I decided to use this method to clean my rocks. I used Phosfree which I got at my local pool store. I know some of this is redundant, but wanted to show my progress.
I took the rocks out of the tank and left them outside without water for about a week. I than put the rocks in a 55 gallon drum with rodi water with a pump and heater. The heater was set to 80 degrees. I left the rocks in the water for another week. The smell was HORRIFIC...... I than proceeded to use the PhosFree.
Phosfree
Here is the 55 gallon drum filled with water, pump, heater and rocks. There is 45 gallon of water in the drum. I know this cause I had too bring up 9, 5 gallons buckets filled with ro/di water from the basement. lol.
After letting the rock soak in the water for a week, I took a phosphate reading. The reading came out to be 0.33. I actually thought it was going to be worst.
After the test, I added 100ml of Phosfree. I just decided to dose 100ml. You can't really over dose. A cap full of the Phosfree treats up to 8000 gallon. So, you can do the math.
After 24 hours the water seemed a little clearer. I also noticed that the smell was completely gone. Has this happened to anyone? I aslo took a phosphate reading after 24 hours and was surprised of the reading 0.08.
I than added another 100ml of Phosfree and tested again in 48 hours. The reading came back high, 0.10. That means that phosphate is still coming out of the rocks.
Added another 100ml and tested after 24 hours. The reading is now lower. 0.05.
I added another 100ml and will test in 48 hours. This a long process, but I rather do it like this than deal with the algae. My goal is to have the phosphate get to 0.03 or lower.