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R

Rocktuna

Reefing newb
Hi All

I'm an old time Saltwater keeper who's been out of it for about 10 years. Couple weeks ago I bought a used 75 gallon setup. Man what a mess, the guy never cleaned it.
So after a lot of elbow grease and collecting up some plumbing parts I'm bout ready to assemble this rig.

One question
With the tank I got a pile (bout 50 lbs) of old rock (formerly live) that had been sitting outside for a couple years. It's bleached out nicely from the sun. Should I do anything to it other than rinse it off before I put it in the tank. I'm going to buy live rock and let it seed the dead stuff

Lighting questions to follow when I get the coin.

Later
Ron
 
Hi and welcome!

About the rock, I'd just rinse it off, I think it'd be fine. Others may tell you to boil it or soak it in bleach (and then treat it with a dechlorinator) but I don't think that's really necessary.
 
i would just rinse it i have 100 pounds of rock sitting in my garage and that is all i do when i want to use some.
 
Thanks for the input

That was my thoughts also but my wife (who shows no interest in the hobby) felt I should bleach it and rinse it and de-chlorinate it.

Broke a plastic fitting on the sump so off to Home Depot tomorrow before I can get it set up.
 
Lets see some pics boss man. Yah my old lady just likes the fish but all my friends check it out before they crack open a beer when they come over.
Welcome to the reef!
 
There's a whole debate on brushing rock. I would think that if you see something visible on the rock that you don't want on there, like algae, you can brush it off. You probably just need to rinse your rock off good and combine it with LR.
 
This rock has no life left on it It was outside for a couple years. I soaked it in fresh water for a few days to loosen any junk up and then shook it vigorously in one bucket to remove any junk then shook it in another bucket. Seems good now.
 
:bounce: I do not think I am being over cautious when I say worrying about the use of copper by the previous tank owner is probably in order. Especially if he kept a dirty tank as you stated. There is a good article on this site https://www.livingreefs.com/articles/removing-copper-from-rock-t387.php about removing copper from rock. It will also remove any and all grunge as it actually dissolves away some of the outer layer of the rock. It also works with any carbonate based sands, such as aragonite or crushed coral sand. It only makes sense with the rock being dead rock to go a head and be assured it is rock that is both physically clean and copper free. Corals and invertebrates will not tolerate copper. It is one way of being safe that doesn'y involve much effort or money.:^:
 
Thanks Fatman

Sounds like a good idea and being a Mason I actually have Muriatic Acid around.

The guy who had the tank before me was a bit of a no brainer guy. He didn't want to paint the back of the tank so he hung a piece of blue plexi glass on the back......WITH METAL HOOKS there are rust stains on the top of the tank. He kept wondering why he couldn't keep inverts. I didn't have the heart to tell him.
 

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