Live rock is disgusting

ynotme4886

ynotme4886

Member
I bought another tank last evening and it came with about 100lbs of live rock. This tank hadnt been maintained in over 7 months and the only thing left living in it was a sea cucumber and a clarkii clown. The previous owner said she had killed about $1000 worth of coral and livestock in the tank over that period of time by just not maintaining it.
I emptied all the live rock into a lrg tote and set it on my porch last evening. It smells so bad and is encrusted with so much red slime that there is no way my wife will let me bring it into the house. I didnt save any of the water from their tank cause the nitrate level was 80 ppm when we emptied it.
Whats the best way to clean this mess up. I dont care if the rock all dies off...at this point I am probably better off if it does. I am thinking about power washing it when I power wash the tank. Either that or soaking it in r/o water mixed with distilled white vinegar
Any suggestions would be appreciated
 
turningtim

turningtim

Active Member
Thats a good plan. Blast it off and then a see how it looks. You may not need the vinegar for the rock. Then dump it back into SW holding tank and see what happens. You may not have to kill everything.
I would be very careful using a pressure washer on a tank. Mostly for the silicone seals. I would just fill the tank with water and add a gallon on vinegar. Also throw in whatever equipment you got with it also. You'll be amazed at what a good long soak in vinegar would do.
Good Luck! Been there myself, kinda yucky!
HTH
Tim
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
I'd just get a brush and start brushing. I've done that several times with nasty live rock. When building my first tank
 
turningtim

turningtim

Active Member
I just think its worth a bit of effort to see what happens. I don't see a reason even if you kill it all and is base rock. At 2.00 a pound for base its worth the time for $200 bucks.....
JMHO
Tim
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2616364
Why not Bang?
If it has been neglected then it has probably absorbed mass quantities of nutrients. Nutrients that can feed hair algae and Cyano for a long time no matter how high the water quality is.
Have you seen tanks with pristine water and rocks covered in hair algae? I've seen it a lot and it's from using live rock that wasn't cared for properly.
 
ynotme4886

ynotme4886

Member
Well its soaking and it is nasty.... Looks like they had quite a few shrooms growing in there and they plastered themselves when they died onto the rock.
Am gonna let em soak and then rescrub and soak em again.
I agree even if it goes back to base rock its still worth the effort to clean it up. Its a base of figi and alot of branch was on the upper part.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Originally Posted by Bang Guy
http:///forum/post/2616397
If it has been neglected then it has probably absorbed mass quantities of nutrients. Nutrients that can feed hair algae and Cyano for a long time no matter how high the water quality is.
Have you seen tanks with pristine water and rocks covered in hair algae? I've seen it a lot and it's from using live rock that wasn't cared for properly.
So am I reading you right in that you would not use the rock at all, or are you saying not to use it unless it is "cooked" first?
 
ynotme4886

ynotme4886

Member
If I even brought this stuff in the house my wife would make me sleep in the shed. Maybe get some foil baking pans and cook it up on the old grill we have :D
 
ynotme4886

ynotme4886

Member
I got it of __list but the owner had a baby and didnt take care of the tank the last 2 months of her pregnancy and then after the baby was born she didnt have any time to take care of it so the tank just sat and died. It was advertised as a 65 gal setup but was really a 4ft 67 gal setup
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2616403
So am I reading you right in that you would not use the rock at all, or are you saying not to use it unless it is "cooked" first?

If by "cooked" you mean set in an empty system with good circulation until the bacteria remove all of the excess nutrients, then yes (I know that's what you mean, posted for the other readers). This type of cooking would make the rock acceptable as base rock. It would never function as well as good live rock, but it would have some function restored after it's inhabited again.
 
E

exxcapt

Guest
i bought some really nasty rock about 3 weeks ago was also from a tank that wasnt maitained i scrubbed it and put in my tank had no fish at the time smelled for a few days added carbon to my sump seems to have done the trick even starting to get coralline growing
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Originally Posted by Bang Guy
http:///forum/post/2616480
If by "cooked" you mean set in an empty system with good circulation until the bacteria remove all of the excess nutrients, then yes (I know that's what you mean, posted for the other readers). This type of cooking would make the rock acceptable as base rock. It would never function as well as good live rock, but it would have some function restored after it's inhabited again.
Thanx Bang, that is what I thought you meant.
 
boricua

boricua

New Member
I have disagree with most. There is no need to boil... let dry....etc...
You should treat it as you would fresh rock. "Cure it", just set up the large bin with saltwater and a good powerhead and let get all cured up. No light. Shake it up and keep changing water until its all nice.
This was you can keep the rock color etc.... dried up white rock looks ugly and actually will get loaded with unwanted algae faster than rock with encrusting good algae etc...
You say its nasty rock..... have you ever seen live rock after its been shipped from a collector? Did you all know that MOST rock gets shipped to the USA by boat? So imagine how that gets.....
 
ynotme4886

ynotme4886

Member
The rock was red and nasty and had bits of old dead corals. The mushrooms had wilted and turned crusty and had wrapped around the rock. I just cant explain it... I have never seen anything so disgusting.
The tank has been soaking in water mixed with distilled white vinegar for the last 2 days and is just starting to come clean.
I've been soaking the rock as well in just plain r/o and it is looking a bit better. After a good scrubbing I will throw it in an empty tank and let it soak for a few weeks.
 
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