CLEANING MY LIVE ROCK (Sludge and algae)

[Sparky1607]

Hi--
I'm in the process of overhauling my 95 gallon tank. My skimmer pump crapped out on my and my koralias so I had crappy flow and filtration the last few weeks. I developed some sludge and black looking algae on the rocks. There is about 130 lbs of live rock. WHere do I start? Thanks in advance.

 

[James77]

Be prepared to remove and clean all rocks. Have a couple large containers of salt water, and plastic tarps or the like covering your floor is never a bad thing.

Get a hard bristled large brush, and wear thick gloves. Pull the rock, scrub it fairly thoroughly, then dunk it a few times in a large container of clean water. Set it aside to put back into tank.

I've done it several times, and it takes far less time than you think it will. I could break down a tank with that much rock and have it cleaned and set up again in less than 2 hours.

 

[billdogg]

Be prepared to remove and clean all rocks. Have a couple large containers of salt water, and plastic tarps or the like covering your floor is never a bad thing.

Get a hard bristled large brush, and wear thick gloves. Pull the rock, scrub it fairly thoroughly, then dunk it a few times in a large container of clean water. Set it aside to put back into tank.

I've done it several times, and it takes far less time than you think it will. I could break down a tank with that much rock and have it cleaned and set up again in less than 2 hours.

Exactly what he said. I like to use Rubbermaid totes - one to scrub in, one to rinse in, and one to put the clean rocks in until I'm ready to put them back. When the scrub tote gets too nasty (and it will), dump it and use the rinse tote as the scrub tote and refill tote #1 and make it the new rinse tote.