can you 'clean' LR?

[unit91]

Hi everyone.. Just coming up on the big day next weekend for the 44 to 72gal w/ 20gal sump tank swap. wondering if it is possible to 'clean' LR when I transplant it into the new tank. Because of poor water flow and slightly higher than ideal nitrate levels in my existing tank, there has been a significant increase in detritus and now more recently, hair algae is making its way onto the scene. Could I use a light scrub brush on it before puting it into the new tank or would that be too destructive? Any suggestions of how to deal with this would be much appreciated!!
My phosphate levels are low, (but so is light... 1 x 15w white and 1 x 15w actinic)
and I will be installing nitrate sponge in an XP3 for the new tank.
Also, poor waterflow will be a thing of the past with 2 new SEIO 820gph circ pumps and the 550gph sump return.
And I just got a new 48" 260W PC light fixture too.
With that info, I'm considering just leaving it for fear of damaging the good guys.

Last question... beneficial bacteria feed on ammonia/nitrite.
the bad stuff feeds on nitrate and phosphate... ... correct? Thanks for your input!! (((I'm starting to wig out here as the big day approaches))) wish me luck.

 

[reeffer1]

You can scrub it, or just flush it real good with salt water to get the detritus out of the cracks. It will not hurt it any!! Good luck

 

[Alaskan Reefer]

I'd "hose" it down as well as you can with a powerhead in a bucket of SW with similar salinity and temperature. It's just fine to toothbrush all of the existing hair algae off as well. Get as much crap out as possible before putting it in the new tank, because if you don't it's going to come out anyway (shed) once that saturated rock meets its new clean environment.

And now that you have a sump, it's time to invest in a beefier skimmer.

 

[Alaskan Reefer]

Oh, and if it's really nasty, you might need several buckets of rinsing SW -- as many as one for every two rocks...

 

[kabboord]

If you could do without the rock for a few months I would say cook it as that is the best way to get ride of everything, though from your post I don't believe thats an option.

I've had three major hair algae outbreaks that couldn't be handle with a cleaning crew (two of which were due to hurricane induced die-off). What I always did was take three five gallon buckets of tank water and a new dish sponge (will rinsed cause I think they are chemically treated) with a scour pad on the back side. Bucket one, dunk and swish, try to get crabs and snails in there as it won't get to nasty and you can pick them out. Bucket two, give the rocks goood scrub on areas with hair algae. Bucket three, swish and rinse.

You will be amazed by how nasty the water in bucket two will get. Completely brown and opaque, I hate to think that what was bound up in there was in my tank. You may lose some coraline from the scrubbing, but it will quickly grow back and is definately worth it.

I really think the above is a good option. It takes an hour or two, but then its all gone, and the tank looks gorgeous again and coraline will regrow anywhere it was lost within three weeks.

 

[Drewpy]

I got some nice rock second hand that had tons of life on it--- buy also a serious hair and bubble algae problem too...

Follow what the alaskan reefer said: scrub rinse, scrub rinse...keeping it in seperate tub for a week and scrubing and rinsing once a day with large if not 100% water changes, being careful to throw out all scruba and rinse water and that rock will come back nicely...

All the life, tube worms, mushroom corals, ricordia, leather coral, even a couple anemones all survived this treatment... just be careful to match salinty and temperature and don't let the rock dry out while scrubbing...

 

[unit91]

wow, that is great news. I was hoping for that kind of response. I'll get the scrub brush ready! thanks to you all for your advice. ... Alaskan Reefer... yup, I agree... a bigger skimmer is in the works.