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Paly Rocks in a FW Tank

GDawson

GDawson

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I'm going to turn the empty nano into a FW tank for now so at least I have something aquatic in the house. I'd like to use some of the old live rock for it but they were covered in palys/zoas. Right now they're drying in a bucket in the sun. Are they safe to put into a FW tank or will the release toxins and kill the fish? Is there a safe way to use the rocks? Anyone do this before?

Also would the rough texture of the rocks be detrimental to sucker mouth type fish for algae control?


-Gregory
 
Worst that could happen is you put the rocks in your nano and have to take them out. I would clean the rocks first then soak them in some rodi water. Put them in your nano and simply check all your parameters and see what's goin on. Obviously let the rock sit in the tank for a couple weeks then check again. As far as the Rock being to porous for a pleco or sucker mouth type of fish they will just stay off of it if they don't like the way it feels. But to give you some reassurance a lot of rock people use in African cichlid tanks is very porous as well, and I have seen plenty of plecos in those tanks.

Good luck with your experiment
 
How big is your tank? I might have some rock and manzy for you. I also have some used turface gravel that would work as well. I can hook you up with some moss and plants.
 
Bleach the rocks. Then blast them with a pressure washer or a good hose nozzle.
Then soak in RODI. Palytoxins can't be good for a new FW system.
 
bondolo said:
Just because I am curious why would putting the once-live-but-now-dead rock into a non hard water tank be bad.
Click to expand...

If ur trying to recreate a soft/acid environment like the amazon the rocks would throw everything off....

-Gregory
 
boun11 said:
How big is your tank? I might have some rock and manzy for you. I also have some used turface gravel that would work as well. I can hook you up with some moss and plants.
Click to expand...

Appriciate the offer. Just not sure what I'm doing yet.

-Gregory
 
Just be sure that if you do any picking or rinsing or hose blasting of the rock, you wear gloves, long sleeves / pants, and eye protection. I can't say for sure if the toxin degrades or not once the animal dies, but I seem to recall someone cleaning dead rocks that used to have some palys on them and they got sick. This may be just a tale or my bad memory, but there's enough stories going around that cause me to be extra cautious with palys / zoas. Also be sure to do everything outside with plenty of good ventilation as the toxin, if present, can be come airborne.

One other thought is to give the rocks a peroxide bath after most of the matter is removed ... this should eat away at any of the organics in the rock.
 
Like the H2O2 idea. The rest i understand already.... Living alone I'm very paranoid and will take massive precautions just in case...


-Gregory
 
Just wondering.......
Are you doing a fish and plant combo or just fish? Also for a nano I would recommend a tropical pufferfish, like a green spotted puffer, because they are awesome and are a lot less complicated to take care of than other fish, though they will take up the entire tank since they are territorial. They also can develop personalities, for example my sister's recognized her as its owner and would get as close as it could to her as possible, it was really cute. Just a recommendation.
 
nudibranch said:
Just wondering.......
Are you doing a fish and plant combo or just fish? Also for a nano I would recommend a tropical pufferfish, like a green spotted puffer, because they are awesome and are a lot less complicated to take care of than other fish, though they will take up the entire tank since they are territorial. They also can develop personalities, for example my sister's recognized her as its owner and would get as close as it could to her as possible, it was really cute. Just a recommendation.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the thoughts...... looking to do a SE Asia biotope. But still might cave in for Amazon instead. Still planning... looking at fish and plants. No hurry.

Good to have you back!

-Gregory
 
If your going to take out those Palys do that in a open air environment. But I wouldn't suggest reusing those rocks... I wouldn't mess with Palytoxin.
 
The rocks have been drying in a bucket for 4 months now... sure they are dead. But is the toxin residual? Or does it break down?

-Gregory
 
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