what do to with rock ?

[fjr]

i have a 75 gallon tank that hasn't had water in it for over a year. I want to start up again. what do i need to do the dry rock to get ready to use it again?

 

[berje]

You could give it a vinegar bath if you want to set your tank back up quickly, or you could cure the rock which would take a while.

 

[fjr]

cureing it means putting in saltwater,power head and no lights and cycleing again?

 

[camellia]

Where has the rock been while the tank was without water?

 

[fjr]

sitting in the tank

 

[jimmystephens]

If it was sitting in the tank dry not wet i would rinse it off then fill the tank up with water and put the rock in. Let the tank cycle. Then ur good to go.

 

[hiimsean]

I always do it how Bassett described. If you're not in a hurry just set the tank up and get it running then add your rock. If you want you can give it an acid bath to remove any organic matter and phosphates from the rock. Usually it'll take about a month or so to cycle. You can always add a little live rock to seed it with bacteria.

 

[acroholic]

JimmyStephens;961329 wrote: If it was sitting in the tank dry not wet i would rinse it off then fill the tank up with water and put the rock in. Let the tank cycle. Then ur good to go.

If you were fighting terrible hair algae problems in this tank, you might consider an acid bath for PO4 as was stated above, also if you left a bunch of live stuff on the rock when you took it down, the acid will remove as well. Muriatic acid is cheap. But if the rock was otherwise ok, and bare when you took the reef down, a dip in water to get any excess dust or loose stuff off and in the new setup like Jimmy stated is what I would do as well.

I always bleach any LR I take out of service, then let it sit outside a week or two after, just so it doesn't stink up the basement where I store it.

 

[jrhunter0000]

I would soak in vinegar for 12-24 hours. let it sit in the sun for 24 hours. then rinse a few times very well in ro water then it will be ready to seed again and critter free!

 

[jrhunter0000]

Some prefer vinegar some prefer bleach all depends but if you bleach it it will take longer to seed! i was a foll and bleached and ive had mine seeding for a month now and its just starting to turn brown

 

[acroholic]

It depends on what the OP is trying to accomplish, organics or phosphate removal. OP's rock has been out of water for over a year. The stuff is dead. What does matter is if he has a lot of old organic stuff on it, and if he wants to get it off prior to setting the tank up again, then he needs to use bleach. If he wants to remove phosphates, he needs straight vinegar or dilute muriatic acid. Dilute muriatic acid works much faster than vinegar, and is much more economical to use, albeit more dangerous.