Cleaning dead sps for re-use in Calcium Reactor?

[therman]

I have a few colonies and sizeable chunks of acros and montis that I've pulled out and dried for one reason or another recently. Does anyone here ever recycle them into their calcium reactor, and if so, do you clean them in any way prior to use? They still have the coral tissue dried into the skeleton. I was thinking either bleach or hydrogen peroxide soaks might work, peroxide probably having the more inert residue.

Let me know what you think.
Thanks!
Tim

 

[werdlone]

I had the same question about a year ago...never really got an answer. I did use the coral skeletons in my Ca reactor and they worked great. I had a large pink birdnest and some other large coral trimmings that I ended up soaking in bleach and water overnight. I then let them dry out completely for a couple days. I soaked them in ro water for a few days changing the water daily, until I could no longer smell bleach. Broke up the pieces and put them in the reactor. no problem whatsoever.

No need to let dead corals go to waste..

 

[Litter Box]

You might be okay with bleach, but I personally wouldn't use it. I have used coral skeletons in my Ca Reactor without problems for over a year. I had a huge acro (the size of a volleyball) die when my tank crashed. I soaked it in a bucket of RO water, smashed it up and put it in my Reactor. When I changed my media, the pieces of it were pretty much gone.

If you really want to clean it up, I suppose you could dillute some vinegar in RO water to soak it in and scrub it. Try not to use to go overboard with the vinegar or you'll "melt" it.

 

[therman]

I suppose bleach was the old standard for dead coral FO tanks. Airing them out, plus maybe a sodium thiosulfate soak and/or some toilet tank time should get rid of it effectively. I'll give it a go next time I load my reactor media.