live rock, still live?

A friend of mine gave my some live rock today he hadnt used in a long time. He had it stored in a large trash container in salt water from his old tank and a lid on top. Is it possible this rock is still live? Im no expert but it sure looks so. Theres what appears to be tiny plants growing on some rocks. And lots of color. My tank is on day 5 of the nitrogen cycle. I have some live rock in there that I purchased from my LFS. Is it ok to just put these "new ones" right in there?? Do I need to rinse them at all first?

 

Hi thegrimreefer

if they have been stored for a long time, in saltwater, but without any water movement
oxygen would have become depleted, and thus there will have been some die off, but there will still be some life left on/in the rock

it would be worth giving them a quick rinse to remove any accumulated sediment before placing in your tank

you may find that some of the pink/ purple, etc coralline on the rock, will go white when added to your tank set up, after being kept deprived of light for a period

I would also carefully inspect each individual piece of rock for any pest nems (Aiptasia, Majano ) , which are much easier to deal with on isolated rocks outside of the aquarium , than they are if you spot them on the rock once the aquascaping is done


Steve