Dead rock to live rock

[salt phish]

Is there away to take dead rock and turn it into live rock..????? I live on a southern beach were I can get Rock and big peices at that.... can I do anything to turn them into live rock???

 

[mudplayerx]

1st, make sure that harvesting is legal in your area.
If so, it takes quite a long time for dead rock to become live; half a year or so.

 

[blemmy_guy]

It will work a little faster if you have some Live rock mixed in with your Dead rock. Todd

 

[salt phish]

Harvesting isnt a problem........ I dont mind buying some live rock just not $300 worth.... How can I take live rock and mix with dead to create all live??

 

[capt.lunch]

Make sure it is a very porous rock. Get a big rubbermaid storage trunk (HomeDepot $14.95 50gals). Hang on an old filter, heater, Strong powerhead and a light. Put it in with some already established rock. Add Kents Coral Vital per instructions and STAND BACK.
I brew 100lbs at a time like this in my shop and sell it. The great thing is folks can put it straight into thier tanks. They tend to pay alot more for this convienance.

 

[salt phish]

how will I know when it is ready??

 

[marie]

I have a spare 55g, can I do the same thing in it, or is there a reason for the rubbermaid container? What is the best type of live rock to buy, and how much should yI mix with it? I have plenty of time....I was advised not to set my tank up, as i am planning on moving, but if I could make some live rock, I could at least be doing SOMETHING towards getting my tank going!!
Thanks!

 

[unleashed]

I usually only buy fuiji LR but if your also purchasing dead rock dont forget to cure it just like LR before it is put into the main tank.it can take up to a full year to notice life on the dead rock but if you place them close to each other in the tank the life does spread.

 

[dreeves]

Use the rock you can get free as the base in your tank and use the good liverock to cover it up and add the views to the tank...nature will do the rest...

 

[ophiura]

I would add that you should not use just ANY rock you find - you should at the very least make sure it is limestone and that it comes from a reliably clean area.

 

[thirdchaos]

I used 30 pounds of LR and 60 pounds of base rock. Its been in my tank for three months and the base rock just had a sudden explosion of corralline algae. Its starting to look really nice. The money saved makes diy LR well worth it.

 

[oceana]

the two largest peices in this tank are man made. portlan cement and sand nothing more. its been about a year now since we put it in and things seem to attach to it better then the real rock.
we did add it to about 80 pounds of great live rock filled with life but it still seemed to spread very quickly. coraline spread in only about 3 weeks to the new rocks.
here it is when we first put it in after about a month in a curing tank

 

[oceana]

here it is after about a year tons of life

 

[marie]

:joy: very nice looking rock!! That is great encouragement for me to do this myself!! I can wait, I won't like it, but the money i will save will be all worth it!~ I am planning on only getting about 30-40lbs live rock, maybe more later, just can't swing much more then that right now, but I can add more later too...
So, feasibly, i could setup my 55g, and just put the LS, LR, and some "dead" rock, or deco's in it, and at least have something to look at!!???