Live rock

[kymekat]

Hello everyone! I am in need of help with live rock. I was given about 60 lbs of live rock but the guy told me it has been out of the water in a cooler for 2 mtgs. My question is can I add this to my tank? If so, how do I prepare it. I was told it can become live again with time. Please help! Thanks

 

[monsinour]

you will need to cure it if it has been out of water for a while. The curing process could cause an ammonia spike in your tank so it would be best to cure it in a tank that has no inhabitants. Google "cure live rock" for more info.

 

[kymekat]

Thank you for the help!

 

[jstdv8]

I've always just cleaned it up real good so that it didn't look like there was anything dead or stuff that could fall off in the tank and then jsut added one rock at a time to the tank, wait a couple weeks and add another and so on.
Knock on wood, i havn't had any issues with this method

 

[kymekat]

Ok,thanks for the advice!

 

[florida joe]

from the web
[list type=decimal]
[*]
Gently rinse each piece thoroughly in saltwater.
[*]
Place the pieces in a new 30-gallon plastic container.
[*]
Immerse the rock in freshly mixed saltwater with a specific gravity between 1.023 and 1.025.
[*]
Use a heater to keep the water temperature between 72-78ºF.
[*]
Create constant water movement with a powerhead, or an airstone
Keep the area dimly lit to prevent algae blooms.
Perform 100% water changes twice weekly.
Use a nylon bristle brush between water changes to gently remove white film or dead material.
After one week, check the ammonia and nitrite levels periodically. When water conditions stabilize and ammonia and nitrite test zero, the rock is now aquarium ready.
[/list type=decimal]

 

[kymekat]

Wow, thank you so much for the detailed instructions because I certainly need that being new to this!

 

[florida joe]

your most welcome