F*&% Up of epic proportion!!!

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by asylumdown

Cleaning the rock with acid will save the physical rock, but it certainly won't be 'live' anymore. So assuming we're talking 50 pounds of rock (most live rock sells for around $10 a pound), you'll essentially be turning it in to something dead, like Marco rock, which sells for about $3 a pound and will need to be completely cycled again. So really, your best case scenario is that you've lost about $350 in value, and you should consider whether the multi-month (to multi-year, depending on whose rock opinion you're listening to) process of getting your rock back to where it was before the copper incident isn't worth simply replacing it with good quality, new live rock.

that's what I would do. Cleaning was just an option, but yes, it's officially dead as dead gets after an acid bath. Subject to releasing PO4 down the road as well, once all the dead stuff in the pores start rotting.

[rynoe]

Cleaning is still on the table but most likely the rock will be replaced.

[Geofrog]

Stupid question, I know, but could the rock still be used in a FOWLR systems, with the knowledge that it is contaminated with copper, so no shrimp or clean up crew?

[daniella3d]

Is the liverock really garbage now? because in my system I had enough free copper to kill half of my corals and the rest was in shock for a while but I had my water tested after a month and no more trace of copper. From my experience the copper will not be absorbed so much into the liverock and will eventually bind to organic matter and be neutralized or at least turned into a non toxic form and removed by the skimmer and syphoning of the sand.

I did not change my liverock after the copper poisoning and everything is thriving again in my tank. Copper is at very low level so normal level for saltwater, so my liverock is not leaching any copper or at least not something that can do any level of dammage, and I have a very porous Totoka liverock.

I would test for copper before throwing out good live liverock. I am guessing that with Cuprisorb and a few good water change, the liverock is going to be perfectly fine.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Geofrog

Stupid question, I know, but could the rock still be used in a FOWLR systems, with the knowledge that it is contaminated with copper, so no shrimp or clean up crew?

Not stupid at all. Yes, the rock could be used in a FOWLR system. The danger comes down the road when the person shuts down and tries to sell the rock. This is always a risk buying used rock...

[daniella3d]

Unless it has healthy coral on it...that alone is a clue that the liverock should be healthy as well.

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Not stupid at all. Yes, the rock could be used in a FOWLR system. The danger comes down the road when the person shuts down and tries to sell the rock. This is always a risk buying used rock...

[Casey8]

Even if you buy at LFS, it is still not safe. Everybody can sell their rocks to LFS to get a credit and we have no clue what the condition of the rocks are anyways. Unless you get the rocks when they arrive at the store and you see them unwrapping them in front of you. That was how I got my rocks at the beginning. I don't trust somebody else's rocks if I don't know that person well.

[Money pit]

Ok so in the summer I do a lot of prospecting. If we come across gypsum, calcite or any other calcium type rock and want to see what minerals they are holding, we will soak them in Muriatic. Often whats left over is just a sludge that we pan out to check for mineral content. I know this sounds off in left field, but the point is, I'm not sure what shape your rock will be in if left over night, you may end up with a lot less than you started with, and it will defiantly be dead. And what will you do with the acid when you are done? It would take quite a bit to soak a 135g tank worth. Myself, I think I would go with the Marco rock, with a bit of new live rock for seeding.

[rynoe]

How is the Marco rock I was thinking of using some

[fishytime]

Originally Posted by rynoe

How is the Marco rock I was thinking of using some

its dense and heavy and will probably never be as good as live rock even after it eventually becomes live.....