dead live rock:)

[leov]

Hello everyone. I have taken out my huge drum of saved rock from years ago. I had a 120 gallon reef.
Kinda forgot how beautiful these pieces were. I selected a bunch for my future 34 gallon tank (in progress) (starting small this time) and I have them in a new garbage container with RODI water mixed to the correct salinity, I threw in 5 turbo snails and a couple of those nasty little fishes (forgot the name) to get the rocks going. My question is do I need to put some light on this? even a few hrs. a day or is that a waste. I fear It'll mostly just create algae. RIght now theres a heater and two pumps circulating the water. ANy thoughts would be welcomed.
Thanks!

 

[NitrousPhil]

There is no reason to really light it other than having some light for what I assume are damsels...

 

[SantaMonica]

Sounds like nice rock. If you put some light now, it will get a chance to develop some periphyton early, before it's needed later.

 

[leov]

Hmmm. Thank you.. Just researched that a bit. something know ones commented on.

 

[Reef Lobster]

Id put a light over it to start gaining some life back. No harm in algae, its all going to create an ecosystem. What id also recommend becuase it sounds like the rocks were DRY or just left in water for years... i would add some rock rubble from your local store. This way you seed some good bacteria and Coraline algae and what not.

 

[leov]

Thanks for the advice! I've had a light going 3-8 hrs per day. Roughly. A couple of pumps and a heater, and yes a threw In a. Bunch of rubble I got from the LFS. im pretty close to getting it altogether. Ice put together a overflow atraight to my sump( which should be here shortly. And Spectrapure, took my 5 stage max cap and cleaned it up for me. They're amazing over there. I used my unit for years before I put it in storage and always had fantastic results. 10 years ago, I put together a direct auto top off to my sump. Worked flawlessly. Looking forward to getting it going soon!!