bleaching live rock?

[KAW750SS]

Ive done a search but couldnt find out the details I was really looking for.
Google search is where I found out about the idea of putting live rock in ACID to kill such things like aiptasia. Then I read someone on this site said to KILL alegeas, bleach is what you want.

Anyways, clorox bleach is what I would get but will it kill my aiptasia? Will it kill my live rock? How long should I soak it?

Also, would a quick bath in boiling water be better?
Im am kind of lost, I am downgrading and have an almost out of control aiptasia problem.

 

[nlgill13]

I have heard of many different ways to kill off aiptasia, but a bleach bath may be harmful to everything else in you live rock (like wanted bacteria's). Bleach could also leach into your tank which may kill the tank.

I know you can clean many supplies with vinegar which doesn't have an adverse affect on tank inhabitants.

you may also want to look into the laser pointer post, which talks about and shows how to kill aiptasia without taking the live rock out of the tank

 

[Buzz1329]

"a bleach bath may be harmful to everything else in you live rock"

Jeez. Do you think? IMO, the post is obviously a troll or is so beyond rationality ("Google search is where I found out about the idea of putting live rock in ACID to kill such things like aiptasia") that it does not deserve a rationale response. I'm just saying.

 

[snuggle2me]

Lol i gave my opinion on another post about what worked for me and i think i upset another poster about what he uses to kill aiptasia. That wasnt my intention to upset him. Just remember that people are asking questions here because RC has a vast of knowledge from personal experience. I personally am glad to see someone ask questions before attempting to do some things so that they can get the help they need to do it properly before it becomes disasterous. So far today i have read about using bleach, muratic acid, vinegar, lemon juice and other ways to kill aiptasia lol. My personal favorite was just burning them off with a lighter. It was easy, convient, and what i had on hand at the moment.

 

[nlgill13]

Thanks snuggle, I was just trying to give a little insight, didn't know I would offend someone in the process....IMO all questions are good questions, just some are more questionable then others

 

[KAW750SS]

why do you have to come off like that? I google ways to kill certain algeas, from different reefing sites I read of multiple people doing/ or thinking of this. I then went on this site and saw some other people had questions about it when I did a search. Sorry for wanting to know a little information about something.

 

[snuggle2me]

You have nothing to be sorry about. There is alot of info out there and i google everything too so your not alone in that area. Not everyone knows the chemical compounds of things and asking here is a great thing to do. Some people forget that people starting out are new and are need help with this hobby.

I googled when i first started out on how to get rid of algae on rocks. I had a few that just seemed to grow hair algae like a weed so i read up and found a post about putting the rock in the back of the toilet for a few weeks to kill the hair algae. It actually worked. It was simple and keeped the water changed with the constant flushing when someone used the toilet. i know i could of put it in a tub and changed out the water regularly but i didnt want the hassle of tubs and power heads and such.

now i keep it gone with regular water changed and not over feeding my tank

 

[monkeyman14554]

lol

 

[Mouse]

To the OP, yes Acid will kill the Aptisia. And everything else on the rock, it will even kill the rock itself if left on it for to long, you will just have sand after awhile Id suspect.
Bleach will kill off algae and prob the Aptisia also, especially if you do it with fresh RO water. No use in mixing in salt for the job because Everything on the rock will die. I would guess 1 cup of bleach to about 30 gal for an overnight soak, then followed by 2 or 3 rinse cycles.

 

[aquaman999]

I see all these threads about people wanting to kill their live rock. Then it would no longer be live rock, what a shame. To me there is nothing more interesting than fresh live rock with all the critters. I collected mine in the Florida keys near Pickles Reef, in the rubble zone in 10 feet of water. This was, off course many years ago when it was legal in Federal waters. The rock was the backbone of my reef for several years and I grew many hard coral. Then I lost interest after I got married and gave away the corals.The tank stayed up and running at my parents house with no lights, only some sun from a window and tap water top offs and two fish that are now at least 10 years old (tomato clown and gray damsel). Now I am back home and put some T5s over the tank and within months several kinds of red macro-algae have sprouted from the rock, where it appeared there was nothing left except a few small sponges that somehow survived in the shady regions. Amazing.

Carlos

 

[Frogmanx82]

A blow torch or even a good strong lighter would be my choice over an acid bath. If you know where they are, you can cook them pretty quick and you won't kill the whole rock.

If you are just going to kill the rock, I would think a RO/DI water bath would be safer and just as effective, boiling water would be quicker. If you really want to bleach it, peroxide is a lot safer since there is no residue to worry about.

 

[tkeracer619]

I have bleached rock many times. Generally you want to scrub it clean as you can. It is .5cup bleach to 5 gallons fresh water. Soak for 24h. Rinse and repeat if necessary. Rinse well and let dry completely.

It turns live rock into base rock. You will have to seed the rock again with good live rock and give it months to cure. It will turn live again with time and the addition of good live rock.

It is best to cure with the good live rock via the "cooking" method. It uses no heat but is just the name of a method. A quick search will show up the proper way to do it. It will take months.

I see all these threads about people wanting to kill their live rock. Then it would no longer be live rock, what a shame.

The beauty of it is that you can take your awesome shaped and porous live rock and start over with only the best cleanest live rock with plenty of good things on it instead of spending hundreds or thousands on all new live rock because the stuff covered in aptasia is outside in the yard.

 

[Sethjamto]

I just bleached about 100lbs last night. I bought a 75g tank that was set up and running....overinfested with aptasia and majano nems....way too much to tackle with killling everything off. I gave it an overnight soak in fresh water and bleach in a giant coolor woth powerheads for circulation. Got home from work today, drained the coolers and gave the rock a GOOD rinse with the hose. Then I refilled with straight water and declorinator, back on with the powerheads to circulate. Once it cools off outside I will fire up the power washer to blast it all off, followed by yet another round in the cooler with fresh water and declorinator. Tomorrow I'll drain, rinse with hose again, then lay it out in the sun to dry for a few days. I figure at this point it will be good, clean, base rock. Then the fun begins of starting all over when I set up the new tank! I'll end up seeding the base rock with some excellent quality LR that is in my current tank and monitor from there.

I've never done this before, but am giving it a try.

 

[Sethjamto]

Okay.....just finish a couple hours of powerwashing about 100lbs of LR out in the driveway. Its all sitting in the bed of my truck drying off. You wouldn't believe the crap tham came off and out of those rocks with the powerwasher! WOW!

I'll let it dry for a few days, then drop it back into the cooler with SW and a little declorinator just in case and start the process of doing a slow cure for several weeks until I get my new 90g tank bought and set up. How often should I do water changes in the coolers, and how much of a change. Lastly, my garage gets HOT....will this be a concern while curing the rock? I'll be doing testing for the usual ammonia, NO2, NO3, and PO4 along with a chlorine test to make sure the rock isn't leaching bleach out. Sould I start this process with straight RO, or just go right with SW?

 

[downbeach]

If it were me, I'd take one more step, and give them an etching with some vinegar and water, and then another hosing off. After that I would cure them in SW, and watch the param's. Check for PO4 with a Hanna meter. Do water changes based on your test results.

 

[reefrubble]

Take a look at what I'm doing .

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2192868