Rock cooking, it does work.
- Thread starter SeanT
- Start date
TJcop
Throws Money Into Water
eleodes: I'm glad you at least went back into the thread and found out what the true meaning of "cooking" actually is.
I guess that's one of my pet peeves; someone who sees a title of a post or jus the first or last post, then makes some type of assumptive comment, not even knowing what they're talking about.
Again, glad you at least went back and got yourself educated on the matter. And I do agree with you that we should be conserving our natural resources. That's why there's a company called Tampa Bay Saltwater, all they do is aquacultured LR. Even though it's aquacultured doesn't mean that it shouldn't be cooked!
I guess that's one of my pet peeves; someone who sees a title of a post or jus the first or last post, then makes some type of assumptive comment, not even knowing what they're talking about.
Again, glad you at least went back and got yourself educated on the matter. And I do agree with you that we should be conserving our natural resources. That's why there's a company called Tampa Bay Saltwater, all they do is aquacultured LR. Even though it's aquacultured doesn't mean that it shouldn't be cooked!
yes well i apologize and fully retract everything that i said. it was the middle of the night and i had been on the computer all day and on top of my other sins i also didn't know what thread i was on. i was going back and forth between this one and..........
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=613225
.......where the meaning of "cooking" was temporarily confused.
i had guessed there was more to it than boiling rock anyway because the term is used in quotes.
my first post was just a knee-jerk reaction to attitudes (that apparently do not prevail on this thread) that i have run into <em>previously</em> that LR is just something you add for biological filtration or to build caves or to glue corals onto.
so throw some more punches if you must but otherwise just ignore this digression and get back to the topic of your thread. i think that i have been sufficiently humbled.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=613225
.......where the meaning of "cooking" was temporarily confused.
i had guessed there was more to it than boiling rock anyway because the term is used in quotes.
my first post was just a knee-jerk reaction to attitudes (that apparently do not prevail on this thread) that i have run into <em>previously</em> that LR is just something you add for biological filtration or to build caves or to glue corals onto.
so throw some more punches if you must but otherwise just ignore this digression and get back to the topic of your thread. i think that i have been sufficiently humbled.
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cdraughon
New member
After reading this thread and battling this red hair algae for several months, I think I'm going to give this a try, Here is a pic of my problem:
My questions are:
1. Does the salinity of the ASW used for the "cooking" and "swishing" need to match what is in my tank? I keep it a 1.025
2. I have this growing on my overflow as well. How can I rid it from here without it spreading to other parts of the tank? For example, after scraping some off last Thursday, I noticed today some of the algae attached to some staghorn acropora!
I'm in the process of trying to locate some Macro for a fuge I will be incorporating. Know where I can get some? LFS here are no help.
Thanks
My questions are:
1. Does the salinity of the ASW used for the "cooking" and "swishing" need to match what is in my tank? I keep it a 1.025
2. I have this growing on my overflow as well. How can I rid it from here without it spreading to other parts of the tank? For example, after scraping some off last Thursday, I noticed today some of the algae attached to some staghorn acropora!
I'm in the process of trying to locate some Macro for a fuge I will be incorporating. Know where I can get some? LFS here are no help.
Thanks
anyone cooking their rocks ever run into heating problems within their containers?
anyone cooking their rocks ever run into heating problems within their containers?
i just started cooking some yesterday. 100lbs. it all went into a 33gal brute can in the garage. the water temp was 80 (normal for the garage water), but with the addition of a mag9.5 and a mag7, the temp this morn was 104!!! who knows what's left in there. i took out the mag 7-because the other is on a type of DIY manifold. i don't think the water will get back down to 80 though. anyone else run into this problem? i'm going to have to put it on wheels and move it into the house i think, as i don't want to leave the top off with a fan-or is that ok-it will get some light that way when door opens, and garage light.
anyone cooking their rocks ever run into heating problems within their containers?
i just started cooking some yesterday. 100lbs. it all went into a 33gal brute can in the garage. the water temp was 80 (normal for the garage water), but with the addition of a mag9.5 and a mag7, the temp this morn was 104!!! who knows what's left in there. i took out the mag 7-because the other is on a type of DIY manifold. i don't think the water will get back down to 80 though. anyone else run into this problem? i'm going to have to put it on wheels and move it into the house i think, as i don't want to leave the top off with a fan-or is that ok-it will get some light that way when door opens, and garage light.
Acroholic
Premium Member
I am in the process of setting up a new system. I have not, as of yet purchased any live/base rock. The last few days, I have been reading intently about this process. (and I don't really want to put my rock in the oven!....just kidding) If you were to do it all over again and had to start from scratch, as I am, what would you do as far as main display rock?
A. Base Rock seeded with a few pieces of live rock.
B. Low quality live rock, then put through the cooking process.
C. High quality live rock, then put through the cooking process.
D. High quality live rock, cured in display tank.
E. Plain base rock.
or something that I missed.
Would like to hear your comments/suggestions
A. Base Rock seeded with a few pieces of live rock.
B. Low quality live rock, then put through the cooking process.
C. High quality live rock, then put through the cooking process.
D. High quality live rock, cured in display tank.
E. Plain base rock.
or something that I missed.
