adding a new little piece of dry/maybe dead LR to existing tank?

[jussery17]

Ok so I went to go get water a minute ago and my LFS was selling a big barrel of old rocks from over the past couple of years... some rocks had slot of black die off and some purple but I found this cool looking piece that would hold a few of my corals pretty well and was wondering if I would be ok just to wash it with saltwater and put it in? Or let it sit with a powered in tank water for a bit? It doesn't look like it has any die off if any at all but wanted to get some input as I dont want anything to happen when I put it in.... thanks guys

 

[jussery17]

Pics

 

[jussery17]

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[jay0705]

It looks pretty clean. Was it in water at the store?

 

[jussery17]

No it wasn't in water....I put it in some rodi water and a bunch of detritus looking stuff came off of it..

 

[jussery17]

But hypothetically if I put it in, being so small, it wouldn't cause much any trouble right? Already have very little diatoms in my tank that seems to be going away...I got this stuff last week and put it in and already see a bunch of Coraline spores starting to !!

https://arcreef.com/product/coralline-algae/

 

[jussery17]

Ive got it in some tank water and a power head and scrubbed it and alot of crap came off of it.....2 pound rock, don't think it should be a problem but would really like some opinion

 

[jay0705]

You rinsed it good so it should be ok

 

[geridoc]

Whenever I have a doubt about a piece of rock I soak it in bleach to sterilize it. You don't know whether it is live, partly live or fully dead. Partly live or live could represent aptasia, etc - things you don't want in your tank.

 

[jussery17]

How long should I soak in bleach? Ive had it in a big container with tank water and a very strong power head on it all night...1:1 bleach or what ratio to water?

 

[jussery17]

I've just heard that bleaching is terrible and should just let it bake in the sun...but since this is the first time doing this I just want to be as careful as I can be not go introduce anything into the tank...brown algae is a small problem that I caught early and is almost gone but also very little tiny air bubbles on some lr and the sand where the brown is at...I siphon them out without busting the bubble with airline tubing! So I want to be very cautious with this small piece of rock

 

[jussery17]

OK so just got back from my LFS and the owner didn't tell me yesterday, which I'm pissed at him for, but his son that was there told me all the white rocks that were for sale, the one that I got, is from the ocean! He told me just to boil it for a but that drain the water and add some fresh ro water with prime and a power head and you should be good? Any advice on this as I don't want to bleach

 

[dustintx]

I bought one a couple months back and added the dry rock to my tank. I had a slight diatom bloom,but nothing a few water changes didn't fix.
You could do a water change before adding the rock and use the old water in a bucket to rinse it off before adding it in your tank. Prime for an hour with a power head wouldn't hurt. Atleast that way your not rinsing it in your sink with crap water.

 

[jussery17]

Well I boiled the rock for about 15 min flipping it over every 2-3 minutes.....now I've got it in some fresh RODI saltwater with the same salinity as my tank! I've got a powerhead and a heater in a container that closes so little light gets in if any....I'm keeping it on 80 so it can kill anything on it being from the ocean! Poured some nitryfing bacteria and coraline algae in with it so it will cure with maybe coraline on it in a few weeks!

 

[geridoc]

I've just heard that bleaching is terrible and should just let it bake in the sun...but since this is the first time doing this I just want to be as careful as I can be not go introduce anything into the tank...brown algae is a small problem that I caught early and is almost gone but also very little tiny air bubbles on some lr and the sand where the brown is at...I siphon them out without busting the bubble with airline tubing! So I want to be very cautious with this small piece of rock

It really depends on what you want to accomplish with the rock. Bleaching it will sterilize it completely. Boiling will kill most living things, but leave considerable organic material behind. Its up to you.