Live Rock Question

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lilredwuck

Guest
I purchased some "base rock" he called it. It was live rock covered in Bristle Worms and Aiptasia. He let it sit out (dry) for about a week. On the way home, I stopped at a car wash and power washed the rock. Most of the gunk is off, I am sure I didn't get it all. I left it outside a couple of days. It's around 35 degrees average for a high. I brought it in last night, and covered it with a tote. (So Mr. Kitty doesn't conduct business with it) Upon coming home after being out from the house for a while, you could smell it. Yummy!! Sushi anyone?
I plan on throwing (not literally) it in a 55 gallon sump I made, but don't need right now. So here are the questions for you. (It's about 40 pounds)
[list type=decimal][*]Should I further clean the rock?
[*]Will the Aiptasia and bristle worms come back, or it's it OK, and they are dead? i.e. flea eggs can stay dormant for 6 months.
[*]If seeding this rock, how much live rock should I use?
[*]Do I need to light the tank?
[*]Will seeding work with only rock in the tank?
Do I "feed" the rock? I know the bacteria is the living part of it, but they are there to convert fish waste right?
Do I run a light? Is light needed? If any how long?
Does the size matter? Would any kind of live rock work, and would rubble rock work?
How long will this process take to seed the rock?
[/list type=decimal]
Here are a couple pictures.


55 Gallon Sump
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
1 Bleach the rock
2 Bleach the rock
3. One good piece of live rock with coralline will work just use a tooth brush and rub the live rock to help distribute spores
4. Yes
5. I not understand the question do you mean do you need live rock to seed other rock then no if you want coralline algae then yes
6 Yes if you want to cultivate nitrification
7. Yes any illumination at this point is ok
8 You have to ask Meowzer this one
9 As long as it takes
I hope this helps I am not very good at helping people here
 
L

lilredwuck

Guest
On the bleaching, What ratio bleach to water should I use?
On the toothbrush idea, when do I do this? at the start? haven't really made it "that" far into my "reading everything" before I do it. But some things are only taught by experience.
For lighting the tank, would any light work? I do have a 48" PC light. If I remember right they are 10k and 460nm 65w bulbs. I have other lighting as well, from 48" NO bulbs (They are saltwater bulbs) and 48" 6500k bulbs, moon lights, and metal halides. (I think they would be too much. Am I right?)
5. I not understand the question do you mean do you need live rock to seed other rock then no if you want coralline algae then yes
Yes, I was asking if you needed live rock to seed base rock. Good to know on both. Should I seed the coraline algea from the start, or wait? (Can you explain the coraline algea part to me?) Haven't researched it yet, but know what it is to a point. algea of course lol.
On question 6 can you explain that a little more for me? What do you mean by cultivate?
How long should I run the light? A normal cycle? Any intensity requirements?
LOL as long as it takes, like the answer, just not helpful. By as long as it takes are you talking about when everything in the tank finally hits "0"? amonia etc.
 
firefightremtp

firefightremtp

Member
Originally Posted by lilredwuck
http:///forum/post/3215758
On the bleaching, What ratio bleach to water should I use?
I would say 1-10 or 1-5
On the toothbrush idea, when do I do this? at the start? haven't really made it "that" far into my "reading everything" before I do it. But some things are only taught by experience.
you would start this after the bases rock has been cleaned and placed into your tank with the live rock. I would do it a time or two a week.
For lighting the tank, would any light work? I do have a 48" PC light. If I remember right they are 10k and 460nm 65w bulbs. I have other lighting as well, from 48" NO bulbs (They are saltwater bulbs) and 48" 6500k bulbs, moon lights, and metal halides. (I think they would be too much. Am I right?)
I think the PC are more than sufficient
Yes, I was asking if you needed live rock to seed base rock. Good to know on both. Should I seed the coraline algea from the start, or wait? (Can you explain the coraline algea part to me?) Haven't researched it yet, but know what it is to a point. algea of course lol.
coral line algae is a good algae that is purple in color
LOL as long as it takes, like the answer, just not helpful. By as long as it takes are you talking about when everything in the tank finally hits "0"? amonia etc.
I would say the it would take at least 6 months, probably closer to a year.
~grace
 
L

lilredwuck

Guest
I forgot something, how long should I let them soak in the bleach?
The ratio sounds a bit strong. Either a gallon of bleach per 5 or 10 gallons of water?
 
