Rock ? what is it ?

[kendawg]

i have been given about 100 lbs of this rock like substance i have not seen it for sale in any stores around tallahassee and cant find it on the net does anyone know if i can use this in my tank i have put a couple pieces in and it looks great and is easy to stack just dont know what it is, i have a 220 that is in mid cycle and wanted to add it and have it cycled with the tank. can someone give me input on this .

Thank you

[metalhead]

Looks like some pretty nice live rock to me... Where did it come from?

[kendawg]

dont know , i have figi and a few pieces of tonga and some lace mixed in but it does not look like any of them , the guy i got it from was in his 70's and he said he had had it in his tanks for at least 15 years , and he didnt have the time to keep up with the hobby , i originally answerd a classified ad for reef books and when i got there he asked if i needed any rock , i said sure and he takes me to two 55 gallon trash cans full of this stuff , most were small pieces but some were as big as 24" wide there are arches and all kinds of stuff , i grabbed what i could but have no idea what it is , if its worth me going back to his house , he says i can have all i want.

[metalhead]

dont know , i have figi and a few pieces of tonga and some lace mixed in but it does not look like any of them , the guy i got it from was in his 70's and he said he had had it in his tanks for at least 15 years , and he didnt have the time to keep up with the hobby , i originally answerd a classified ad for reef books and when i got there he asked if i needed any rock , i said sure and he takes me to two 55 gallon trash cans full of this stuff , most were small pieces but some were as big as 24" wide there are arches and all kinds of stuff , i grabbed what i could but have no idea what it is , if its worth me going back to his house , he says i can have all i want.

Looks good to me... May be real reef-rock if it's old enough to be "pre-ban"

[kendawg]

thank you very much , i searched pre ban rock and it looks really close to being marshall rock or tonga branch rock ......i thing i am going to go back and get some more tonight. he just wants it gone so maybe i can get it all off of his hands. i think it will look great in my new tank.

thank you very much for the help.

[metalhead]

thank you very much , i searched pre ban rock and it looks really close to being marshall rock or tonga branch rock ......i thing i am going to go back and get some more tonight. he just wants it gone so maybe i can get it all off of his hands. i think it will look great in my new tank.

thank you very much for the help.

My pleasure and good luck with the new tank!

[charlie]

Looks like nice rock, but before you go throwing it in your tank, I think you should ask the guy a couple of questions like, have you ever used copper in the tank it was in? That is the most important question!!! How long has it been dry, and what were the conditions around where it was being stored!!!!

[kendawg]

he says he has never used copper that he can remember,,he had the rock in his tanks for at least 15 years, he broke his tanks down last year and all the rock was put in 55 gallon garbage drums with no water and stored in his garage , all of it is dry and clean looking , i have both drums of rock at my home now. do you think it will be ok ?

[charlie]

If you can trust the guy, it is probably OK, but I wouldn't put it all in at once. Do you have a spot where you can put this and keep circulation around it until you put it in the tank?

[kendawg]

well there is no way i can use it all i have close to 200 lbs already in the tank in rock ,and a rough guess is he gave me around 300 pounds of this stuff. was gonna use some of this to "finish it off " so to say,,,i have most of it still in the trash cans , they are new and clean trash cans , i could do my salt mix in the cans, and i have a heater and a mag drive i could drop in and keep some flow and heat on it if needed ,,,,i have it all in my shop right now kindof sorting it out.

[metalhead]

If you can trust the guy, it is probably OK, but I wouldn't put it all in at once. Do you have a spot where you can put this and keep circulation around it until you put it in the tank?

Good idea! That way you could test for elevated Cu levels before you contaminate the rest of your system.

[charlie]

well there is no way i can use it all i have close to 200 lbs already in the tank in rock ,and a rough guess is he gave me around 300 pounds of this stuff. was gonna use some of this to "finish it off " so to say,,,i have most of it still in the trash cans , they are new and clean trash cans , i could do my salt mix in the cans, and i have a heater and a mag drive i could drop in and keep some flow and heat on it if needed ,,,,i have it all in my shop right now kindof sorting it out.

I would definitely quarantine it, and check all levels before adding any of it.

Good Luck!!

[Parrothead]

I'm in Jax, how come I can never find anything like that

I'd put it in a tub, throw a light over it and see what happens, just like everybody else has recommended.

Let me know if you have any left over

Tanks,
Robert

[kendawg]

thanks for the idea guys , and parrothead ,,we might be able to get some of that too you , my wifes family lives in jax. and we have to come down the first of the year to see them, i would love to see all of this stuff used instead of it going to waste,,, also any suggestions on a light on this stuff ,, i have a few extra power compacts , would those do?

[charlie]

PC's will be fine..

[kendawg]

thanks charlie ,,any idea on how long i should let this stuff sit ? or what exactly i need to do to it in the mean time

[charlie]

I think what I would do is just take 1 can and let it go for a while and take a water sample to your LFS and let them test away. Unless of course you have all the needed kits. I will almost bet that it will go thru a cycle!!! It will be interesting to see what happens, for sure.

[Parrothead]

I'd let it sit a month or so, depends on how the water test out, and +1 on the pcs,

Let me know when you're heading for Jax, I'll make sure the adult beverages are prepared properly and the grill is fired up and ready to go.

If you got extra, I'll gladly put it to good use



Tanks,
Robert

[metalhead]

I'd let it sit a month or so, depends on how the water test out, and +1 on the pcs,

Let me know when you're heading for Jax, I'll make sure the adult beverages are prepared properly and the grill is fired up and ready to go.

If you got extra, I'll gladly put it to good use



Tanks,
Robert

I see a new build thread in your near future

[kendawg]

Guys , i know this is probably the wrong forum for this but i will ask and move it if nessasary , i have a friend who is breaking down his tank to move cross country , he has sent me a list of stock , my tank is a 220 with a 5-6 inch bed of sand and aprox 200-250 pounds of live rock ll sand and rock were taken from established tanks and put directly in mine , tank has been running/cycling with no issues for a 8 weeks , browninsh collored alge has come and gone , using a custom sump with mag drive 12 at the moment, lighting is pc's 1 72" fixture with 12 bulbs 4 daylight 4 purple and 4 blue, with leds , what of this list do you think i will be able to keep or do i need to add anything at all is it too soon , using api test strips reading as of now is
GH 120
KH 180
PH 8.5
NO2 5
NO3 40


so heres the list

Rose bubble anemone
Lg finger leather
Sm leather
Sm frogspawn
Lg frogspawn
duncan coral
orange/green polyp sps - rare
red mushrooms
orange ricordia/green ricordia
orange/green center tube anemones
blue mushrooms
purple/blue spot mushrooms
green hairy mushrooms
3 different kinds of green mushrooms
pink birdsnest sps
4 different montipora sps (green, red, purple, brown)
9 different sps (staghorn type)
green encrusting maze sps
purple encrusting sps
red acan
assorted pollyps (pink, 2 different red, 2 different
orange, green star, mint green, fire and ice, neon green, green, brown)
Condylactus anemone
rock anemone
misc. anemone

4 cleaner shrimp
harlequin shrimp
maroon/gold stripe clownfish
black and white (orange face) clownfish
mandarin goby
hippo tang
powder blue tang
flame angel
potters angel
copperband butterflyfish
flame hawk
six-line wrasse
midas blenny