How important is it to "cook" rock?

Joe Lydon

Joe Lydon

New member
I recently bought an established setup, which came with sand and rock and corals. I split the contents into two 40b's for my kids. I've been running the appropriate amount of high capacity GFO in a BRS reactor. On my Hannah checker, I can't seem to get below .21ppm. There is no livestock in the tank, so nothing other than a pinch of coral growth food is being added every few days. I recently found out that I should never have used the established sand. Luckily, I did rinse it in fresh saltwater and was able to clean the majority of detritus out. I also kept a shallow bed, no more than an inch in the deep spots. My RO/DI is reading 2ppm after the membrane and 0ppm after the DI chamber.

Reason I am asking, is, there is a LOT of life in/on the rock. Hundreds of dusters, tentacles, polyps, caribbean cup coral, etc., etc. I don't want to cook the rock, if I don't have to. I plan to remove the established sand, as I can tell it's leaching phosphate from the algae growth on the glass along the bed. Replacing it with fresh aragonite.

Randy Holmes suggest phosphates no higher than .03ppm, if I continue to run GFO, will it eventually exhaust the leaching from my rock?

I am doing all of this with my kids. It's something I want them to be involved with and learn from. I am teaching myself, so I can teach them. Prior to the 2nd week of December, I knew nothing of reef tanks. I try to read as much as I can, before asking questions. I already "know" the technical answer, but I'm looking for some experienced opinions. Can I get away with a successful mixed sps/lps setup without 30 days of darkness for my rock?

I'm also running a GAC reactor.

API kit
Nitrites 0
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0 (I am sure it's more, but it's showing bright yellow)
Ph 8.6
ALK 10
Calcium 500

Hannah checker
Phosphate .21

Hydrometer (waiting to find a used refractometer)
Specific gravity 1.025
 
This wont be alot of help but I noticed your waiting in line for a refractometer. Get the one on ebay for 25 bucks and get the calibration solution too because when I checked my water with a hydrometer and a refractometer my hydrometer read 1.026 when the water really was 1.023. Hydrometers aren't always perfect so it doesn't hurt to spend 25 bucks :). Don't be a cheapo like me hehe
 
If you rinsed your sand well your rock might actually be the problem. There was probably a lot of die off when you transported the rock. Keep running the GFO and do a couple of large water changes, see where that gets you over the next couple of weeks.
I don't think any SPS would survive 30 days without light, you MIGHT get lucky and keep some LPS alive but I'm sure they would get stressed. Don't have any personal experience going without light that long, but I definitely wouldn't try it.
 
If you have well established Rock then I wouldn't worry about it as long as it has Life on it and it's Live. You might get some die off but I don't see it makeing a big impact on your Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite levels. As stated above keep carbon and some water changes and test daily or every other day. If you feel you need to add anything try using a Bacteria Supplement like Microbacter 7 or Special Blend. The sand I would rinse for sure.
 
Thanks guys! I'm pretty confident there was no die off on the rock. They were only out of water for a few seconds, and traveled submerged in water from the tank it came from. Everything but phosphates are at 0, but I changed out my GFO and have gotten those to drop to .14ppm (and hopefully dropping). Planning on a substrate change this week.
 
Joe Lydon said:
Thanks guys! I'm pretty confident there was no die off on the rock. They were only out of water for a few seconds, and traveled submerged in water from the tank it came from. Everything but phosphates are at 0, but I changed out my GFO and have gotten those to drop to .14ppm (and hopefully dropping). Planning on a substrate change this week.
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Thats great I remember bringing home my first LR many many moons ago... It's an exciting time, just have fun and be patience not a ton of things happen overnight in this hobby... :)
 
Are you feeding the tank? Phosphates may be coming from the food, sand rock, etc. I suggest you take a small rock and place it in a bucket of saltwater with a powerhead. Measure the Phos then and again a week later and you'll find out if the rock is leaching Phos. Pukani is notorious for leaching Phos but Marco Rock has also been found to leach it.

Good luck!
 
Since you only started learning about reef tanks in the second week of December I think it is safe to assume that you have only had the tank for a little over a month at most.

Like saleenpwr88 said large water changes, and time, will definitely help.
 
KeishaKornbread said:
Are you feeding the tank? Phosphates may be coming from the food, sand rock, etc. I suggest you take a small rock and place it in a bucket of saltwater with a powerhead. Measure the Phos then and again a week later and you'll find out if the rock is leaching Phos. Pukani is notorious for leaching Phos but Marco Rock has also been found to leach it.

Good luck!
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A test rock is a great idea! I will try and set that up tonight. I have been feeding a pinch of coral grow every few days. There are no fish yet. I think I exhausted the GFO, which is why my phosphates weren't dropping. I was under the impression it lasted 4 weeks, not realizing a continuous phosphate leach would use it up faster. I was at .14 last night, I will check again tonight. I want to change the substrate regardless (it's riddled with multi-color bits and shells).
 
Jason R said:
Since you only started learning about reef tanks in the second week of December I think it is safe to assume that you have only had the tank for a little over a month at most.

Like saleenpwr88 said large water changes, and time, will definitely help.
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I'd also suggest regular water changes too. Are you running a fuge?
 
Jason R said:
Since you only started learning about reef tanks in the second week of December I think it is safe to assume that you have only had the tank for a little over a month at most.

Like saleenpwr88 said large water changes, and time, will definitely help.
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This is true. Everything came from a mature system that had been running for 4 years. I was only worried that the rock had been subjected to high nutrient levels and binded some phosphate. The tanks have been up for about a month, yes. I did a 50% change 2 weeks ago.
 
KeishaKornbread said:
I'd also suggest regular water changes too. Are you running a fuge?
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I have the two 40b's on a closed loop system into a 50 gallon rubbermaid. The rubbermaid houses a skimmer and about 30lbs of live rock. Iwaki 70rlt runs my return and carbon/gfo reactor. I was debating on using the ATS I built, I have room to run it in the sump. I've read they are "chaeto on roids". Should I plumb it in from the Iwaki? Using two 23w CFL bulbs on a 6x8 piece of 1/4' mesh. It's just laying around, I built it when I was coming up with filter ideas. Or will the chaeto suffice?
 
I always wondered about people who use those big open stock tanks. Doesn't dirt/dust and stuff get inn there?
 
Decided to pull off the substrate change this weekend. Put all of the coral in one tank and put the rock in the sump.. I'm debating on a full drain, it's pretty cloudy.. Plus it will be another good 50% water change..

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