Live rock to dead rock

[Deep Reef]

I bought a couple of pieces of tonga rock at my LFS in order to add a little character to my tank. I don't want to go through all the trouble to acid dip one or two pieces of rock to remove parasites. if i let it dry...(how long?) can I then add it to my tank without any issues.

 

[dadummy]

fwiw, I had a vermetid snail infestation, I removed all the rock from the tank and gave it a bleach bath, then hit it with acid. I left the rock outside in a bucket. A couple days later I pulled out the bone cutters and hacked into a vermetid. Some of the snails were still alive. I then let the rock dry out on the porch and they eventually died.

 

[dadummy]

ok, Friday I took the rest of the infested rock out of a different system, also had bubble algae, aptasia, sponges, feather dusters, asterina stars, mini brittle stars and stomatella snails on/in it. I put the rock in a five gallon bucket of fresh water then poured in a couple cups or more of bleach. I rinsed the rock this afternoon and put it in a bucket to dry. Out of curiosity I went and hacked open the vermetids and they appear to be dead, one moved a little but I think it was just snapping back after being stretched. I believe the contact time on the first batch of rock I did was not long enough.
I would think 24hrs in a strong bleach bath, a good rinse then a bottle of chlorine remover would be a good start. May also want to take the time to thoroughly dry the rock and make sure there is no chlorine odor before putting rock into system

 

[Deep Reef]

Thanks

 

[DgenR8]

The die off is probably the biggest threat. If the rock is "live" when you start, that life will die when you dry it out. The dead corpses will rot and when you put that rock in your tank, the result will be an ammonia cycle.
If you dry out the rock, you'll have to cycle it in saltwater outside your tank.

 

[Deep Reef]

Good point thanks

 

[rovster]

The die off is probably the biggest threat. If the rock is "live" when you start, that life will die when you dry it out. The dead corpses will rot and when you put that rock in your tank, the result will be an ammonia cycle.
If you dry out the rock, you'll have to cycle it in saltwater outside your tank.

+1, was exactly what I was going to say. If it's just s few pieces, acid wash and curing should not be a big ordeal...