Dead LR

[JohnD]

Hi,

I bought some LR from a hobbyist whose tank crashed about 6 months ago. I wasn't sure what caused the crash, so I rinsed off the LR and put it on some newspaper in my basement. It has been bone dry for at least 5 months. I was hoping that this extended drying period would kill anything on the LR and make it completely dead.

I was planning to rinse any dust off of it and put dead LR into a tank that has been running for years.

Does this sound OK, or should I be doing something else?

TIA,

JohnD

 

[Anonymous]

your tank is going to cycle if you put it in there- sure by letting the rock dry out, you've killed everything on it, but everything you just killed is still attached(bacteria included). It would be better to cycle it in another container, and then transfer it to the tank afterwards.

 

[JohnD]

Bud -

I took your advice and I am glad that I did. When I put the dead LR in a standy tank, I could not believe all of the junk that came off them. And that was after I rinsed all of the LR!!

Anyway, I am going to let them sit for a couple of weeks to cycle.

Thanks.

JohnD

 

[Unarce]

It's a good idea to check with the hobbyist that you got them from whether or not if they've used copper in their system, just in case. It will cause major problems if you're planning a reef and from what I hear, is near impossible to remove from LR.

Good luck :wink:

 

[mark78]

Hmm on the copper note.

I am using live rock that has been treated with copper in a FO tank. So far my pods are great, and MANY, Zo's ok, cleaner shrimp ok, GSP ok, clam ok...SPS both dead, but I don't attribute that to copper from the rocks.

Still, use it at your own risk, this is just me experience so far, not sure thing.

 

[JohnD]

reefnutz,

Good point. I did ask about copper way back and the definite answer was no, so I am not worried about that. Thanks.

 

[danmhippo]

just make sure the bucket the LR is on is circulated by powerhead, and do a 100%WC 2 days before you put them in your tank.