Live or Dead rock! Need quick answer!

[atlfish]

A buddy of mine lost the love for the hobby and just let his tank go. It has been sitting for a few months (Not running). There are no fish but amazingly his crabs were still living. I remembered that he had some nice pieces of LR so I told him to fork them over. (and yes, I rescued the crabs) My question is, is the live rock still live and is it safe to put in my tank? It did not smell bad or anything.
Do I need to do anything to it before putting it into my tank?
Note: I had took a vaction from the hobby but kept doing water changes from time to time. I left a few crabs in it but transfered my fish to a smaller tank that I did keep up. Now Im ready to start my 180 back up. I figure Id test the waterto see where im give it a good cleaning today and change about 20 gals of water then re-test again.

 

[megan84]

what were his levels like in the tank when you took the rock out? if they weren't totally whacked out I would say go ahead and put them in your tank. You don't have any fish in the tank the rock is going into right? Just the same crabs that you rescued (I bet they say thank you by the way

 

[tizzo]

Yes it's still live and it should be OK to put in your tank.

 

[atlfish]

No, the only thing in my tank is the crabs already had in mine. I didn't test the levels in the tank I took the rock out of. I didn't have time. It was a snatch and grab on my lunch break. LOL

 

[sepulatian]

Has there been water flow in the tank all of this time? If not then there will be dead spots. Add it to a tub of saltwater for a week or so to see if the ammonia does spike. It is better to have it spike in the tub than in your tank.

 

[sepulatian]

I just re-read this. Yes it is fine to add into the new tank without fish.

 

[atlfish]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/2546925
I just re-read this. Yes it is fine to add into the new tank without fish.
ok cool thanks! I got to get to cleaning! Getting the green algea off the back of the tank is going to be a project!

 

[atlfish]

ok Im all done with the cleaning project which took a few hours. I'll wait to test the levels in the am. If everything is ok, what should I do next. Wait a few days to add any live stock or what? Right now all I have is about 8 crabs. I really need sugestions on a good cleaning crew for the tanks.

 

[tizzo]

You can add the LR right this minute if you want?? You don' even hafta test your water cause the results don't matter right now. Add the rock, then in 48 hours test the water. See what the parameters are and the route you need to take will be determined at that time.

 

[bizzmoneyb]

yea, add the rock and wait at least 2 or 3 days, then test your levels. if all is good you should be good to go.

 

[atlfish]

I put the rock in last night and just for kick tested the levels. I thought I was going to get something crazy but everything was just about right. I'll wait another day though and test again.
Got another question. How deep should my sandbed be my 180gal tank? right now it's about 2" Im going to add about another 2" this weekend.

 

[scopus tang]

Originally Posted by AtlFish
http:///forum/post/2549082
I put the rock in last night and just for kick tested the levels. I thought I was going to get something crazy but everything was just about right. I'll wait another day though and test again.
Got another question. How deep should my sandbed be my 180gal tank? right now it's about 2" Im going to add about another 2" this weekend.
If your going shallow sand bed, I wouldn't add any, if your going for deep sand bed I personally would add more than 2", I like to run mine closer to 6, even in a small tank, JMO. If you want better advice I would start a separate thread on sandbeds then you get Bangguy or other experts to respond.