Dead Rock

[jaydm93teg]

I bought 7 pieces of "dead rock" from a member how many can i put in my established tank at a time without worrying about a cycle. The rock are about softball size maybe a little larger the takn has been up and running for a few months now with trigger, eels, puffer etc... I put 2 in tonight and was gonna wait about a week or so and add 2 more and so on until all the pieces are in. Is that safe enough? can i add more of the rock now??

I think the rock has been dead for a while and i did rinse off the 2 pieces that i put in tonight off before i put them in the tank

thanks for the help guys

 

[seedless reefer]

Is there live rock in the tank as well?

 

[thanh386]

IF it's dead, I honestly say just scrub cook, and sanitize and toss them all in if you want them in. I dont see teh harm in adding teh rock at once.

 

[jaydm93teg]

yea there is already live rock in the tank

 

[jaydm93teg]

and by cook u mean? boil in water?? and then just scrub it with a brush rinse it off and then im done?? what do u use to sanitize it?

 

[skriz]

If it is dead, then by definition, nothing can die on the rock. Ergo, no cycle since there will be no die-off and no bioload. Rinse it and drop it all in.

 

[jaydm93teg]

Nice thanks guys

 

[dakota9]

Skriz;281959 wrote: If it is dead, then by definition, nothing can die on the rock. Ergo, no cycle since there will be no die-off and no bioload. Rinse it and drop it all in.

Actually, Any dead biological mater on/in the dry rock will cause ammonia once its in the tank a day or two.

Last time I used dead live rock, I bleached it, then rinsed it well (using dechlorinator on the last rinse, then let it dry a few days. I then seeded it with some active sand and left it in a vat of heated, circulating salt water for six weeks with a 100 watt bulb/timer. It was nice purple/red rock at the end of six weeks.

I'm not suggesting you do all that in your application, but would suggest a good surface scrubbing and adding one rock at a time to the tank at one to two week intervals.

Both the above are sound "tried and true" practices.

 

[theplatypus]

jaydm93teg;281907 wrote: and by cook u mean? boil in water?? and then just scrub it with a brush rinse it off and then im done?? what do u use to sanitize it?

No. Dead rock doesn't cook in the traditional sense since it's the bacteria that drives the process.