[harmonic]

I'm setting up my first 55g SW, which is going to be fish only at first, but I'm keeping options open to add corals and inverts later when I can afford better lighting (I have a good skimmer already).

A friend has given me about 100lbs of live rock, only it's not live anymore. The rock has been piled in a corner of her deck for nearly a year, and looks and smells awfull. How should I go about cleaning and re-constituting this stuff? It will probably be quicker than it would for me to save up enough $$$ to buy new ones.

Thanks, Rob

[Caesar Augustus]

Harmonic, welcome to reefland! 1st Wash the rock off with a hose. 2nd examin the pieces to locate anything that could be smelling really bad, not that their will be. Its just that live rock should not smell that bad once dried, so you might want to check it out. 3rd go ahead and set up the tank, get some one expeirenced to help the first time. make sure the parameters are correct, Salinity between 1.020 to 1.023 etc. It will have to cycle for a month before you put anything in it (I think you can now buy some stuff that enables you to do it in 48 hrs but I've never used it). 4th you'll have to buy a few pieces of "live", live rock to "seed" the tank. The old rock will eventually become 'alive' once again, keep in mind this will take a few months. Your at the beginning of a long process but you'll be proud of youself when your done. Take your time. Good Luck!
Keep the faith,'
Napoleon

[Reefland]

Welcome to Reefland!

Another Kentuckian, where-abouts?

Napolean has given some good advice however I would like to add something to consider. Live Rock is one of the main sources of biological filtration in your aquarium, thus good quality LR is an important investment. At the same time, it hurts the pocket to purchase a lot of LR only for a good portion of it to be buried in the substrate (for stability) and buried by other LR on the top of your structure. Now as Napolean mentioned, dead rock will become "live" after being seeded with some LR and given a good amount of time. However I would suggest using some of this available dry rock as your structure's base and then getting 20-30lbs of good cured LR to add on top of it. I would say going this route it will take less time to culture your dead rock and you are giving yourself a good start for your biological filtration.

Regards,

[tendar]

Follow the posts above and you will be on your way to a happy healthy fish system. Just like everyone else said be patient it will say you a lot of money and heart ache in the long run.

[harmonic]

Thanks Napoleon! I appreciate the welcome.

I have a little FW experience and have used bleach to sanitize non-pourus stone such as sandstone and slate with no ill-affects. My gut kinda tells me not to do this with my live rock, but my sense of security wants to start with them sanitized.

Should I stay away from the bleach at all costs, or can I go ahead as long as I rinse and/or soak 'super thoroughly' ?

Will my standard flourescent bulbs be enough to support any new live rock I buy and re-constitute my old Live rock? I hope to be able to upgrade all the way up to halide instead of buying power compacts that I'm sure to replace later.

And thanks again! My reefer friend did not have much luck and gave it up for FW, so she is reluctant to give advice. Most SW forums I've been to are either empty or so crowded my questions get pushed off the page before anyone can see the post. Thanks, thanks, thanks!

Rob

Oh, You guys replied beore I was even finished with this- I'm up in La Grange. (not in the prison of course, but pretty darn near it)

[Reefland]

I would advise against bleach; it just sounds scary. I would stick to fresh water cleansing; you can spray it down with a water hose and use some type of brush to really scrub it clean.

Your NO bulbs will be fine, LR does not need intense lighting nor do fish; obviously. You will want to get some type of bulbs that have good color though and stay away from the typical "pink" flourecent bulb. Try to locate tubes that are "Actinic White" or have a "10k" color spectrum. Providing this spectrum will bring out the colors of your fish.

Regards,

[harmonic]

Ok, I'll just scrub my rock, bleach does sound scary. And I happen to have two 10k bulbs leftover from a failed planted tank. (I didn't know anything about CO2.) Thanks again,

Rob

[Caesar Augustus]

Scott is dead on, as usual, stay away from the bleach. A good fresh water hose down and a light scrub is all it should require. We as reefers are here to help and even the most experienced of us learn a little something new from time to time. All reefers are welcome here, Harmonic. So grab a beer, some live rock, and color yourself an aquarist!
Keep the faith,
Napoleon

[hcp28]

If you're under 21 grab a rootbeer... Napoleon never thinks about the kids... only the beer. shame shame
Oh and Welcome to Reefland!

Henry

[Elmo18]

Napoleon fell from his horse cuz of beer too i heard.....ok bad joke

Welcome to Reefland, and follow the posts above to get your tank started!

- Elmo

[Caesar Augustus]

Yea I see how it is, pile on the guy with a french name Besides its only a name, I'm Italian-American Ok Ok rootbeer if your not 21. If you are 21..........................bottoms up big guy!
Keep the faith,
Napoleon