New dry rock question

[RocketSapp]

I was at the LFS a couple days ago and came across some dry base rock that I liked the looks of so I bought it. There was only two pieces and it came to 20 lbs. While I am not ready to set up my SW tank just yet I figured that it would hurt less buying it in small lots than trying to get it all in one shot. I only need about 130 more pounds of it before the tank has the minimum. :-)


So, here is my question, if the rock was bought from a reputable LFS (DNA for you Dallas Texas folks) would you still boil\bleach or clean the rock in some fashion before putting them in the tank?


Tim

 

[Ted]

If it gets dusty i would rinse it off. Other then that I wouldnt bother.

 

[sen5241b]

The ability of parasites to reanimate after being frozen or dried out is well known. The eggs of some brine shrimp were dried out in lakes for 30,000 years and then reanimated when put in water. But if the rock has been dry for years or months I would say it is very unlikely that pests will come out of the rock. Also, most LR is highly porous and if there is but one bit of water in a hole with an algae spore in it, it could grow in your tank.

If the rock has been dry for many months or years, then I would say just use it. If it has been out of water only a couple months I would boil it. Do not rinse your rock with any hoses that have copper fittings!

 

[poksal]

What are you calling dry base rock.. are you sure it is dry rock that used to be reef rock?

I used some base rock in my tank and after two and a half months of trying to get my tank to keep coral, I chunked it and after three rapid fire water changes I have finally started to get coral to like my tank. Each water change gets better.. tomorrow I make one more 25% change.. and I'm excited about it... DO NOT USE ROCK THAT HAS NEVER BEEN REEF ROCK... other rock often has heavy metal vanes in it or other things that leech out.. plus often it soaks up your needed minerals.

Take it from one that knows from experience!! I thought it would be just as good as dry rock to become live rock when I put it in my tank with lots of LR, and would save money. It was a VERY EXPENSIVE mistake!

 

[yote]

If it's like the dry base we sale, just give it a good rinse to remove any dust.

 

[poksal]

If it's like the dry base we sale, just give it a good rinse to remove any dust.

Cool .. :glassesy:

 

[RocketSapp]

This is base rock from the LFS that is sold as base rock for a reef system. It has just never been in a tank of any kind since they received it. I tried out on of the rocks and just rinsed it off with hot water, all I got was dust and small particles of rock from it.

I think I'll be good to go when I start loading it into the tank.



Tim