? MAKING DEAD ROCK LIVE

[dancefish]

I picked up a great looking piece of rock today I thought of using as a centerpiece in our fresh tank( 40 glln) but thought before I did this I might see if anyone had any ideas as to how best ( if I chose not to use in fresh tank) to turn into live rock its about 12 lbs w/ lots of nooks & cave areas so I thought it might be worth a try to turn into live rock ........
? would I then need to add liverock to this to start algea growth or is there a supplement I can add to the tank w/out any other liverock to start this process :anxious :gcool

 

[Trogdor]

I used all dry rock on my tank and the cycle is going pretty good. I added 20lbs of live sand to the tank when it cycled and it kick started my cycle. If you are adding it to an existing tank then I would cure it in a bucket with a piece of live rock or some live sand to seed the rock before it goes in your tank.

 

[dancefish]

I used all dry rock on my tank and the cycle is going pretty good. I added 20lbs of live sand to the tank when it cycled and it kick started my cycle. If you are adding it to an existing tank then I would cure it in a bucket with a piece of live rock or some live sand to seed the rock before it goes in your tank.

SO if I want it to become live rock then it is best to seed in separate tank (correct)
if I chose to do this how long should I expect this to take & should this be done w/both live rock&live sand?
the more I look at this piece the more I think I want to use it in our salt tank it really is a cool looking piece of rock w/ alot of hiding places for some critters & flats to put some other pieces on such as coral & such

 

[Trogdor]

personally i would put it in another tank just to make sure that there's no dead bacteria deep in the rocks that hasn't decomposed. if it's going into a tank that doesn't have any livestock then I would give it a good rinsing off then put it in your tank. otherwise i would QT it until there's no detectable ammonia, trites or trates.

 

[dancefish]

thats what i figured would need to happen so going to pick up another tank to use
as qt with a heater and use 1 of old pumps to curculate water when i get a chance will stop by lfs in reno (30 miles away) only decent lfs in our area & pick up some more lr to add & just use this tank as a qt from now on//// if I do it this way how long should leave in qt ? or should I just consider waiting for it to run complete cycle

 

[reefman23]

You could "cook" it in like a 5g bucket and when its done cooking you should be able to add it right to your main tank. With time life will seed in it and it will be "live" before you know it.

Jesse

 

[dancefish]

You could "cook" it in like a 5g bucket and when its done cooking you should be able to add it right to your main tank. With time life will seed in it and it will be "live" before you know it.

Jesse

new I could count on you jesse didnt take as long as I thought it would
as it is now have ran it through dish washer twice to clean off debris but think will still put it into a qt tank( better to have one anyways right )let nature run its course besides I dont mind the wait its going to go into a new setup tank anyways ;-) :idea:

 

[Anonymous]

ummm, just curious cuz you didn't say ..... what sort of rock is it? most fresh water rocks are not CaCO3 because it messes with the pH of freshwater, but saltwater rocks, whether they are dry or live, are generally some sort of limestone/aragonite. in general the two shouldn't be interchanged right?

 

[dancefish]

REALLY NOT SURE OF TYPE OF ROCK :!:
but I found it at a building supply ( rock,concrete gravel) yard.......
this material is usually used in the construction of ponds & waterfalls so i know it is water safe
other than that I'm not sure at all :cry: :shock:

 

[dancefish]

also I have used this type of rock before in other tanks ....albeit fresh,7 brackish but not salt so thought we would give it a try the way i see it if we can use concrete or other man made products this being natural I dont believe there should be a problem
besides Im going to keep it in a qt tank for atleast a month just to be sure & do several tests on it ( water quality) just to be safe
sorry havent learned how to post picts yet otherwise I would put one up to show all
will just have to learn how todo that now
love to learn new things you know what they say
knowledge is power lolol :evil:

 

[Semo]

ummm, just curious cuz you didn't say ..... what sort of rock is it? most fresh water rocks are not CaCO3 because it messes with the pH of freshwater, but saltwater rocks, whether they are dry or live, are generally some sort of limestone/aragonite. in general the two shouldn't be interchanged right?

I think so...My lfs seperates the two and I have heard them ask people to make sure which its going into.

Safest and easiest thing is to do a waterchange on the tank your thinking of putting the rock into. Put the old water into a tub or something with the rock and a powerhead and keep checking the ph for a day. If the ph swings too much that will tell you the story.

Thats how I determined my baserock was safe to use..