bought alot of dry rock been sitting in basement for 2 years

All of the rock in my tank had dried in my basement almost 3 years earlier. It was nasty stuff like he ^^ just described. The ammonia smell when I first hit them with water again was terrible.

I rinsed everything real good in the sink with tap water and then put them in a tank with new saltwater and a couple good live rocks from another members tank. All I had to do was sniff the water from time to time and I could tell the good bacteria was doing its work. I started doing water tests as soon as the smell was normal. The rocks had even regained some of their "live" rock look.

When they were ready to go, I set up the new display tank and let it do the full cycle. I think it was close to four or five months before I started stocking the tank. This is the healthiest system I've ever had. Take your time and be patient with that rock. Gotta cook it right/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/smile.gif