Can I reuse my old uncured live rock?

[littlea8]

Hello,

I was thinking about starting a quarantine tank for my saltwater tank for the sick fishes as well as new fishes so ensure they are disease free. I have all the components but I realized that the water would have to have some live rock as well as the water from my larger tank that is already cycled. I have some uncured rock that has been sitting in a box for about 5 months that I didnt use for my larger tank at the time. Is this rock still uncured and live and is it possible to cure it in my quarantined tank and use that live rock to cycle the tank instead of taking a piece of live rock from my main tank?

 

[ReefKeeper]

The answer is yes you can use the live rock thats been sitting for a while. You can cure the live rock in the tank but its one of the least recomended ways of curing. The best way would be to preclean and let it cure in the tank by its self with a heater and powerhead. Its cured when it doesnt smell anymore. I am doing the same thing in my 20 long.

 

[TRe]

i wouldnt put any rock at all in a quarentine tank.... that way if u need to treat the fish u can.... no sand, no rocks, a couple pieces of pvc for hiding places, HOB filter for media

 

[Lorna]

Any live rock that has been sitting in a box for 5 months is now dead base rock and is no longer live. You could use this but it is not live and will not add to the beneficial bacteria load that live rock would. After time in your tank this rock will become live again as it becomes coated with the beneficial bacteria. As Tre states, a qt tank should not contain any sand, rock etc but maybe a few pieces of pvc for the fish to hide in. Sand and rock would absorb any medications or pathogens the new or sick fish need or carry. You can cycle the qt tank with a sponge or other media that you have in your main display along with water from your display. A hang on filter to provide filtration, a powerhead for areation and a heater are all you really need. You will need to stay on top of water changes in the qt as there will be less filtration as you won't have the live rock in there.