How do I purify live rock for new tank

[Spearfisher88]

I am going to be getting a tank from a friend who has lots of awesome live rock. The only problem is that he has the tank set up now as a Gulf of Mexico tank. I plan on turning it into a reef tank and I want to clean the rocks of all and anything that may contaminate or harm all the new corals and fish I plan to put in when I start fresh. I have heard leave it sit out in the sun for days, use murcuric acid, or bleach the rocks. I'm not sure what is the best method. Any suggestions?

 

[rfalvey89]

I just put mine out in the sun for a week or so and it did the trick. Rinsed it thoroughly afterwards and let it dry

 

[rogergolf66]

Sanitize sounds more like what u r looking for. I have done this. Worked well for me


http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1914426&highlight=rock+reincarnation

 

[snake1]

I just soaked my new rock in straight bleach for a month then rinsed and place in tub of 1:10 muriatic acid/ water for 2.5hrs and they came out clean

 

[DingDong128]

I bleached mine. Did the trick as far as killing all life, so I could start with a clean slate. However if you are worried about the rock leaching phosphate you should look into muriatic acid baths.

 

[snake1]

Sanitize sounds more like what u r looking for. I have done this. Worked well for me


http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1914426&highlight=rock+reincarnation

That's the thread I followed very helpful thanks again for the thread link Roger

 

[CuzzA]

You may want to reconsider that depending on what exactly is growing on the rock. People around the country pay top dollar for Gulf live rock and most seasoned hobbyist will tell you "real" ocean live rock is by far the best way to go. I've got 300 lbs. of Pukani sitting in the Gulf right now. My current tank was setup with sterile dry rock and honestly, while all my corals are beautiful and are full colony status, it's missing the mico life and interesting organisims. It's somewhat boring now.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2509664

Here's an example.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2144250

 

[Spearfisher88]

Sanitize sounds more like what u r looking for. I have done this. Worked well for me


http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1914426&highlight=rock+reincarnation

That is very helpful. That is a very lengthy process though unfortunately and a little longer than I would like to wait to get up and running. I may just have to start with new rock or leave that in and see if anything takes over with a few select coral and fish. The tank is very healthy now.

 

[aquaticartist]

You may want to reconsider that depending on what exactly is growing on the rock. People around the country pay top dollar for Gulf live rock and most seasoned hobbyist will tell you "real" ocean live rock is by far the best way to go. I've got 300 lbs. of Pukani sitting in the Gulf right now. My current tank was setup with sterile dry rock and honestly, while all my corals are beautiful and are full colony status, it's missing the mico life and interesting organisims. It's somewhat boring now.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2509664

Here's an example.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2144250

Cuzza,

Is there anything illegal about dumping pacific origin live rock into the gulf? Seems like FWC would frown upon that. What do you do with the pest that will come as hitchhikers once you set your tank up with the "gulf soaked" rock? I personally dislike all the pest that come along with all that. I much rather not expose my mostly pacific origin corals to the many pests and pathogens that could be introduced by using "gulf soaked" rock.

 

[CuzzA]

Cuzza,

Is there anything illegal about dumping pacific origin live rock into the gulf? Seems like FWC would frown upon that. What do you do with the pest that will come as hitchhikers once you set your tank up with the "gulf soaked" rock? I personally dislike all the pest that come along with all that. I much rather not expose my mostly pacific origin corals to the many pests and pathogens that could be introduced by using "gulf soaked" rock.

Nothing illegal because the rock is dead. It's harvested, left on a beach for a month and then pressure washed before it's packaged in crates and shipped in containers. Nevertheless, it's a matter of time before the U.S. shuts down importation of wild collected rock. So the future will be man made aquacultured rock like Walt Smith's rock or quarried limestone.

As far as pests to pacific corals, there aren't any because there are no pacific corals growing in the Gulf or at least there shouldn't be. Really the only pests that come in on this rock are gorilla crabs, stone crabs, mantis shrimp and once in a blue moon someone will pick up cirolanid isopods. The latter is pretty rare. All of these pests are easily removed manually or by trapping. I believe the benefits far outweigh the negatives. In fact I am much more concerned about the pests I could pick up from a LFS or fellow hobbyist. Red bugs and AEFW are unfortunately all to common. Which is to be expected as no store is qting anything and most are continuously adding unqt'ed corals to their tanks. That's why it's always up to the hobbyist to qt fish and corals.

Personally, I want a fun, interesting tank full of diverse life. Some things will not survive while some will, but I can always recharge my tank by swapping some rocks.

 

[jahel318]

I soaked mine in a bleach bath. After drAining and refilling tub I added a dechlorinizer. I the. Let it dry in the sun.

 

[Reefpilot11]

I can tell you from experience one of the worst pests to get from the gulf is a mantis shrimp. It was only 2" long but constantly made an ear peircing clicking noise when he would hit things. Luckily I was able to catch him after a week.