live rock still live

[toolman8081]

hi im new to the site great i must say but i have a few questions. i had a FOWLR tank until last week its a 46g bow front i had a yellow tang three damsels and a cinnamon clown also a few blue legged crabs and some turbo snails. bout a week and a half ago i bought 2 clowns and when i woke up the next morning all my fish were covered in white spots so i gave them all a fresh water dip for bout 60 seconds and then put them in a hospital tank and added a little bit of cupramine (copper) according to the directions. well next morning all my fish were dead i had them all for bout 1 year. so now im going to kinda start over i guess. but first when i first got my tank a friend of mine was moving so he gave me his live sand and live rock it was enough sand to cover the bottom bout 2 inches and the rock covers the back wall of the tank pretty good. anyway he said his fish use to get ich all the time so he used to put the copper in his tank all the time and he also said he would run the rock under hot water when he would really clean his tank so basically i wanna know is my live rock still alive i dont have anything growing now cause i still have the stock 32w bulb on the tank . what about the sand is that still good too when i first put this stuff in my tank over a year ago i bought a fresh bag of live sand to mix with the sand he gave me if i do need new live rock since im going to make a reef tank now where is a good cheap place to buy cured live rock and how much do i need i just bought a coralife aqualight 192 w it has 1 96w 10000k bulb and a 96w actinic is this enough to grow stuff in my 46g also is it a good idea to have an air stone bar running in the tank oh yeah i also had my water tested for copper and my lfs says there was none detected in my water

[OrionGirl]

I wouldn't use the rock and sand for any inverts, but it would be fine for a FOWLR. The copper won't cause a problem for the beneficial bacteria, but it will knock off any inverts. There are a few ways to remove it, but most are a pain, and not worth the effort. So--short answer--the rock is still biologically active (unless it's been dried or stored without any ammonia source), but probably not reef safe.

[toolman8081]

thnx OG

[toolman8081]

oh yeah where is a good place online to buy some good cured live rock and how much rock should i get to make a reef tank in my 46g tank also is my coralife aqualight enough to grow corals 196w 1 96w 10000k and one 96w actinic

[OrionGirl]

Tampa Bay Saltwater is one of the more popular places--LiveAquaria.com also has good rocks for a decent price.

Yes, you have enough lighting for most corals. Clams would be iffy--but are iffy in many tanks. I would wait until the tank has been up and going for a few months--and stable during that time--before adding corals, just as a precaution. Corals are more sensitive to fluctuations in parameters than many fish, and many need a healthy micro-invert populations to feed on in addition to the lights. While there are many invert foods available, a healthy established tank will be better at providing for corals than any additive feeding, IMO. Not to say the feeding isn't needed--just that it won't meet all coral needs in a new tank.

[toolman8081]

even though ive been running carbon in my magnum 350 canister filter for probably 5 months now consistently dont u think that would have gotten rid of the copper and if i add a few new pieces of live rock in my with the old will the inhabitants spread to the old rock i really hate to throw all that rock out if i dont have too i do have snails and hermits in the tank now theyve been in there probably 2 months and doing fine

[mogurnda]

Carbon isn't very good at removing copper. There are resins, one is called Cuprisorb, that will do it. It will be a slow process, as the copper slowly unbinds from the rock.

[toolman8081]

ill look into trying that will it be safe to put in corals after i treat with that also what do u think about mixing some new live rock with the old idea oh yeah my new coralife light is coming today woohoo

[Max]

I'd still check my water for copper even after the removal attempt. I'd do it right after I used the product and then check my water again a couple of weeks later and make sure there wasn't any more copper leaching out of the rocks. You can add live rock with the micro inverts but, if you don't get rid of the copper a lot of it won't do very well. That's not always easy to do either it will depend on a lot of factors like how much was used exposure time etc.
hope this helps
Chris :)