Baking live rock.

[Coralfreak09]

did no one tell him he was going to have A TON OF DIE OFF!

Die off = Ammonia.

I did know I would have a ton of die off, I have been keeping tanks for many many years, Ive never had issues when boiling the rock, and I wasn't trying to kill algae, but just everything in general. I had asteria that were eating my zoas and LPS, so I decided to take that rout instead of my typical boiling. With boiling I always kept things ventilated, and yea I can see if you boil palys that you may get the palyotoxins in the air, but I was just boiling rocks, no coral, there were probably tons of pods and I basically did a live rock genocide however it was my goal to try a different method I had heard about... bad idea. Boiling... then curing is what I have done for the last 19 years and NEVER once had an issue. Yea I guess it defeats the purpose of having "live rock" but at the same time, maybe you just like the shape of the rock and don't want to take any of the hitchhikers with it, I have never tried the acid bath. All is well just had to let it go through, If I was to have left it in a tub of water for a few days with a heater and pump it would have been fine.... and or began the curing process but I was hasty, did not think it through to that extent nor did I have alot of time or anywhere to put these corals as I had to move out that day and couldnt take my big tank with me... pressed for time = bad choices with salt water tank. Luckily I only lost two coral, two small frags of milli. everything else made it including my 800$ Acanthophyllia deshayesiana

 

[FraggledRock]

Smh dont bake it. You and anyone in your home, dogs, etc can die from palytoxin.

 

[Sk8r]

Water pockets in the rock can explode the rock. When we talk about 'cooking rock,' we do not mean adding heat. It means putting it in the dark in a tub of seawater and letting it go through a dieoff that way. DO not heat the rock.

 

[Coralfreak09]

Pests dont die in the dark. Algae goes dormant and has die off yes, but what happens when your introduce light again? Algae. I guess depends what your trying to kill. To kill pests you have to sacrifice things Yes heating the rock has potential risks, as when ever doing anything with cleaning, one should always have windows and or doors open, this is common sense right? or to do it outside. Never had issues with boiling but again, I have ALWAYS had windows opened and never boiled rocks without at least removing corals... ? why would you boil a coral anyway? maybe those little sneakers are in the crevices ... could be, but not enough to kill you unless you just downright boiled a rock of palys. Palyotoxin is one of the most powerful natural toxins known... true. But shouldn't we take precaution with that in mind? I don't know. Darwin award winning ideas to me.:thumbsup:

 

[Goldndoodle]

From what I've read about the "total darkness method" (I really think this forum needs to start referring to this method as something other than "baking" before a novice dies!) - the die off of the algae, etc., causes the water the rock is being kept in to basically go toxic and killing everything off in the process - algae, corals, pests, etc. As well, the process does not include adding heaters to the storage containers - so low temps would also facilitate killing off pests.

Happy to hear you successful cooked up some delicious live rock that you're not using in your tank, and that you did not die in the process! You do know, that every Darwin Award winner was presented their award posthumously, and therefore did not have to deliver an acceptance speech ...

Happy Reefing!

 

[tmz]

Palytoxin and others are toxic as vapors as others noted not to mention the potential explosions. If killing everything is the goal a bleach bath will do. If strippiong the surface is desired and acid bath does that trick.

 

[FraggledRock]

From what I've read about the "total darkness method" (I really think this forum needs to start referring to this method as something other than "baking" before a novice dies!) - the die off of the algae, etc., causes the water the rock is being kept in to basically go toxic and killing everything off in the process - algae, corals, pests, etc. As well, the process does not include adding heaters to the storage containers - so low temps would also facilitate killing off pests.

Happy to hear you successful cooked up some delicious live rock that you're not using in your tank, and that you did not die in the process! You do know, that every Darwin Award winner was presented their award posthumously, and therefore did not have to deliver an acceptance speech ...

Happy Reefing!

Hah @ award speach

 

[tmz]

There are many accounts of toxins resluting from boiling live rock . Why anyone would take that risk or implicitly advise others to do so is something I don't understand.

 

[tmz]

Pests dont die in the dark. Algae goes dormant and has die off yes, but what happens when your introduce light again? Algae.

Keeping live rock in a dark curing bin for a year or so results in bacterial activity exhausting all the life energy in the water leaving refractory(no more energy to be had for for life to use) organic remnants. That's the essence of the old "cooking" method.

