Stored Live Rock - To keep live or not to keep live

[gobytron]

Hey all.
After gradually shutting down my system I have around 300lbs of good quality LR.

It's currently sitting in a large container with a pump and heater.

The evaporation is rough...and I am having to add fresh water nearly daily.


I probably won't need this stuff again for at least a year.

Should I bother to keep it live and cook it or should I just dry it out and put it away till I'm ready for it?

I have the space, I'm just not really too into the maintenance.

Tips or tricks appreciated if you think i should keep it live.

[Pike]

Same thing happened to me. I never boiled it or anything , just stored it away in a plastic tub in the garage. After about 3 winters I put them in a new tank , seeded them with one piece of live rock and everything was fine

[Ron99]

I'm a fan of keeping rock live to preserve all the various living things. Not just bacteria but pods/mysids, sponges, worms etc. I kept some live rock in a holding tank for 2 years once between downsizing and upsizing again. it's a bit of work but worth it in my opinion. Can you get a covered container like a brute with lid? That will help reduce evaporation somewhat.

[jon.smolders]

Back when I had live rock, I kept it alive through several shut downs. Just threw it in a tote with a heater/power head. I put a lid on it and had no problems with evaporation...

Last shut down I dried it all out, and now I am regretting that decision... mainly because I am too cheap to buy another 50 lbs of live rock and I seem to be having issues with dry rock.

[gobytron]

A big part of me would like to give this rock a bleach.acid bath, dry it out and then go buy some quality fresh LR and seed it with it and start fresh....cooking it like this until I want to use it.

I did have a little hair algae...which I don't want to have to deal with in the future.

There is WAY to much to fit into one brute...

I have it in a 4x4x4 food grade container now....no lid and can;t really get one for it.

I don't like to use anything that isn't made for food storage, had some bad experiences with Rubbermaid and brutes in the past.

[hillegom]

Even a sheet of plywood on the top would curtail some evaporation. A big piece of plastic even better.

[monocus]

use polly or seran wrap

[Koleswrath]

I wouldn't bother. Why waste the time and energy? Cook it a couple months before you plan to start up again and seed with a nice small piece from a good system.
Greg