question about live rock

[saltwater newbe]

i know a man that has about 120 lbs of live rock
that was in a tank about 2 yr ago. he dismantled
the tank , put the rock in 5 gal buckets(no water).
this rock has been in his barn for almost 2 yrs with
no lids on the buckets. My question is can i put this rock directly
into my tank? ( I know I'll have to at least rinse the dust off!)
Would this still be considered "Live Rock"? how much is this rock worth?

 

[twilliard]

nope not live anymore.
I would put it in buckets or large containers with a powerhead just to make sure it is all cleaned out. Then you can put it in the tank I would think.
What kind of rock is it?
Value depends on what kind of rock, shapes, sizes. Hard to tell.

 

[saltwater newbe]

it's a mixture of figi,tonga,and a few pounds of lava rock
some big pieces some small some dead corals
good mixture

 

[Krish]

nope not live anymore.

I agree...What you have now is base rock and will need to be seeded. It can still be used, but will lack all the beneficial bacteria, tube worms, pods etc that you would find on live rock. Not a waste though...It can easily be seeded

 

[saltwater newbe]

Not a waste though...It can easily be seeded

what is the process for reseeding?

 

[returnofsid]

You'll need to add actual live rock or live sand to it to seed it. Pretty soon, the beneficial bacterias and lil' critters will infest the "used to be" live rock as well. Might take some time but it'll happen.

 

[saltwater newbe]

so putting this in with my current live rock in my tank
will over time make it live rock again.
how muck should i offer him for all 120 pounds?

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Base rock is almost as good as live rock if you have live rock available. As to the value, ask him how much HE wants to get it out of his garage. Yah never know, he might say $20 :>)

 

[IAP Brian]

I have an extremely large piece of very cool rock that I hauled around with me for years. I bought it when I was still in the Army in El Paso TX. I paid $175 (I think - been a long time now) in 1992 for the rock. When I moved from TX to WI, I took all my rock with me and so on and so forth. When I moved home (here to WA) from Iowa I only brought that rock and a few favorites with me. It sat dry in a box for 4 yrs and last year I stuck it in the bottom of my rock tubs. It has taken all most a full year to color up and look like it did when I bought it. So patience (as all ways with a reef tank) is key. As far as price goes, it depends on how cool the base shapes of the rocks are. I wouldn't pay much over $1 a lb for it.

 

[twilliard]

I have an extremely large piece of very cool rock that I hauled around with me for years. I bought it when I was still in the Army in El Paso TX. I paid $175 (I think - been a long time now) in 1992 for the rock. When I moved from TX to WI, I took all my rock with me and so on and so forth. When I moved home (here to WA) from Iowa I only brought that rock and a few favorites with me. It sat dry in a box for 4 yrs and last year I stuck it in the bottom of my rock tubs. It has taken all most a full year to color up and look like it did when I bought it. So patience (as all ways with a reef tank) is key. As far as price goes, it depends on how cool the base shapes of the rocks are. I wouldn't pay much over $1 a lb for it.

I would have to agree on that price. So far its taken me what about 2 years to determine a "good rock" from a bad rock.

 

[jsmkmavity]

and if you do get it or any other rock dead or live dont throw it all in an established tank, it will cause an imbalance in the bacterial system and will also introduce pollutants from the dead/decaying stuff even if its called "pre-cured". if you have a separate container to put it in with a heater and powerhead(s) with enough water to completely cover the rock let it go thru its cycles there with a couple pieces from your present tank or some live rock from somewhere else. do water changes and if you have an extra skimmer put that in there also. if your willing to do all that u can get rock for a dollar a pound and turn it into 4 or 5 dollar a pound rock. when its ready you can start slowly adding it to your tank. if you dont have ant fish or corals in your tank now you could do all this in the main tank with same results. ask around and you will find everyone who didnt have the patience to do it right has had problems and spent more money to fix the problem.

 

[Curtswearing]

I can't tell you how to price rock....it's going to depend on where you live.

However, I would like to introduce a new term to the reefkeeping hobby. Dead Live Rock. In other words, live rock that has dried out and has no bacteria anymore. I would rather have bacteria repopulate Dead Live Rock over that dense land-mined stuff they throw in the gulf for a couple of years that has bacteria any day of the week.

Not only are the shapes better, they are more porous and require less pounds to achieve the same goal.....house nitrifying bacteria.

 

[steve-s]

I would also ask this person if the area has been exposed to any kind of chemicals. Being in a barn (?), fertilizers, rodent poisons, anti mold/fungicides etc would not be uncommon.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Barn storage, hmmmm...Good thinking!