Adopted Live Rock

[swifter]

I have about 20 lbs of live rock(probably not live anymore) that I inherited from a friends tank when he tore it down. It has been dry for nearly a year now and I was wondering what I need to do to make sure that the rock is safe prior to putting it in my 60 gallon tank (little over 2 years old with about 50 pounds of established live rock).

thanks for your thoughts and opinions.

on a side note, the rock doesn't have a funny smell or anything that visually stands out to me.

 

[mfinn]

If it were me, I would soak the rock over night in a bleach/freshwater solution of 2 cups bleach to 5 gallons of water.
Rinse well and soak it again for 24 hours with a very strong dechorinator solution and freshwater.
Let it dry for another 24.

 

[SkimHeavy]

Look into acid bath. Dissolve some phosphates out of the outer layer so they don't leach into your tank. It's also a good piece of mind if there is any chance he ever used copper.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

I soak everything I buy used in vinegar and water. After soaking the vinegar easily washes off and even if some is left on the rock it won't really bother anything

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[swifter]

What kind of vinegar?

 

[swifter]

What kind of acid to use and how does that work?

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Just regular white vinegar, nothing special

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[mfinn]

What kind of acid to use and how does that work?

Muratic acid.
2 cups to 5 gallons of water for about a hour.
Suppose to remove phosphate out of the surface of the rock.

I've done this along with the bleach soak.
Works pretty good at giving you nice clean white rock.

 

[SkimHeavy]

Please read the big rock reincarnation thread before you do it though. You first soak the rock in a bleach water solution. Then you rinse THOROUGHLY.

First add the water and then the acid. Be careful when adding the acid so it doesn't splash up in your face. I wore gloves and the fumes went through the gloves and burned my skin. I was adding 2 gallons to a tub with probably 100 gallons of water and 200 lbs of live rock.

Rinse again and again and again with fresh water. Finally soak it in a tub with fresh water and I personally suggest dumping in some prime.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Acid sounds like the way to go. Personally I used to use bleach and water, but the beach made me nervous so I switched to vinegar because it's safer if dome gets left on the rock

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[mfinn]

I always bleach first and then do a very strong decholinator bath. Takes the worry out of bleach.

 

[SkimHeavy]

The thing that sucks is when you go through all the trouble for nothing. I did this and re infected my rock with bryopsis after bringing it in on frags I got from a fellow member here on RF.

 

[kpiotrowski]

all of the above ( I am a muratic acid guy) and you can always add the rock a piece at time a few weeks apart so if anything on the rock still needs to break down it doesn't hit your tank all at once.

 

[Peppie]

If it were me, I would soak the rock over night in a bleach/freshwater solution of 2 cups bleach to 5 gallons of water.
Rinse well and soak it again for 24 hours with a very strong dechorinator solution and freshwater.
Let it dry for another 24.

Exactly what Marty just said^