HELLLLLPPPPPPP

[jumpincactus]

Ok this is my situation. I have the oppurtunity of purchasing an existing 120 gallon reef tank including all the inhabitants.
The price is 1400.00 This includes a chiller,MH lighting and canopy, pumps, Tunze powerheads and various soft corals and fish. Also included is 100 lbs of Tonga live rock. Now you might be thinking what a smokin deal. Well ya me too. The only drawback is I will have to travel 125 miles. That is not my issue. They will only accept the deal if I take everything.

How in tarnation am I going to pull this one off. My largest concern is due to a death in the family the reef has suffered some tremendous neglect. Understandable. The Tonga Live Rock is totally taken over with various forms of hair algae. I mean it is so prolific you cannot even see the coralline algae that once existed. My questions is this>>>>>> Can the live rock be salvaged???? Can I put it in a spare quarantine tank with out lighting but with good circulation and skimming and save the Tonga. A buddy of mine not to savvy said it would be better to get a few blocks away from their house and junk the rock. This is insane. Has anyone here had any experience with totally encrusted live rock and been able to salvage it?? Think of the money I am saving by attempting to save it and not having to buy new rock. Also I am looking for any input or tips on how to pull this move off. I will literally save thousands of dollars by taking this deal as you all well know the cost of a Reef Tank setup.

Thank you for any help

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a smoking deal, just for the equipment alone.

Worst case is you take all of the livestock to an LFS for credit. Then you cook the rock for a couple of months, then begin restocking using your store credit.

Just a thought.

Louey

 

[jdeets]

BTW, "cook the rock" was not a common term the last time I was here. Do you mean cooking it in the sun?

 

[trido]

"cooking" the rock means . put it in a garbage can with a power head ind heater and put a lid on it. deprive it of light. do water changes weekly until all of the uglys are gone.

 

[jdeets]

Ahhh, OK. Last time I had to eradicate uglies, I cooked it in the sun for a week. Then I did what you are saying--put in a covered tub with heater and circulation with no light--did water changes--until it was completely cycled.

I guess I just did the first step--the sun-baking--first. The entire process from start to finish took 6-8 weeks.

I actually did this to about 80# of LR last summer--had GSPs taking over about 1/3 of my tank!

 

[Len]

Even if you had to buy new rock, you still got yourself a great deal there. But yeah, cooking the rock should do the trick. I'd rent a Uhaul and make the trip.

 

[dadstank]

take it. period. full stop.

 

[Len]

I should add, if the seller doesn't have people there to assist you in loading the tank, you'll need to bring either one really strong friend (assuming you are hefty too) or preferably 3 other friends. The biggest challenge is moving the tank. The stand, canopy, and everything else is a two-man job, tops. Bring several rubbermaids for whatever livestock is there, a battery powered air pump if the ride is over a few hours, and some plastic trash bins for the live rock (if you choose to keep the rock).

 

[jumpincactus]

Hey thanks all............ But again can I really save the rock by cooking it without light.? I thought that might do the trick, but my thought was if it is infested with hair algae as it is will I be able to rid it of all the spores or what mechanism it uses to reproduce? I'm thinking that cooking it for about two months and then keeping nutrients out of the main tank and I should be in good shape right???

At any rate I am hopping on this even if I dont keep the rock. But if you all think it really is salvagable I will keep it.

 

[jumpincactus]

Sorry guys I click twice)

 

[Anonymous]

Its keepable...


My rock was covered with hair algae.

I didn't even cook it.


In fact that was about 6 months ago or so. its doing much better now.

 

[Meloco14]

Yeah, cooking it for a couple months should do the trick. But as knucklehead said, even without cooking it the algae will eventually go away. My tank had a bad infestation of hair algae and cyano for the longest time. I finally got fed up with trying to get rid of it and I just let it run its course. Today it's crystal clear. In your case I would cook the rock, scrubbing it down with a brush every week or so, and let it sit for at least 2 months if you can. Then make sure the water the rock is in has no nutrients and put it in the tank. It is very similar to what you would do if you threw out this rock and had to cure new live rock, so why waste the money on new? Assuming you have good skimming and use RO water you should have minimal algae growth. There still may be some, but nothing unmanageable. And yes, you are getting a great deal. Good luck and have fun setting up your new tank!

 

[Anonymous]

I paid a little more for my tank. But the LFS delivered it.