dry rock questions

[Lance A. Lot]

I have some rock from my 75 gallon tank that has been sitting dry for months now. What rinsing process can I use to clean it before I start curing it to go in a new tank? Can I use tap water to rinse it a few times and then some RO? Or do I need to do some kind of acid bath to it?

 

[Pife]

Did you have any nuisance algae or pests?

 

[Pife]

If not, I'd throw it in a tub of saltwater with a heater and powerhead and start cycling.

 

[Scubareefman]

yeah I think it just depends on how long you want to cycle.

I did vinegar/bleach baths for my reused rocks but I had super bad bubble algae. It worked really well, I only wish I had run a week or two longer after the vinegar soaking in RO/DI, I think I didn't get all of it and it messed with my chems for a bit.
You could just scrub the heck out of it in a tube of ro, then salt-water cycle it like Pife was saying.

 

[Lance A. Lot]

Did you have any nuisance algae or pests?

no not that I noticed. This rock was in a dark part of the sump so it never had any algae issues.

 

[ebius]

I like to use muriatic acid. It will basically eat away the top layer of whatever is on/in the rock.

 

[Lance A. Lot]

I like to use muriatic acid. It will basically eat away the top layer of whatever is on/in the rock.

I would do this... if it was spring and I could work outside. I ended up scrubbing them with a bristle brush and rinsing them in RO water. Now they are soaking in RO water.

 

[Aqua Man 07]

65 on Friday I'll be acid washing some rock I've got like 200 lbs left

 

[EDJFA]

I would do this... if it was spring and I could work outside. I ended up scrubbing them with a bristle brush and rinsing them in RO water. Now they are soaking in RO water.

Sissy. Just do it in your garage.

Just kidding. Don't do that. Even outside muriatic acid is some rough stuff. I used to work with it when I ran and maintained pools for a couple summers in college. One sniff of those vapors will really clean out those sinuses.

 

[mpgrant77]

Vinegar is a milder choice to muratic acid. Of course not as strong as muratic but it will do basically the same thing.

 

[Lance A. Lot]

Vinegar is a milder choice to muratic acid. Of course not as strong as muratic but it will do basically the same thing.

Yep I just bought a few jugs of it to clean pumps and equipment. I thought if I had time I may do vinegar instead of freezing outside.

 

[Pife]

Just an FYI it is in my opinion a waste of time to use vinegar or soak in ro water unless you are trying to let the rock leach something?

 

[Lance A. Lot]

Just an FYI it is in my opinion a waste of time to use vinegar or soak in ro water unless you are trying to let the rock leach something?

The tank this rock came out of had higher phosphate levels. I didn't want to start the new tank with excess hair algae. This rock was in the dark sump so it never showed up on this rock but I think the potential is there since I had to battle it for so long in the other tank.

 

[Pife]

So you should dose lanthum chloride into a filter sock to leach the po4s out. I would also circulate the water. Test the water and it will tell you if there is phosphates in it. Just soaking it in vinegar and ro water wouldn't unbind the po4 from the rock. There are plenty of good reads on here about lowering po4s in rock.

 

[Lance A. Lot]

So no po4 will leach into the ro water that it is soaking in? I haven't checked the po4 levels yet because I just started soaking them Sunday. They are in a 20 gallon with a power head.

 

[Pife]

It will but not to any extent according to Farley.

 

[Lance A. Lot]

If i run a test on it tonight and don't see any using a hanna checker will it be because I haven't waited long enough for any to leach out (If there is any to begin with)?

 

[Pife]

I think it will leach out to saturation.

 

[Lance A. Lot]

Hanna reads .35ppm so I should look into lanthum chloride and 10 micron filter socks.

 

[Lance A. Lot]

So... can I add salt and start cycling the rock while removing po4 with lanthum chloride?