Seasoning old dirty rock.

gobyvin

Non-member
Hi All, I have a 45 gallon brute with live rock that was from a mud puddle in the bottom of tanks broken down by another aquarist I got free, 1 year ago.
Majanos removed... lots of detritus... lots of swishing and brushing and water changes and there is still cool yellow sponge on it! After a year in darkness at 68-70 degrees with flow, it is much, much cleaner. I am getting close to using this to aquascape a new layout. In May 2020 it showed 10 ppm nitrate and 0.96 ppm of phosphate on Hanna LR checker.
Today, it showed 0.98 ppm phosphate again, months later and after more water changes.
Should I use it? Bleach and expect that to reduce phosphate leaching?
I really like the rock, but should I chuck it all and start with unknown dry rock like Marco or similar- which is also an unknown quantity...
What do you all think? I know there are some experienced people with this topic here... trusted sources!!! Happy Holidays all!
 
If it’s got sponges and other life on it, I’d rather deal with the leaching nutrients than have to deal with giving life to dead rock. You can aggressively deal with any nutrient issues using reactors, dosing and algal nutrient removal, but it’s much harder to coax life into dead reef rock. You could run a lot of GFO with the LR to strip some more phosphate and then continue with the GFO once the tank is set up until it’s able to deal with the phosphate on it’s own. Having gone through trying to “liven” up dead Marco rock on my current 105G tank, I’ll never do that again.
 
I’m kinda the opposite of shrimpchips. I would prefer to start with dead dry LR than chase nutrient levels from leaching phosphate with reactors and additives. It’s a longer time to get things going but I think it’s easier
 
Thanks to both of you for answering and giving me the proper direction. In my case, I have a tank full of life, nice rock, corals and fish, that need a stable home to continue to live in while I re-scape half of it at a time. I am moving most of the sensitive colonies out while I do this since they are very happy right now. Since I can’t move them all out for the work, I am going to try GFO on the brute with rock before I start. Then I will be prepared to use some on the tank. Currently, the tank, (a 180) is running .65 ppm phosphate on a Hanna LR Checker anyway, and I have zero algae issues and corals mostly growing fine (99% of them). Doing weekly sock replacement, Bubble Magus Curve 9, refugium with algae and Mangroves. 40B sump. I don’t use GFO on the tank as it is. I do plan on removing/cleaning all sand in the rebuild and starting with new sand in the 180. Lots of work ahead. I do think I only have one choice though. Bleach just kills the life on the rock. I read into acid baths, and they sound like an awful lot of work too, only to end up with lighter rock that the acid ate up. I also read that the phosphate issues only go away some of the time. I am also concerned if I go with dry rock, which is all usually dense compressed stuff, I may get a phosphate factory anyway, potentially worse than I have, and it will be lower quality rock (if you value porosity). The dry stuff is an unknown quantity that I have to gamble on. I hate gambling.
Thanks!!!
 
I think I am going to engage in a testing regimen to document what happens with phosphate levels as I move through this transition. That way if something undesirable happens I might be able to retrace steps to where things went wrong (what the offensive part is, so I can address it).
 
Have you considered using some lanthium to remove po4? You can use it in your tub prior to using it and it will aid you in getting the po4 down faster. Remember that the rock and sand absorb PO4 and try to get to a equilibrium with water. If the rock is saturated it will always leach out until it’s the same potency as the water.
 
Did you watch the BRS tests they did? They compred bleach, acid, and natural. Sounds like bleaching helps, but they avoid acid also.
 
I have not yet, but is this cheaper?
Than GFO?
 
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