Dead Rock?

[Squado]

My brother recently took his nano cube apart and left his LR in a bucket for the past week. I'm sure it safe to assume that the rock is completely dead, but some of the pieces were pretty nice. Do you think that it would be safe to add the rock to my tank, or not worth taking the chance (even if I just put it in the sump)?

 

[tecwzrd]

Was it in SW?

If so then it's probably still live. If not you can still use it but either way you still need to cure it again before adding to tank.

 

[kansei]

Did it dry out ? If it is still wet , even damp it should be live. if your not sure keep an eye to ammo and nites for a while after you put it in.

 

[melosu58]

How many pounds do you think it is? IMO I think it still has some on it if it has not dried out. But as Micah said it would be a good idea to recure it no matter what.

 

[Squado]

It weighs in at about 11 pounds. It's been out of water for a while now probably like 4-5 days. Can I just rinse it off (fw or sw), or If I was going to cure it how would I go about doing so? I found article at LA about doing so but that takes about a month, is there another way to do it so that it doesn't take so long. With everything else in SW, im sure im going to have to be patient like everything else.

 

[Ziggy953]

You hit the nail on the head about the patient thing. I don't know, with it being out of the water for 4-5 days most if not everything is going to be dead. I expect that it smells too by now. Sounds like you have a re-curing on your hands.

SW, PH, Lighting and a skimmer = curing rock.

 

[melosu58]

Check this out.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/article_view.php?faq=2&fldAuto=6

 

[30_gallon_guy]

How can you tell if LR is cured?
iv had about 40 pounds LR in a rubbermaid for about 5 months with pumps and iv been adding water the compensate for evappration. It went in purple from an established tank and has now turned whitish or some parts light green (coraline not algai) it smells clean (no fishy smell) im gonna be transfering it into a larger tank any major problems i should worry about? Is it cured?

 

[fishrfreinds]

Considering what LR goes thru just to get ur LFS. Im sure its just fine for a while.

 

[tecwzrd]

How can you tell if LR is cured?

When nh3/no2 is 0 ppm. After 5 months the rock won't be live anymore since the ammonia source was exhausted.

 

[30_gallon_guy]

whats the best remedy for this? Im gonna be transfering it to a bigger 65 gallon setup should it be added all at once or add piece by piece slowly along with the stuff iv got now in my 30 gallon.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

The only reason to add live rock slowly is if you've got rock that you'll expect to have some die off, and it's going into an existing tank that you wouldn't want an ammonia spike in.

From the sounds of it, if you've got rock that's been in a tub for 5 months, you don't have anything to die off in the first place. And as tecwzrd mentioned, it's not live anymore anyhow - all the bacteria is most likely gone. I'd add it all at once if it was me.

 

[30_gallon_guy]

ahh ok