, but not enough to kill you unless you just downright boiled a rock of palys.

How could anyone know that.? How much does it take? It's not what happened in the link posted by the folks who suffered from it as did their dog.. Indigenous Polynesian folks used it to tip their arrows and darts,.btw. Chemical reactions at high heat might also effect other chemistry including organic compounds to toxic .some of which likely will be left behind.

It's very unsafe and IMO very poor practice to boil or bake live rock.

 

[Coralfreak09]

I can see how that would work, the water turning toxic the whole curing process. And yes as everyone has agreed on it takes some time. I have also heard you can leave it outside and dry out everything and that works too. If your not trying to keep your live rock alive, (not saying boiling or baking literally is the best thing to do anyway) But to kill things in a short period of time, not caring if you want base rock, which btw I did use all said boiled rock in tanks with no issues. I did have issues with said baked rock. Which I will NEVER do again. Boil it, maybe, I'll take my chances, however its only been a quick fix, to quickly kill off pests scrub rock and add it without worrying about to much die off leaching out bc boiling does seem to prevent that from happening. Got the idea from boiling wood for freshwater tanks, Oranges and apples yea. Not encouraging people to do these things. I am a biologist and I deal with these things all the time, but I have never had any issues, I have heard of things happening but with precaution I feel boiling is ok with good ventilation. Baking was not a good idea, I had never tried it and had a few hours to kill and go, so I gave it a whirl, honestly it smelled like rotten eggs but I had all windows and doors, ceiling fans and a floor fan going. Do not bake your rock.

patience is key in this hobby we all know this. I much prefer live rock. Good hitchhikers most of the time. Ive had 19 years of reef and fish keeping and I am not dead yet. But I am also not stupid. Yes darkness over a long period of time will kill off most things, but I kept rock in my basement with no light but every now and a again with a pump going... still had starfish and barnacles all over the rocks even after six months. Which I liked. Until some starfish decided they were going to eat zoanthids and LPS in an established tank of 6+ years. From addition of live rock with corals (which were dipped btw)

What would you have done

 

[Coralfreak09]

Bleach bath maybe, but only had a few hours...

 

[Reefer 450]

What about dry rock?

What about dry rock?

So I have 75 lbs of BRS Pukani that I bleached and acid dipped? It's been too cold and not enough sun to dry out. Can I put it in the oven on really low heat to dry it out? I want to make absolutely sure there is no trace of bleach left before I put in my tank to cycle.

 

[djbon]

For me, i'll soak the rocks i freshwater for a few days to kill off all marine stuff living in it. After that, blast it with your garden hose to remove all the nastiness and let it dry for a week. Another blast of water and good to go. Soaking with acid might leave some residue if not done right and probably gonna nuke your tank. Dying live rock smells very bad, and the die off will make your tank releasing ammonia due to rotting of god knows what in there. Love rock is dead when it turns white and smells nothing.

 

[Timfish]

To reiterate and emphasize some of the above posts: NEVER HEAT ROCK FROM AN AQUARIUM! There are palytoxin and analogs are found in numerous organisms*. Quoting from one paper "It is heat-stable, not inactivated by boiling"**. Heating rock will aerosolize the toxin as water evaporates creating a potentially dangerous situation.

*https://www.researchgate.net/public..._French_Mediterranean_coast_harvested_in_2009
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0041010199000938

**http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2920541/

 

[whosurcaddie]

So I have 75 lbs of BRS Pukani that I bleached and acid dipped? It's been too cold and not enough sun to dry out. Can I put it in the oven on really low heat to dry it out? I want to make absolutely sure there is no trace of bleach left before I put in my tank to cycle.

For Pukani rock you really need to use some lanthanum chloride to pull the phosphate from that rock. If you don't you will spend so much money down the line battling leaching phosphates. Stick it in a tub and once a day dose lanthanum. Change the water once a week. Continue until you get a reading of zero phosphate.

Hell stick a heater in and a powerhead dose the container with ammonia to 2ppm and cycle the rock at the same time. Then all your adding to your tank is phosphate free cycled rock and you will be set.

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Life-USA-Phosphate-Treatment/dp/B0018CIQXC

 

[Sgt Jonny Cat]

NEVER NEVER NEVER heat live rock. There are toxins in certain corals that can vaporize and actually make you very sick. Do a google check on boiling live rock and neuro toxins!!!