Adding used live rock to my 3 yr old established 210g -coral/fish

[Deej1534]

Not sure if this is already posted if so please tag post below.

I am adding 60 lbs of used dry rock to my tank. It was used in an established tank and has just been sitting drying for a while. Not sure how long. I have always just used my own rock in the past from old tanks or bought at my lfs which has already been cleaned and cured.

What process should I follow before adding this to my tank. I have researched bleaching and also just sitting in saltwater for 6 weeks with pumps and heater.

What’s everyone’s experience and what’s my best process here. I really don’t want hitch hikers or diseases coming across although the tank was a clean tank which the rock is coming from you never know.

 

[SomeHappyFish]

Where was it sitting, outside or inside a box in the house and for how long?

 

[Deej1534]

Where was it sitting, outside or inside a box in the house and for how long?

It’s been sitting in a bin and I believe inside from what I can see on the photos

 

[JNalley]

You can go about it quite a few ways.

In order of how long it takes, longest to shortest
1: Saltwater, pump, heater, and water changes
2: Bleach (This process takes about the same amount of time as step 1 because of how long the internals of the rock take to dry out and evaporate the bleach)
3: Lanthanum Chloride
4: Muriatic Acid

There are quite a few others, but those are the most popular, I think.

 

[Deej1534]

Do you have to cure it before adding it to the tank? The guy said he never did he just tossed it in.
I just picked up the rock they were in hose basement which was temperature controlled sitting in bins for 3-4 years since h broke down his tanks.

 

[JNalley]

Do you have to cure it before adding it to the tank? The guy said he never did he just tossed it in.
I just picked up the rock they were in hose basement which was temperature controlled sitting in bins for 3-4 years since h broke down his tanks.

It's safest to cure it. If it was in a tank or the ocean and then dried out it has a bunch of decomposed/decomposing organic matter on it. Probably absorbed a lot of phosphate while in the tank too...

 

[Deej1534]

It's safest to cure it. If it was in a tank or the ocean and then dried out it has a bunch of decomposed/decomposing organic matter on it. Probably absorbed a lot of phosphate while in the tank too...

I was kinda figuring that but was hoping I’d be able to skip the wait. I guess no quick way around this :/

 

[Deej1534]

It's safest to cure it. If it was in a tank or the ocean and then dried out it has a bunch of decomposed/decomposing organic matter on it. Probably absorbed a lot of phosphate while in the tank too...

So I just did a chlorine bath on the rock for 4-5 days and moved it to a ro bath earlier today. Been soaking since 8 am. Added dechlorinator to the water. Did a 100% water change and now it’s soaking again with more dechlorinator. Some of the rock however looks like below. Is that calcified chlorine on the rock or did the chlorine melt the rock a bit?? I smelled it doesn’t smell super strong and the test strips are showing no chlorine in the bin. I included a pic of the dechlorinator I have been using too. I have two power heads and a 1500 gph pump cycling the water around in the tank with a tube down to the bottom of the tank so the water will flow up through the rock

 

[JNalley]

I can't be certain what that is, but it's doubtful that the chlorine melted the rock... My best guess would be bleached coralline algae, but I'm not sure...

 

[Deej1534]

I can't be certain what that is, but it's doubtful that the chlorine melted the rock... My best guess would be bleached coralline algae, but I'm not sure...

Do you think it’s calcified bleach on the rock? Is that even possible?

How much longer do you think this rock needs to sit in the ro water? My buddy said it should be good but I don’t wanna nuke my tank.

 

[Deej1534]

Do you think it’s calcified bleach on the rock? Is that even possible?

How much longer do you think this rock needs to sit in the ro water? My buddy said it should be good but I don’t wanna nuke my tank.

Just as more info the chlorine test strips are showing 0 on chlorine

 

[JNalley]

Do you think it’s calcified bleach on the rock? Is that even possible?

That's probably a better question for @Randy Holmes-Farley but I doubt it...

How much longer do you think this rock needs to sit in the ro water? My buddy said it should be good but I don’t wanna nuke my tank.

Just as more info the chlorine test strips are showing 0 on chlorine

Test shows 0 then I'd say it's good personally, as long as the bleach you used didn't contain any other things like gels, scents, or additional cleaning agents.

 

[Deej1534]

That's probably a better question for @Randy Holmes-Farley but I doubt it...


Test shows 0 then I'd say it's good personally, as long as the bleach you used didn't contain any other things like gels, scents, or additional cleaning agents.

This is what I used

 

[JNalley]

It's the "No Splash" that would worry me, they add some sort of gel to increase viscosity... I've heard bad things, and I've heard that it's not a problem... I don't use bleach like that so can't really comment one way or the other...

 

[Baby Damsel 219]

test to see if the rock is messing with the salinity. Salt may still be trapped in the pores and will be released into the main display. also, test pH and see if there are any swings.

 

[Deej1534]

test to see if the rock is messing with the salinity. Salt may still be trapped in the pores and will be released into the main display. also, test pH and see if there are any swings.

the rock isn’t in the display yet I am laying it out on towels as we speak to see how it looks

 

[Deej1534]

It's the "No Splash" that would worry me, they add some sort of gel to increase viscosity... I've heard bad things, and I've heard that it's not a problem... I don't use bleach like that so can't really comment one way or the other...

Unfortunately that was what I grabbed ****. I didn’t think the no splash matter just that it didn’t have scents