Live Rock Odour

[huynhle]

Hey Guys

   I just purchased some live rock off the classified adds, and i noticed one piece having a really noticeable odour to it, I'm guessing it's coming from the underside of the rock that was facing the sand. This piece of rock is coming from a tank full of coral (previous owner) so i assumed it would be ok in my tank. Now i think the water is staring to smell like it too... should i be worried? is the live rock..."dead" now? what kind of problems should i expect from this piece of rock...and what kind of things can i do?

Thanks for reading and I appreciate the advice 

Cheers

[Vincenzo.]

it should be fine. it's just the live rock coming in contact with air. did you have that piece sitting out? and put it in last? but for what its worth i dont think its a problem.

[JD]

You may consider cooking the rock for a fresh start.

[huynhle]

Yeah I did have that piece sitting out and i did put it in last... as for JD what do you mean by cooking it? like boil it down?

[JD]

Yeah I did have that piece sitting out and i did put it in last... as for JD what do you mean by cooking it? like boil it down?

No, don't boil the rock.

The purpose of "cooking" your rocks is to have that bacteria consume all (or as much as possible) organic material and PO4 stored on, and in, the rock as possible. Here is a link for full instructions of cooking LR.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=437342

Excerpt for the above link.

The first step to this is commitment.
You have to be willing to remove your rock from the tank.
It doesn't have to be all at once, but I feel if you are going to do this do it all. In stages if that is easier but make sure that all of it gets done.

The new environment you are creating for your rock is to take it from an algal driven to a bacterial driven system.
In order to this, the rock needs to be in total darkness to retard and eventually kill the algae on the rock and to give the bacteria time to do the job.

So basically you need tubs to hold the rock.

Equipment needed.
1. Dedication.
2. Tubs to cook rock in. And an equal amount of tubs to hold the rock during waterchanges.
3. A few powerheads.
4. Plenty of buckets.
5. A smug feeling of superiority that you are taking it to "the next level."

Here are the steps.

1. Get into your head and accept the fact you will be making lots of salt water if you aren't lucky enough to have access to filtered NSW.
2. Explain to significant other what is going on so they don't flip out. This process can take up to 2 months. Prepare them in advance so he/she can mark it on the calendar and that they won't nag about it until that date arrives.
3. Setup a tub(s) where the rock is to be cooked. Garages are great for this.
4. Make up enough water to fill tub(s) about halfway and around 5-7 buckets about 60% full.
5. Remove all the rock you want to cook at this stage. (The rock can be removed piece by piece until you are done.) I suggest shutting off the circulation beforehand to minimize dust storms.
6. Take the first piece of rock and dunk it, swish it, very, very well in the first bucket. Then do it again in the 2nd bucket, then the third.
7. Place rock in the tub.
8. Repeat steps 6 & 7 to every piece of rock you want to cook at this time. The reason I suggested 5-7 buckets of water will be evident quickly...as the water quickly turns brown.
9. Place powerhead(s) in the tub and plug in. Position at least one powerhead so that it agitates the surface of the water pretty well. This is to keep the water oxygenated. You can use an air pump for additional oxygenation if you wish.
9. Cover the tub. Remember, we want total darkness.
10. Empty out buckets, restart circulation on main tank.
11. Wait.
12. During the first couple of weeks it is recommended to do a swishing and dunking of the rocks twice a week.
What this entails is to make up enough water to fill up those buckets and the tub the rock is in.
First, lay out your empty tub(s) and fill buckets the same as before.
Then, uncover tub with the rock in it. Take a rock and swish it in the tub it's in to knock any easy to get off junk.
Then, swish it through the 3 buckets again, and place in the empty tub..
Repeat for all your rocks.
Then empty the tub that all the rocks were cooking in, take it outside and rinse it out with a hose.
Place tub back where it was, fill with new saltwater, add rocks and powerheads, and cover.
Wait again until the next water change.
You will be utterly amazed at how much sand, silt, detrius is at the bottom of the tub and every bucket. It is amazing.

[jimskoi]

It all depends on how much LR you have in your tank.If its only one piece of LR that has an odour and you have 50# in your tank.Its not a problem.
It would also help if you had a skimmer on there to help pull out the bio matter coming from that piece.

[Hookup]

The one thing I wish I could have done differently was to cook my rock.  It is older rock, been in two systems before me for 3+ years, now in mine for 1... but it was dirty... it took a full year to stop shedding (the higher flow in my tank blew-out the gunk which settled in my sump...)  and worse, it was covered in zoas and gsp... i know, some of you think.. OMG awesome... but not all zoa's are good looking... and they are a fast-growing pest near most things like LPS and SPS... It's one of the primary reasons i'm rebuilding my system now, not later...   The GSP is taking over my zoa rock... though right now they are holding their own... mostly.

Cooking takes 6weeks or so, and that sucks, no two ways about it... but i would give just about anything to have cooked my rock way back when (and yes, I was told to cook it and I didn't, now I feel da pain).

[JD]

Whenever I breakdown one of my tanks in the future I will cook my rock, even if only to sell it.

[huynhle]

yeah i have about 55 pounds of rock in my tank so far...and only one piece has this odour. i was thinking about cleaning it with a toothbrush and soaking it in a bucket with a powerhead for a few weeks. hows that sound?

[jimskoi]

Just clean it off in a pail with some of your tank water.One piece of LR isnt going to do anything in your system.