Keeping live rock live

[Jim Tansey]

Being from the Cape we have little in the way of reef supplies so on occasion I stop by Petco as I did this morning their tanks were full of live rock and some really nice stuff not dense and loaded with coralline. I noticed they were having a sale on aquarium related products and asked if the rock was included she told me the manager had just come by and told her to get rid some rock they have way to much, "give it away if you must". She told me she will come close that. My question..... I'm doing a build as some might know and ordered a custom tank yesterday but it could be 6-8 weeks to get it, I would love grab some of this rock and keep it in good shape for 8 weeks what would you suggest for a setup to do this, I would like to keep all the coralline if possible lighting?

Jim

 

[this is me]

Jim,
Make sure those rocks have never been in tank with copper. With the rocks coming from Petco, I would be really cautious. You never know where those rocks have been.
To answer your question, I would just put them in a rub or container with a heater and a powerhead. Coraline comes and goes and it will eventually populate again in a running tank.

 

[Jim Tansey]

I never thought of the copper ..... I'm sure nobody at Petco will know for sure. Maybe I better not get it, thanks for that.

Jim

 

[this is me]

I didn't mean to scare you away. Just want to make sure you're aware.
You can still get the rocks(after all, it's free right?) and then test for copper. You can also get polyfilter to absorb the copper but I would just throw the rocks out if it tested positive for copper.

 

[delta]

Most of them sell inverts of some type if there are inverts in the tanks, then there isn't any copper. I doubt they use copper but then again you're better off safe than sorry

 

[USMC2897]

Jim,
I know the manager of that store and know that they are not allowed to use copper in their tanks. I dont know where the rocks came from and if copper was ised prior but i would doubt it.

I would put it in a bucket with a power head and a light. Test for copper over the next few weeks and if its negative i would use it.

-Dave

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

 

[wpeterson]

When we first got into the hobby, we bought live rock from Petco. It came with every pest imaginable and leached nutrients for almost a year.

Perhaps this Petco isn't the horror show most Petcos are for saltwater, but I would think twice before putting those rocks in my tank. I'm much more inclined to buy dry rock and add a little live rock rubble from a healthy, established tank I trust. On the other hand, watching Aiptasia, bristleworms, and all kinds of other critters grow out of our rocks was fun before we knew better.

If you want to keep live rocks alive, you should be fine with a larger container like a brute, a heater, and a powerhead.