live rock & coral in a cichlid tank

[carlos]

hi guys,

i might be getting some live rock and coral from a friend and was wondering, how do you prepare it for use in a freshwater tank?

the coral and rock used to be in a marine tank but has been sitting in a box for about a year now.

Thanks in advance,

Carlos

[Bijengum]

It won't be "live rock" as such anymore but it will have a fair bit of organic matter that will pollute your tank. I would soak it and put it out on an ants nest for a couple of weeks to let them clean it up for you. No problem for me to find one I know - don't know if thats possible for you.

[huzzy]

Dead easy.

You need

1 x Big Tub

1 x Scrubbing Brush

1 x Bleach (Odour free)

1 x Water conditioner

7 x Sunny Day

1 x Patience

Give the live rock a good scrub to get the majority of junk off it. You may want to leave it in the sun for a day or two first, beware of the stink.

Then Fill your tub with water, and give it a good dose of bleach. When you put the rocks in you will see them begin to whiten within 10 minutes. I leave mine overnight, but it depends on the amount of growth etc.

Pull the rocks out, clean the tub. Fill with water, give it an extreeme dose of water conditioner. Leave the rocks for 2 days.

Pull the rocks out, leave them in the sun for a few days.

Another extreeme dose of water conditioner in the tub for 2 - 3 days and then leave outside for up to a week.

I have done this many times, and i also do the same thing for cleaning the coral when/if it gets a bit of algae on it (i just lesson the amount of bleach).

You may need to lessen or increase the amount of times you use water conditioner, depending on if you can smell it when the rock is dry.

Another thing to consider is crabs/urchins/critters that were inside the rock when it was alive. Such things decaying within the rock in your tank will have disasterous effects on your water.

Good Luck.