reefgeezer
Active member
1. Do not mix bleach & acid. It makes a toxic gas. Make sure the rock is WELL rinsed between the bleach and the acid process. Outside and well ventilated is a must regardless. Gloves & goggles are a good idea too.
2. I think I used 10 parts water to 1 part acid. It bubbled quite a bit and worked well in about 20 minutes.
3. Dry rock has lots of dried organic material in it. It will rehydrate and decompose in the tank over time. Bleach and/or acid won't get enough of it to make it suitable to go into your tank. The rock will leach nitrogen compounds and phosphates for quite a while.
I would "cure" it first either after a bleach/acid bath or just a power wash. I prefer the power wash after trying the acid bath thing.
Put the rock in a tub of saltwater with a couple power heads in it. Keep it dark. Allow the rock to soak for a week or so and start testing for ammonia and phosphates. You'll need a good low range phosphate test kit near the end of the process.
Once phosphates start to show up, use Lanthanum Chloride to remove it so more will leach from the rock. Repeat this until phosphates no longer build up over a week or so.
This process should allow the organics to decompose, cycle the rock, and leach out most of the bound phosphates before they can get into your display tank. If ammonia doesn't rise, you can add some shrimp or ammonium chloride.
This process requires patience. It will take weeks to deal with the phosphates and dead stuff in the dry rock.
2. I think I used 10 parts water to 1 part acid. It bubbled quite a bit and worked well in about 20 minutes.
3. Dry rock has lots of dried organic material in it. It will rehydrate and decompose in the tank over time. Bleach and/or acid won't get enough of it to make it suitable to go into your tank. The rock will leach nitrogen compounds and phosphates for quite a while.
I would "cure" it first either after a bleach/acid bath or just a power wash. I prefer the power wash after trying the acid bath thing.
Put the rock in a tub of saltwater with a couple power heads in it. Keep it dark. Allow the rock to soak for a week or so and start testing for ammonia and phosphates. You'll need a good low range phosphate test kit near the end of the process.
Once phosphates start to show up, use Lanthanum Chloride to remove it so more will leach from the rock. Repeat this until phosphates no longer build up over a week or so.
This process should allow the organics to decompose, cycle the rock, and leach out most of the bound phosphates before they can get into your display tank. If ammonia doesn't rise, you can add some shrimp or ammonium chloride.
This process requires patience. It will take weeks to deal with the phosphates and dead stuff in the dry rock.
