Very salty dry rock

[rebelyeller89]

Hello all, this past weekend I bought a used 55 gallon saltwater set up. I can only assume that he let the water evaporate out of the tank, because the rock and gravel was one solid piece. It had to soak before I could pull anything out. He mentioned that he had a lot of trouble with phosphates and nitrates when the tank was running. My question is, did the rocks absorb all the phosphates and what not, and now it's all going to come back out in the new water? I've had the rocks soaking in freshwater, should I continue or toss them?

 

[54seaweed]

the rock is like a sponge yes it can absorb all the phosphates
than leech out when re introduced to water

 

[Sniperhank]

Freshwater soaks can assist with any possible phosphates leaching out of the rock. Only testing the water it is soaking in will tell you what is going on in there. Also means that you could be in the clear already.
With that said, phosphate and nitrate issues could have been from his water source or even over feeding.

 

[melosu58]

 

[rebelyeller89]

Ok. I haven't tested it yet, but I'll just continue soaking, and changing the water. It will be a bit after Christmas before I can start working on the tank. Thanks!