these problems since their real estate is populated already with film algae and bacteria, coralline, corals, etc. Dinos and hair move into vacant lots in dry/dead rock because their moving companies are super fast and get them situated before anybody else can... and then they lock down the real estate.

No tank has ever been made nor broke because of an aquascape, but many fail to start or keep going because they lack biodiversity or just quit before they can conquer the uglies which sometimes can take up to 2 years.

That real live rock is a gift, IMO.

BTW - there is a outdoor eating place near me named Marcos Tacos that always has a line 20 minutes deep. It is only open when the weather is good and when they post that they are going to be open, people line up.

 

[MarcosTacos]

Oh man I have to visit that spot if I ever go skiing in CO.
I started my last tank with seeded dry rock from a guy's sump and it was smooth sailing, a bit of cyano recently but nothing too bad. That why I went ahead and got the LR.