Rock that has been sitting in the South Florida heat..

[Zeal]

So a month ago I redid my entire Aquascape and didn't end up using a large slab of rock so I decided to smash it up into smaller pieces.

These pieces have been sitting a 5g bucket in the balcony with direct sunlight in extremely hot humid South Florida weather. We've had multiple rain showers and I'm sure this bucket got soaked.

Fast forward to now I kinda wanna use these rocks and build a small structure and add it to my tank. Is it safe to use these rocks?

I bought them as "live cured rocks" in April when I started my first tank

 

[Dr. Reef]

wash it with rodi water and scrub it a little. then add few pieces in the sump every 2-3 days till all pieces are in. reason you dont want all at once is dues to nastys being released like ammonia from dead stuff inside rocks, nitrates and phos etc.

 

[Zeal]

wash it with rodi water and scrub it a little. then add few pieces in the sump every 2-3 days till all pieces are in. reason you dont want all at once is dues to nastys being released like ammonia from dead stuff inside rocks, nitrates and phos etc.

Hmm I have a AIO (Nuvo 40) so I kinda don't have a sump. I mean I do but it's tiny in the back...

Other alternatives?

 

[Dr. Reef]

i see, just place few pieces in the tank itself behind the aquascape or somewhere in the system, little by little in a week or so you will have them all in the tank and live again then use it to scape.

 

[Zeal]

i see, just place few pieces in the tank itself behind the aquascape or somewhere in the system, little by little in a week or so you will have them all in the tank and live again then use it to scape.

Hmm don't really have room to throw them in.this could be difficult. I don't want to start a mini cycle

 

[WVNed]

I would put what you want to use is a small bucket and cover it with water from a water change and let it sit overnight and then check that water for ammonia. That will tell you if it is OK or not. If it does let it cycle out in the bucket.
The rotting stuff test.

 

[Dr. Reef]

you can let it cycle out in a small container or bucket. then move it into tank.

 

[Zeal]

I would put what you want to use is a small bucket and cover it with water from a water change and let it sit overnight and then check that water for ammonia. That will tell you if it is OK or not. If it does let it cycle out in the bucket.
The rotting stuff test.

Alright I'll do that.ill leave it outside too.

 

[Empress]

Alright I'll do that.ill leave it outside too.

If you have a small powerhead, put that in the bucket too. Let it set for a few days, if it stinks like rotten eggs dump the water out, put in some clean water and repeat until the stink is gone. Test for ammonia and maybe nitrite. It's so much fun. [emoji886]

 

[Zeal]

If you have a small powerhead, put that in the bucket too. Let it set for a few days, if it stinks like rotten eggs dump the water out, put in some clean water and repeat until the stink is gone. Test for ammonia and maybe nitrite. It's so much fun. [emoji886]

Don't have a spare one, only one I have o use to mix saltwater. Is it necessary to put a power head in there tho?

 

[Empress]

Don't know if it's absolutely necessary, but it would help the curing process by removing the detritus and dead stuff off the rocks quicker. Or you could always do a daily water change. That would help too.

 

[NY_Caveman]

I agree with the above, I would cure it as if I had just bought dead, once live rock off someone.

 

[Zeal]

I'll see if I can find s dirt cheap power head around petsmart. I smelled the rocks and they didn't smell like anything

 

[NY_Caveman]

I would at the least soak in RO/DI for a week and then test Ammonia and Phosphate. If the PO4 is high or there is any Ammonia I would continue soaking and doing water changes. Heat and flow are not a must, but flow especially would help.

 

[Dr. Reef]

You can get a small submersible pump for $10-15 on ebay

 

[Zeal]

I agree with the above, I would cure it as if I had just bought dead, once live rock off someone.

Ok so RO/DI water or saltwater? Got two different responses here.

 

[WVNed]

saltwater

 

[NY_Caveman]

Well, not to be confusing but I say RO/DI. This is only my opinion based on what I did. And this is what I did:

• Two months curing dry rock in RO/DI. I bought the rock pretty clean, but it was once live rock and had some obvious organics on it. Your rock looks much “dirtier” than mine was because it was live that was dried out and uncleaned. I changed about 75%-100% of the water every week.
• Then I switched to saltwater to cycle and mature once the Phosphate had dropped. Since your tank is established, you would not need to cycle it separately though.

Since your rock is pretty dirty it may take a while to cure. My feeling is it only adds expense and work to use saltwater unless you are cycling it. Again, just my opinion.

 

[Zeal]

Going to use 5G of my tank water after I do a water change tomorrow. And every week Ill just change out the 5g with new tank water from my weekly water change... Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Going to use 5G of my tank water after I do a water change tomorrow. And every week Ill just change out the 5g with new tank water from my weekly water change... Thanks for the advice everyone.

Right! Great idea.