Rock "Cooking"--a dangerous trend or something worthwhile?

[Boat Racer]

Tell me how many tank of the month winners had bare bottom tanks.

Thats a biased situation.Kinda like asking a hundred black people if they think OJ did it BB is not the norm and many refuse to showcase it or acknowledge its success.

There are many BB tanks that SHOULD have gotten the Tank of the month.I think it speaks volumes that a tank doesnt actualy need the sand bed that you preach about to have a tank of show quality.

 

[finneganswake]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6664690#post6664690 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Boat Racer
Thats a biased situation.Kinda like asking a hundred black people if they think OJ did it BB is not the norm and many refuse to showcase it or acknowledge its success.

Yeah, that's the ticket... Are the people who are keeping you down the same people who won't applaud BB tanks because they want to corner the sand market?:lol:

Maybe you should stick with the tone of your earlier posts and blame it on the homosexuals!

 

[gillies]

Wow this thread has really gotten ugly. Sometimes I think I get out of line, but someone always steps in and makes me look nice in comparison.

I see there are at least a few RC Mods reading this thread. What is your purpose here? With all due respect, the rest of us might just be looking to you for control and guidance. As the Mods debate with a couple others here, legitmate questions are raised by those who just want help; however, they are ignored or, at best, get brushed off with abbreviated answers so the Mod can get back to the exercise of endless debate.

The buildup of detritis can lead to excess phosphate which can contribute to a heightened chance of problem algae. Cooking rocks is one, albeit drastic, potential solution. Husbandry has also been suggested repeatedly as another viable, if not predetermining solution.

RC Mods, why not take a short break from endless bickering and provide us with a list of your best husbandry practices so we never have to cook our rocks.

 

[Boat Racer]

Maybe you should stick with the tone of your earlier posts and blame it on the homosexuals!

Hey Troll I never blamed anything on homosexuals I just told you to shut your Sausage Washer.I also deleted it because it was not the way I wanted to conduct myself around here.I cant beleive I keep responding to your babble.

 

[piercho]

My name is Howard and I'm a marine plant enthusiast. A few of you folks have some interesting notions on plants.

Phosphate is essential to plant growth (to all life), but itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s not the primary fuel. If you don't consider C, N (as ammonium, nitrate, and nitrite) is the primary fuel for most plant growth and IMO is usually the limiting nutrient in my tank and most tanks. There are fixers that can take up atmospheric N when there is an abundance of P, but the plants we usually consider chronic problems in reef tanks - ex: Valonia, Asparagopsis, Caulerpa peltata - aren't fixers. IF there is an abundance of P in a brightly lit, well circulated tank, IMO you will see it expressed by the presence of plants that can make use of it - probably a gelatinous-type mat-forming cyanobacteria.

Also, putting many algae in the dark won't kill them, as some of you think. The obvious plant dies but it persists in a dormant form for a long time. IMO if you've ever had Derbersia or Asparagopsis in your tank, you are always going to have it even though it may not be apparent, waiting for the right conditions to bloom.

I'm curious what the people who are putting their rock in the dark think of boiling rock, or otherwise sanitizing the rock such as in a vat where ozone is injected. A prominent reefer here in the Puget Sound, who had a RTOTM on RC, appears to be advocating this on Reef Frontiers and people are doing it. The rock boilers seem to have the same premises as the rock cookers, but have reached a different conclusion on the most effective way to deal with a substrate they feel is saturated with P.

If you are trying to limit P input to the tank and control some types of plants in the tank, why are you putting reef rubble in your tank? Why not use a synthetic media for a rock substrate? That seems to me to be the most logical path to where you want to go, instead of putting live rock in the dark or boiling it? There are a number of porous substrates with very fine pore size.

The title of this thread is a bit odd. What's dangerous about putting rock in the dark? Pressurized bottles of CO2 is certainly dangerous, as well as ozone. The number one dangerous trend in reef tanks is current-hungry equipment on inadequate house circuits in close proximity to saltwater. If people aren't harming themselves, why would you care what somebody you've never met does as part of their hobby?

 

[finneganswake]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6665121#post6665121 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by piercho
The title of this thread is a bit odd. What's dangerous about putting rock in the dark?

Actually, my perception that it is dangerous has more to do with the way proponents are pushing this practice than the practice itself. I'm opposed to the way it is thrown about as a cure-all for any algae problem, especially given that many of the people receiving this advice are newbies and, instead of being lectured on the basics of husbandry, are given a very disruptive method that doesn't address the source of the algae. It's no surprise that there are threads from people who have cooked their rock only to have the algae come back in a month or two.

I completely agree with you when you wonder why people don't just use synthetic substrate if they're going to cook their rocks--it seems like a huge waste of money to buy live rock only to intentionally destroy some of the life on it. Proponents keep saying that this isn't what is being suggested--to this, I say look at SeanT's NUMEROUS threads ranting against "aquacluttered" rock and why you should cook it to get rid of the "clutter."

 

[Sindjin]

So what? What does this mean? Debris tests for phosphates, therefor the water column will test high for phosphates? Debris tests for phosphates, therefor you NEED to cook your rocks?

The original intention of my test was to prove to someone (I forget who) that YES, PO4 IS actually built up inside Live Rock.
Did I prove my point? Yes. Does having the rock clean of internal detritus help the reefer to reduce PO4 importation into the tank? Yes, it does. Some may not care about this fact, but some do.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I see there are at least a few RC Mods reading this thread. What is your purpose here? .

While I take it you think we are not providing any useful service to you, I'll point out that I have more posts at RC containing information than everyone else in this thread combined.

RC Mods, why not take a short break from endless bickering and provide us with a list of your best husbandry practices so we never have to cook our rocks.

I believe that I have done that, over and over and over and over.
I was giving others time to express opinions and ideas.

However, it seems many people can't stick to the science, and get personal even after multiple public warnings from me.

So this thread is closed.