Live/Dry Rock Introduction

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Potato Patatto

Potato Patatto

Giant Snakehead
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Nov 11, 2020
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My friend has about 40lbs of what used to be live rock in a freshwater tank 3 years ago, it’s been sitting in two 5 gallon buckets since.

Am I safe to assume anything on it is dead? And how long do you think I should soak the rock before introducing it to a tank? I’m assuming it’s going to release some tannins.

Would you do it or not risk it if all is well?
 
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Potato Patatto said:
My friend has about 40lbs of what used to be live rock in a freshwater tank 3 years ago, it’s been sitting in two 5 gallon buckets since.

Am I safe to assume anything on it is dead? And how long do you think I should soak the rock before introducing it to a tank? I’m assuming it’s going to release some tannins.

Would you do it or not risk it if all is well?
Click to expand...
I used dry live rock in one of my rift cichlid tanks and it did cause a cycle that lasted about two weeks, that was about 10lbs. So I’d run a qt tank for the rock with circulation for about a month before using it to be safe
 
I have used dry live coral rock in aquariums for ph buffering and didn't have any issues.
 
It may depend on the type fish you are planning to house with it.
As mentioned above, if you keep it in a rift lake African cichlid tank, or a Central American species tank, these fish are well adapted to the calcium and hardness the skeltons of calcareous salt water animals will leach out as they dissolve over time. And those buffers are an asset.
If however....you want ro keep soft water Amazonian species, or such angels, cardinal tetras or fish like soft water killifish or gouramis of Africa, or Asia, it may not be such a great choice.
 
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Yeah thank you guys I’m going to skip since I have a predominately South American tank.. guess I need to do a African cichlid/saltwater tank now ?
 
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Soooo...you have come into possession of a few pounds of no-longer-live rock...and you have managed to seque that into a rationalization for setting up an entirely new, specialized aquarium from scratch?

Congrats! This mentality will take you far in this hobby. Enjoy! :cheers:
 
jjohnwm said:
Soooo...you have come into possession of a few pounds of no-longer-live rock...and you have managed to seque that into a rationalization for setting up an entirely new, specialized aquarium from scratch?

Congrats! This mentality will take you far in this hobby. Enjoy! :cheers:
Click to expand...

? all or nothing type of guy haha
 
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