Old live rock used in garden... some questions

[Daimyo68]

Hey all, a few questions.

A good friend of mine, an avid hobbyist, asked if I would like some rock that he used to have in a 210g SW setup. I took a look at it and said sure. He's been out of SW for some time, but is still in the FW scene.

The rock, (long dead) has been laying around a couple bushes in his backyard, semi covered with sand/dirt (we live in Florida). So there's approx 90-100lbs of it, and it's all nice looking. I will get some pics up soon as I have picked it all up.

Anyways, I trust his knowledge, but like going to a doctor I would like some other opinions, and let me know if I am missing any steps.

1. I think that I should clean/rinse/brush the rock off in RO water, and once satisfied with the cleaning, then put into a bucket with SW, heater, power head and either a piece of live rock or an old filter sponge to colonize the rock with bacteria for a couple weeks.

2. Should I wait longer and leave the rock separate and coming to life before adding the rock to my already running tank?

3. I'm thinking that adding some old water from a water change may help the process along also.

I know at some point it will come back, but time and process to do so is where I'm stuck.

I've read article after article and I'm somewhat confused at which path to take with this and bring the rock back to life. I've read about boiling the rock in a pot, cooking it in the dark wiht the same process i mentioned above.

Thanks in advance!
/D

 

[Zer0]

You don't really need to use RO water to clean it off.. i see no purpose in wasting the water since the rocks will be going in a bucket of SW anyways. Just use regular tap water to clean it off. Your method of cleaning it however, is fine. Scrubbing it down thoroughly can't be a bad thing. One thing i would do though.. is either skip the boiling, and just bleach the rocks. Bleaching the rocks will ensure that whatever was on the rocks, whatever it may be, will be absolutely.. dead. Then you can thoroughly wash them down and throw them in a bucket of dechlor before putting them in the SW bucket. Also.. you don't really need to put a piece of live rock in the SW bucket.. since it will take a pretty long period of time for the rocks to become live. It won't happen over the course of 2-3 months.. i can tell you that much. If you bleach them and then dechlor them and let them sit in some water for a couple days, you can actually just put them directly in to your main tank. The bleach will remove any decaying material or organics.. so your tank will not see a mini cycle or any ammonia spikes.

After cleaning how i mentioned above.. Just putting those rocks in your main tank with the rest of your live rock.. will eventually turn them in to "live rock" over time. However, this is not a short process by any means.. and will take a lot longer than you expected. Definitely over 6 months at the very least. But getting the cleaned rocks in there is the first and final step, to turning that "dead" rock in to "live" rock.

 

[Daimyo68]

Thanks for the reply Zer0.

I'm gonna pick up the Dechlor this weekend and get these rocks going. Like I mentioned, there is about 100lbs of this just waiting for me. Most of it is like the first image, and a few stray pieces like the 2nd and 3rd images.

Here's a couple picks of the ones I have picked up already:

 

[Zer0]

The first one is definitely rock.. but those two others.. look like coral skeletons lol. The 3rd one sorta looks like sun polyps lol.

 

[Daimyo68]

I'm going to try to identify them this weekend. The 3rd one just has a cool look, which I think will look good in the tank. The 2nd... eh, more color and texture value than anything.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Personally, I'd never use anything that's been laying around in a garden for any amount of time. Who knows what it could have absorbed... fertilizers, heavy metals, etc... Bleaching/boiling would kill off the living stuff, but do nothing for any chemical contamination. Yeah... new rock is expensive, but in my book I just wouldn't risk it. Down the road, if there are problems, in my mind I'd always wonder if it was the rock. And there'd be no way to test out that theory unless I removed all the rock.

As far as ID... that red piece is a skeleton of a Tubipora Musica (pipe organ coral). The 3rd pictures is also a coral skeleton... my guess would be Blastomussa.

(Edit: Don't expect the red of that Tubipora to stay red in your tank. In time it'll become covered in coralline algae and look like everything else!)

 

[austinsdad]

I'd agree with not using it from the outdoors, especially in a garden. Who know what pesticides, herbicides, animal or human waste, or other environmental hazards it has been exposed to? Your tank inhabitants (rock, sand, critters, coral, whatever) are gonna cost too much to chance it IMO.

 

[Daimyo68]

Good call on the pesticides/absorption. I think I am going to pass on this rock.

Too bad, it's nice rock and I'm sure at one point it was flourishing in his tanks.

 

[austinsdad]

Really only one piece of rock and 2 coral skeletons.

 

[Zer0]

Well yeah.. in the pictures that is. But he stated above there was about 90-100lbs of rocks like these in that guys garden. So yeah, i would consider it a loss too

But honestly, i never even considered what Kurt said. Even so, i couldn't agree more. I forgot that porous rock can absorb tons of stuff.. but also can leach things back out. I fully agree. I wouldn't even try it.

 

[melosu58]

I would not try it either. It just aint worth it if you compare the risk.

 

[Daimyo68]

I did decide against it, and after talking with my buddy, he said that it's not worth the risk either. That didn't come to his mind either when we first talked about the rock.

No biggie not being able to use it. Kinda gives me another project, DIY Rock.

 

[Zer0]

DIY live rock is a pretty awesome thing. I know that thincat is a pro at it haha. He made some amazing pieces DIY and now they look awesome completely covered in coralline. You should definitely try the DIY.