L

lilredwuck

Guest
Well, I got inpatient and started reading around. I am letting the rock sit in an 18 gallon tote. I put ten gallons of dechlorinated water in, enough to cover the rock by an inch, and went with a suggested (WWM site) 1 cup bleach per 5 gallons. I will just let it soak over night, scrub, etcetera tomorrow.
 
firefightremtp

firefightremtp

Member
Originally Posted by lilredwuck
http:///forum/post/3215791
I forgot something, how long should I let them soak in the bleach?
The ratio sounds a bit strong. Either a gallon of bleach per 5 or 10 gallons of water?
When I think about it in those numers, it does sound strong..
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by lilredwuck
http:///forum/post/3215972
Well, I got inpatient and started reading around. I am letting the rock sit in an 18 gallon tote. I put ten gallons of dechlorinated water in, enough to cover the rock by an inch, and went with a suggested (WWM site) 1 cup bleach per 5 gallons. I will just let it soak over night, scrub, etcetera tomorrow.
You did not need that much water. a five gallon bucket with 1 g bleach 3 g water put a few pieces of rock in for 30 min take out and rinse well while you soak a few more. when you no longer can smell bleach on any of the rinsed rocks add them to 18 g cover with fresh water and add a aquarium water conditioner just to make sure you are chlorine free
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
I love my bristle worms. I was skeptical at first, but they keep thier own population in check. They stay out of site mostly, but come out from time to time. They do more good than harm from my obsevations. Do a better job than my CuC.
And I have aptasia as well. But we made a deal. They stay out of the DT and I let them live. After the first couple months, they agreed to my terms and I haven't seen them in the DT since.
 
L

lilredwuck

Guest
Oh BTW, I was still awake, so after about 2 hours I dumped it out, then set the rock in the tub and sprayed it down with the shower head. Got a lot of Bristle Worms down the drain. I would say there was a healthy amount of bristles in the rock. I would say that rinsing alone was another 25 that come out of the rocks. (With water pressure, they weren't alive) Probably sprayed the rocks for close to 20 minutes. Afterwards, I filled the bath tub up with enough water to cover, added dechlorinator, and let them sit over night. I still see a lot of green algea, red algea, white specs, and small hollow looking white tubes on it. Gonna break out the scrub brush and rinse again, with another soak, and let em air dry, with some help from Mr. Fanny.
 
ryancw01

ryancw01

Member
Boil that rock!!! Boiling is so much easier and you get all the gunk out of all the tight little places. Just get a huge soup pan and boil the rock for about 30 minutes. Nothing in there is alive anymore so it is just going to be an ammonia fiasco. The rock looks pretty bad, so you might want to do it a couple times.
 
L

lilredwuck

Guest
Update:
I scrubbed the rock, swished it under the water back and forth, rinsed, repeated, then hosed them all off and added to a tub bath of dechlorinated water. I think the moving back and forth under the water did the most good to get junk out. Looked like Bristle Worm soup. LOL. How small is too small for rubble rock? Just wondering if some pieces are even worth keeping. Looks more like gravel than rubble. So it's soaking now, will be till I do something with it.... I'll let it air dry, then figure where to go from there. Trying to get a hold of a local guy selling Live Rock from his tank. It's 5 years old, and $3.50/lb. Shops around here run $6-8/lb.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
I would have loved 5 year old LR at $3.50
Even with problems. Put it in a tub with a heater and a power head and cover it so no light gets in. Inside of a week you would see a massive improvement in the algae coverage. 2 weeks to a month and It would be like new.
A few peppermint shrimp can remove the aptasia.
I got 3 peppermints in my 125DT. I don't see aptasia any place but the sump. Which is fine, it can chill there
but honestly base rock as it is now isn't worth past $2
at any rate, boiling it is a great way. If you want you can stick it in the oven at 400+ for an hour or two as well.
 
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