question about reusing rock

[zimmer]

Hi - Last November I upgraded my 18 month old tank, and in the process, broke down my refugium to clean and set up again. The rock that I saved from the refugium has been sitting in the water it came out of - in a bucket with a lid inside the house. No water heater, no light, nothing added. I am ready to set up the refugium again. Would this rock/rubble be ok to reuse? It has no bad smell. Is the bacteria still living? Should it be rinsed first? I'm trying to anticipate what it might do to my tank chemistry so I don't have any issues.

90 gallon w/sump, 9 gallon refugium

thanks very much!

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

No bad smell? That is extremely surprising..

Without feeding, any flow, or heat for 4 months, it's a crap shoot if anything is alive on or in it.

Personally I would do a few thorough cleans on it before putting it in your system at the very minimum.

 

[zimmer]

I was wondering if the fact that there is no bad smell means something is living. I will rinse it, like you say, and decide whether to use it as is, or let it dry out completely.

 

[Dan_P]

Hi - Last November I upgraded my 18 month old tank, and in the process, broke down my refugium to clean and set up again. The rock that I saved from the refugium has been sitting in the water it came out of - in a bucket with a lid inside the house. No water heater, no light, nothing added. I am ready to set up the refugium again. Would this rock/rubble be ok to reuse? It has no bad smell. Is the bacteria still living? Should it be rinsed first? I'm trying to anticipate what it might do to my tank chemistry so I don't have any issues.

90 gallon w/sump, 9 gallon refugium

thanks very much!

You are likely going to have issues with your new tank. Even upgrades can behave like new systems. If you tend to be worrier, discard the rock because you will find a reason why it caused the issue. Or dissolve the surface in acid to make a new, clean dead rock. If you would like to chance reusing it here are some thoughts.

The rock is in an unknown state. Photosynthetic life is dead and rotted though some species might have formed cysts and will germinate in the new system. i would guess that most or all bacteria survived, but the ecology you had will not likely be the same when the rock is placed in the new system. The rock surface might have a layer of decaying matter that a vigorous swish in new saltwater will remove. I could sleep at night reusing the rock and not blame it for any possible diatom/dinoflagellate/cyanobacteria/algae issues in the near future.

 

[Tcook]

How far off is the setup? Why don’t you rinse and then cook it again? Nine gallons is not very large so you could probably replace with cycled rock from the lfs.

 

[zimmer]

How far off is the setup? Why don’t you rinse and then cook it again? Nine gallons is not very large so you could probably replace with cycled rock from the lfs.

Hoping to set up the fuge today/tomorrow. I have rock that I could take from my tank, or I could use some other biomedia and then deal with these rocks separately. thanks

 

[zimmer]

You are likely going to have issues with your new tank. Even upgrades can behave like new systems. If you tend to be worrier, discard the rock because you will find a reason why it caused the issue. Or dissolve the surface in acid to make a new, clean dead rock. If you would like to chance reusing it here are some thoughts.

The rock is in an unknown state. Photosynthetic life is dead and rotted though some species might have formed cysts and will germinate in the new system. i would guess that most or all bacteria survived, but the ecology you had will not likely be the same when the rock is placed in the new system. The rock surface might have a layer of decaying matter that a vigorous swish in new saltwater will remove. I could sleep at night reusing the rock and not blame it for any possible diatom/dinoflagellate/cyanobacteria/algae issues in the near future.

That all makes sense - I wouldn't have thought about things like the cysts and other decaying matter. I've also been dealing with the dino/diatom/algae issue that's clearing up and absolutely would not want to upset the balance. thanks!