need to clean rock

[aerius007]

I have about 75lbs of live rock that I would like to add to my display tank. It came from a system that had been neglected for a while. When I removed the rock from the tank it was covered in algae and the bottom of the rock had some kind of transparent, slimey polyps. I also saw a few aptasia.

What is the best way to get this rock tank ready? I assume I will kill everything in this rock but I'm not worried about that, just want to make sure any die-off is gone before it goes into my display.

 

[Kreeger1]

YOu could kill it all and use it as base rock, that would be soak it in some bleach water over night then use a power washer or just wash it really well and scrub it with a brush to clean it off. Then I'd soak it in water again a few more days. Rinse and Add to tank

Or you can get a rubbermade sump add the rock to that, add a power head and heater and let it set completely dark for 6 months AKA Cooking the rock.

Bleach really helps with built of "junk" in the rock too. If it's real old rock I'd nuke it all with the bleach water
Erik

 

[cveverly]

I was told muriatic acid was the way to go if you want to nuke the rock. I have always used bleach water with lots of rinsing but was recently told to use acid. Something about bleach leaving decay deep in the rock. When I ask if acid did the same thing I got no reply. Be your own judge on that one. So I guess the short story is if you have time cooking is the best solution. If not acid or bleach can do the trick.

 

[aerius007]

Well cooking it for 6 months is out of the question. Bleaching would be ok. What about letting them sit out in the open for a week? Wouldnt that kill everything? Couldnt I then rinse them really well and be ready to go?

 

[Kreeger1]

nope, you need to kill the stuff in the rocks. Bleach or muratic acis is the way to go. They will break down all the stuff in the rocks. If you just put it out and clean it you'll have issues down the road you don't want
Erik

 

[Kreeger1]

Bryopsis can go dormant, I let a rock sit ou over winter, Chuck cleaned it off added it to his tank and 2 months later the bryopsis came back.
Bleach would of killed it

 

[aerius007]

Ok, lets say I bleach this rock, rinse, sit in water and rinse again. Everything is dead (excluding myself of course) and ready to go. Kreeger mentioned using it as base rock but this is really nice stuff that should be displayed. Is there any problem with using them as display pieces? I know they will be bone white but with proper lighting, calcuim, pods and everything else shouldnt they look great and be "live rock" again in a month or two. I know I put a koralia in my tank and in a month it was purple, rock should be the same right?

 

[Kreeger1]

Yep, your rock will come back in a few months. If it was me I'd purchase a few pieces of almost fully cured live rock to put in between all the dead rock to help speed things up.

 

[aerius007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14628061#post14628061 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kreeger1
Yep, your rock will come back in a few months. If it was me I'd purchase a few pieces of almost fully cured live rock to put in between all the dead rock to help speed things up.

Hey Eric, its from that deal with the 55g I was telling you about. I plan on putting this rock in my 120 so the wall can be more gradual, not so straight up. So it will be mixed in with 150lbs that is well established. I dont see anything terrible on the rock but there is some bubble algae and hydroids I would like to get rid of.

 

[Kreeger1]

cool, I'd soak it in bleach the clean it good and you'll be ready to go.