# old rock in a new tank



## pdq914 (Jul 5, 2012)

Hi everyone

i am in the process of setting up my 28ga nano i bought. I bought the tank used and it was dirty and had alot of dead coral and rock in it. My question is can i use all this dead coral and rock. i have 20lbs of live rock and 25lbs of live sand i would like to add this old rock but don't want it to cause problems in the tank. I just put the water in it 12 hours ago so i wanna do it now. I also have a high salt content to the water it registers in the 1.029 range. i was thinking to lower this would be as simple as swapping some water out. i thought i would ask first.

thanks


----------



## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Yup, adding that dry rock will not cause any issues. Might want to give it a quick scrub and rinse, but other than that should do ya nicely.
Second: Yup, easy enough to lower the SG in your new tank by swapping out salt water for fresh water. It will be alittle more difficult once you get corals and fish in there.


----------



## whitetiger61 (Aug 2, 2011)

the skelton corals shouldnt be a problem..the rock..that depends on how long its been deadif the person you got it from just emptied the tank and left the rock there then you could have a ammonia spike.

Rick


----------



## pdq914 (Jul 5, 2012)

whitetiger61 said:


> the skelton corals shouldnt be a problem..the rock..that depends on how long its been deadif the person you got it from just emptied the tank and left the rock there then you could have a ammonia spike.
> 
> Rick



the tank has not been in use for about 9-10 months. took water sample to the lfs and the ammonia lvl was still a little high and the ph a little low. so a little chemicals into the water and going to let it set for a few days and retest. No hurry, not interested in killing fish for no reason.


----------



## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

pdq914 said:


> the tank has not been in use for about 9-10 months. took water sample to the lfs and the ammonia lvl was still a little high and the ph a little low. so a little chemicals into the water and going to let it set for a few days and retest. No hurry, not interested in killing fish for no reason.


Your tank is gonna go through a cycle anyways, the rock isn't going to alter that.


----------



## pdq914 (Jul 5, 2012)

first of all, thanks for the advice with this. I would like to add that i just added four damselfish yesterday, they were still alive and kicking this morning so good news. I also have a question about the live rock i put in the tank. It appears to be growing corals and other types of invertebrates popping up on it. then hiding away back in the cracks of the rock. A couple of brownish sunflower looking things have popped up on the sides. I guess the question is will these live or will they die in the cycle of the tank, cause i think bonus if they live.


----------



## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

That's why its called Live Rock. And yes, the critters will survive the cycle.


----------

