Cooking Live Rock - Exact Process?

[Richard Francis]

If you guys weren't so caught up in arguing a few posts back I said I was doing this I'm cooking rock that is dead and rock that I just pulled from my tank.

So what?

 

[danieljames]

I've read through the thread.....i saw mentioned that land based, mined rock could possibly have p04 trapped in it as well? Say one wished to use texas holy rock to start with. Would some simple swishing, say over the course of a day, be enough to start a display with (and have the benefits of cooked)? Then just seed with a few pieces of true reef rock to start the bacteria base?

 

[NwG]

While swishing once would be a great help to remove traped detritus, IMO it would be better to keep the rock in a trashcan or other storage bin with a small amount of live rock... This will help speed up the conversion from dead to live rock and help get some of the Po4 trapped deep within the rock out before it goes into the display... Do what time and space permits for you.. But anything is better than nothing!!!
Nate D

 

[NuclearReefs]

Well,, so far on the tank that i cooked rock for its been spotless and the coralline is growing on the bottom of the tank like crazy,, The water flow is a bit insane and I dont have stuff settling and driving me nuts. The Nassarius Snail I have are out of food so I must remove a bunch.. The rock is clean and the system is really nicely balanced.. Im ready for some new corals.. Im going to be using this method for a large install I am doing for a 480 gallon system .. Looking forward to that ..

Nathan

Nathan

 

[arconom]

Well, I'm back!!!

A few things have changed.

1. I have a bigger house
2. A baby boy


Other then that my rock has been curing since December. For the first 3 months I did everything to the point.

I added some more rock to my cooking vats about 3 months ago.

I will be setting my 75 back up until time permits me to setup the 120 gal. It will be BB,Fishless.

I plan on swish dunking again for 3 weeks until I add the rock to my tank. In the next few weeks I will be posting a Diary of my new buildup pictures included.

Again I thank SeanT and Bomber.

 

[baja_hammer2003]

live rock

live rock

not sure

 

[hersh007]

I've read all 3 forums, I understand the process and am over a month into "cooking" (dumbest term ever) my rock. I've seen first hand that it works, and works well however I'm on the side of Nickb here.

I too do not understand why "it has to be the bacteria" that's "pushing" the detritus out of the rock. It doesn't click scientifically for me and I'm a logical person. Simple multiplication of bacteria exporting large amounts of detritus from deep within a pore is not an acceptable explanation without some sort of empirical evidence.

Why does soaking a heavily soiled cooking pan then dumping it out remove so much food? Why can you re-soak that same pan again to further remove soiled particles (no scrubbing just soak and dump)?

As illustrated above I don't think it's a bacterial process, its simply the power of motion and water (the 2 processes we are using in our bins). Once we get the top layer of detritus out of the pores, the water and motion free's up additional layers which come out on subsequent dunks.

Now I will concede that bacteria assists in freeing up the detritus by decomposing the layers but to suggest it "pushes" it out is far fetched IMO.

Its just tough to see every few months a new "scientific fact" be tossed out with no real world support. I'm not arguing that this process cannot and will not aid those poor and negligent reefkeepers like myself who are fighting a losing battle against algea but I would ask that before something is coined a "Fact" it have at least some empirical evidence.

Thanks,

Scott

 

[Bomber]

Scott

Lets take the simplest analogy.

Do two bacteria take up more room that one?

 

[hersh007]

Oh yes, I agree on that issue but why would the 2nd bacteria work to displace the detrius when it can go up over or around it?

Path of least resistance if you will.

 

[Bomber]

Because they are in a confined space. rock

 

[Ken Sellick]

Has anyone cooked Kaelini ?
I was wondering if the coraline algae
retained its colors or not?

 

[inthemix]

Will cooking the rock kill aiptasia, cyano, and macro algae?

If yes to all 3, sign me up!

 

[dkh0331]

Has anyone cooked Kaelini ?
I was wondering if the coraline algae
retained its colors or not?

Currently cooking and for the most part, no. The coraline is 90-95% gone.

David

 

[SeanT]

Simple multiplication of bacteria exporting large amounts of detritus from deep within a pore is not an acceptable explanation without some sort of empirical evidence.

its simply the power of motion and water
but I would ask that before something is coined a "Fact" it have at least some empirical evidence.

Funnily...you doubt a biologist who states what is happening and want 'evidence', but...

its simply the power of motion and water

...without ANY tests or evidence of your own...you STATE that this is the reason.

Ehhhhhh.....

 

[SeanT]

Will cooking the rock kill aiptasia, cyano, and macro algae?

If yes to all 3, sign me up!

Yes, yes, and yes...if you do the steps.

 

[inthemix]

Do I need to keep the cooking bin at reef temp, or should I just let it be without a heater?

 

[SeanT]

Just let it be.

 

[reefrat]

dont you need to keep the water in the tubs at the same temp or close to the same temp of the water in the main tank to avoid killing some of the fauna??

 

[reefrat]

damn it i didnt read the last page

 

[SeanT]

lol it's ok.
Fauna?
We don't need no stinkin' fauna!!!