Question ??

[Sappho532]

Hi there! So, I have a 150 gallon reef tank that has been up for over 4 years now. I had an aptasia issue but it was only on a few pieces of rock. Well the bulk of them. Anyway, I took those pieces of rock out and bleached them and then let them sit in the sun for a week or so. Now I have them in a garbage can in the basement wtih saltwater and a pump.
So, my question is do I need to cycle this rock or can I just put it in the tank? I know when it's a new tank you need to let it go through the funk before the tank is ready for fish or corals. Its about 30 lbs of rock which is about 1/4 of the live rock in the tank. I just don't want to introduce ammonia, nitrites and raise my nitrates and am afraid that might happen if I just put it in there. Any advice would be great! All the information online always refers to a new reef tank not an existing one.

 

[SynDen]

How long they been in the saltwater again? Did you use fresh saltwater when you put them in the container, and have you tested it at all?

There is likely to be quite a bit of dead material in the rocks, so they defiantly would need to be fully cycled before adding back to the main tank. This would likely take several months to cycle, and cure again. The longer you wait, the better, in this case too. The easiest way to be sure is to do the same as when you start a tank fresh, start testing for ammonia and nitrites and nitrate. When you get to 0 for all 3 of those then you should be good to put them back in your DT.

 

[jda123]

The rocks will be packed with dead organics. It will decay. It won't likely cause any spikes, but expect your residual no3 and po4 to rise in the back end. It can take years for dead/dry rock to act like real live rock again - all of the dead organics need to get into the nooks and crannies and all of the small spaces in the rock. This stuff does not decay super fast, so most people just put it in their tanks and keep an eye on things. Your corals might really LOVE a bit of ammonia over time, but the downside is the buildup of no3.

The biggest concern might be that these sterile surfaces are going to likely get covered in dinos or nasty algae - they move in faster than the good things and without surface bacteria and the other things on live rock, the vacant lots attract things that move in the fastest.

They will likely get covered in aiptiasia again. You still have some hidden in your tank somewhere and they will spread like they did before. Have a plan for this.

If you have a place where you can keep it in saltwater with another rock or a bit of sand from your tank, you can start to build surface bacteria again - this can take a long time. The water needs heat, flow and some light in full strength saltwater. This can start the organic breakdown too.

 

[Sappho532]

Hi the rock has been ini the fresh saltwater for about 2 weeks. I thought the reason I bleached the rock first was to remove everything from the rock good and bad. Do you think there is still dead material on the rock? I have not tested anythiing yet. I would have to get a nitrite and ammonia test kit. The ones I have are super old.

 

[Sappho532]

Yea not sure I want to wait that long. Maybe I would be better off just not using it and go get a few pieces of that life rock and put that in the tank? They say that rock is already seeded with bacteria .... Not sure if that is true or not but...
As far as aptasia go. Not sure how to get rid of them. I tried pepermint shrimp but they didnt eat any of them. I killed some but there was too many to do that so that is why I took the rock out. I know I can get a aptasia eating file fish but I am worried he might eat my corals and then what happens when all the aptasia is gone?

 

[jda123]

Bleach just kills organics. It does not remove them or break them down. Some things might have rinsed away from the rock, but the majority is still in there.

 

[SynDen]

So the bleach didnt really remove much at all, but it did kill everything. It might make the outside nice and white but the organics are still there and everything that was inside the rock is also still there.
Like JDA mentioned this means that NO3 and Phos will likely be bound up in the rocks for many years to come, and it also means that it will take a very long time to reestablish the beneficial life in the interior of the rock.

I am glad you came asking us about this though, although wish you had asked us before bleaching the rocks. Bleaching the rocks is only something you ever do as an absolute last resort, and only if you are prepared to spend the next several years building it back up again. There is a dozen other methods that can be used to get rid of just about any pest you get in the tank. Rarely do you ever want to remove the rock and kill everything on it because that creates more long term problems in the end. Anyone who recommends taking the rocks out and killing everything on them clearly has no idea what live rock is, what it does, and why it is so important to having a successful reef tank.

 

[SynDen]

Yea not sure I want to wait that long. Maybe I would be better off just not using it and go get a few pieces of that life rock and put that in the tank? They say that rock is already seeded with bacteria .... Not sure if that is true or not but...
As far as aptasia go. Not sure how to get rid of them. I tried pepermint shrimp but they didnt eat any of them. I killed some but there was too many to do that so that is why I took the rock out. I know I can get a aptasia eating file fish but I am worried he might eat my corals and then what happens when all the aptasia is gone?

File fish can be a great tool, although yes they can go after coral once they run out of apstatsia to eat. However out of all saltwater fish, file fish are generally super easy to catch and take out of tank if you see that happening. So their threat really is minimal and their utility is exceptional.

The most sure fire way to get rid of apstatia though is berghia nudibranchs. because they only eat apstasia and nothing else. They do take some time to establish and then make a noticeable difference but inevitably you'd be looking at your tank one day and realize all the pests are gone. You can then catch them with a simple trap and sell them to other reefers. It only takes a couple of them to start and then they will take care of the rest.

Other methods I have used in the past that also work some are to use Kalk paste mixed with lemon juice. I would use an injection needle to inject lemon directly into the apstasia and then cover it liberally with the kalk paste. Then let sit with no flow pump on in the tank for about 30 min. The kalk and lemon will literally dissolve the pest. Just be sure not to get any of the paste or lemon juice on corals or it will burn them too