Old live rock

[BruceOnTheCoast]

Hello all! I am in the process of putting my 75 gallon lps softie back together after being in storage for 10 years. When I took the tank down, I put the old Fiji live rock in Husky trash can with water for a year or so, thinking I would be setting up tank again soon. After that time, I realized I wouldn’t be getting tank up soon, and let the rock dry out and kept in the trash can for years. I have now set up tank again using same rock, and am about a week into no fish cycling, and ammonia is coming down and nitrites are coming up. Should I have any concerns about the old rock, or is it essentially dry rock now?

Thanks!

 

[PPBlimpy]

You should be okay but keep watching your ammonia. Even though its been dry for years you probably still have lots of dead matter in the rock that will come out and cause some weird spikes.

It would be a good idea to get some good live rock from a LFS or local reefer to help seed the system and make sure to ad bacteria to help move things along.

Welcome Back

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello all! I am in the process of putting my 75 gallon lps softie back together after being in storage for 10 years. When I took the tank down, I put the old Fiji live rock in Husky trash can with water for a year or so, thinking I would be setting up tank again soon. After that time, I realized I wouldn’t be getting tank up soon, and let the rock dry out and kept in the trash can for years. I have now set up tank again using same rock, and am about a week into no fish cycling, and ammonia is coming down and nitrites are coming up. Should I have any concerns about the old rock, or is it essentially dry rock now?

Thanks!

Add a bottle 4 or 8oz of liquid bacteria such as fritz zyme 900 turbo or Micro Bacter XLM to the rock to help seed it prior to entering the tank . When ammonia drops to zero for 5 days and nitrate drops to 20 or below, you will then be cycled

 

[BruceOnTheCoast]

You should be okay but keep watching your ammonia. Even though its been dry for years you probably still have lots of dead matter in the rock that will come out and cause some weird spikes.

It would be a good idea to get some good live rock from a LFS or local reefer to help seed the system and make sure to ad bacteria to help move things along.

Welcome Back

Thanks for the responses. I started cycling the tank with Dr Tim’s ammonia and bacteria, the ammonia has come down from 2.0 to .4, nitrates are at 10 and nitrite is 1. I am testing every other day, and looking out for ammonia to spike back up, but so far down every time. New question, should I wait for ammonia and nitrite to come down before first water change, or do it now as nitrates are so high? Unfortunately, the closest LFS is 90 miles away, so probably won’t go there until cycle is complete and ready to get starter fish and crew. Thanks again

 

[me & my baby]

I let my rock dry out after I took my tank down for 6 years . When I started my tank back up I soaked my rock in bleach water for
Almost two weeks . Then I let
It soak again in RO water for another week . The amount of stuff that came out and off of the rock surprised me . I would keep an eye on phosphate for any thing that was organic on it once it dried out to start coming out into your new system