Would like to hear your comments/suggestions
Weatherman
New member
How about:
F. High quality, fully cured live rock, cooked in the display tank with all circulation pumps running and a big skimmer running wet to help remove stuff.
When I started from scratch with my 120 (a little over five months ago), it was the easiest way to go. You do, however, have to fight the overwhelming urge to turn the lights on and start putting coral and fish in the tank. If you start with nice, clean live rock to begin with, the wait is about five weeks.
F. High quality, fully cured live rock, cooked in the display tank with all circulation pumps running and a big skimmer running wet to help remove stuff.
When I started from scratch with my 120 (a little over five months ago), it was the easiest way to go. You do, however, have to fight the overwhelming urge to turn the lights on and start putting coral and fish in the tank. If you start with nice, clean live rock to begin with, the wait is about five weeks.
Acroholic
Premium Member
Good Idea, I guess it would be better if I black out the tank, maybe use black plastic taped over viewing panels? Take the rocks out and shake them in a seperate container when it's time. Do I still need to change all the water each time I rinse rock? Any other suggestions?
Weatherman
New member
Fortunately, it doesnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t need to be pitch-black dark in the tank in order to prevent algae from growing. My 120 is in an interior room of my house and even in the middle the day, without the lights on, the PAR is barely 1 (with lights on the PAR ranges from 1500 just above the water surface to around 200 on the bottom corners of the tank).
As far as the need to take the rock out of the tank to shake it off, or the need to change water, it all depends on how dirty the rock is to begin with.
I started out with pretty clean rock to start, so all I did was blast the rock with a Maxi-Jet once a week and siphon out some heavier debris, which had settled to the bottom of the tank and the sump. I had to add a half-gallon of water a day to replace what my skimmer removed, and about three or four additional gallons a week to replace what was removed during from the debris removal sessions. Otherwise, I only did one water change (about 80%) right at the end of the rock-cooking session. About the only degradation in water quality I could see was cloudiness from a bacterial bloom for about a week.
When the rock cooking was done, I knew everything had worked out ok because after I turned the lights on, I didnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t have to clean any algae film off the glass for another three weeks.
As far as the need to take the rock out of the tank to shake it off, or the need to change water, it all depends on how dirty the rock is to begin with.
I started out with pretty clean rock to start, so all I did was blast the rock with a Maxi-Jet once a week and siphon out some heavier debris, which had settled to the bottom of the tank and the sump. I had to add a half-gallon of water a day to replace what my skimmer removed, and about three or four additional gallons a week to replace what was removed during from the debris removal sessions. Otherwise, I only did one water change (about 80%) right at the end of the rock-cooking session. About the only degradation in water quality I could see was cloudiness from a bacterial bloom for about a week.
When the rock cooking was done, I knew everything had worked out ok because after I turned the lights on, I didnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t have to clean any algae film off the glass for another three weeks.
Weatherman
New member
Re: Algie
Re: Algie
And, what would happen if you stopped using zeovite... even for a little while?
Re: Algie
kevan said:
And, what would happen if you stopped using zeovite... even for a little while?
edwar050
New member
Fast Uno,
Sounds like you went out and bought some LR teaming with life only to have some of it die on you?
With my tank I had numerous problems. 1. Didn't know how old/used my LR was. 2. It was teaming with small feather dusters and there were massed areas of die off. 3. I could have turkey blasted the bejesus out of it but it would have gone back into the water column and I am running skimmerless. 4. There was to much LR for my 55 so some will be allocated to my 45 sump. 5. It should hypothetically take care of the bryopsis and cyno.
Reasons I chose to "cook" rock: 1. It gives my macro algae a stronger chance to compete with bryopsis. 2. My tank is extremely easy to clean being BB. 3. It will allow me to aquascape with my favorite pieces, rest to the fuge. This also helps with my plan of attack via flow and my bare bottom. 4. After removing 1/3 of my rock weekly for a month and placing it in other sw and scrubbing the crap out of it with a toothbrush to remove Hair Algae I chose this route. 5. The increased flow is now reaching to what were once dead areas. 6. There was so much crap coming off the rocks after switching to BB that I finally new where my phosphates were coming from. 7. I had some areas of gulf rock that had total die off and were rotting due to lack of light. 8. less rock and more aquasacping means increased flow - The list goes on and on-
I also figure that once back in my tank if I continue with aggressive water changes and coraline scraping I will have more healthy stable water paramaters.
Sounds like you went out and bought some LR teaming with life only to have some of it die on you?
With my tank I had numerous problems. 1. Didn't know how old/used my LR was. 2. It was teaming with small feather dusters and there were massed areas of die off. 3. I could have turkey blasted the bejesus out of it but it would have gone back into the water column and I am running skimmerless. 4. There was to much LR for my 55 so some will be allocated to my 45 sump. 5. It should hypothetically take care of the bryopsis and cyno.
Reasons I chose to "cook" rock: 1. It gives my macro algae a stronger chance to compete with bryopsis. 2. My tank is extremely easy to clean being BB. 3. It will allow me to aquascape with my favorite pieces, rest to the fuge. This also helps with my plan of attack via flow and my bare bottom. 4. After removing 1/3 of my rock weekly for a month and placing it in other sw and scrubbing the crap out of it with a toothbrush to remove Hair Algae I chose this route. 5. The increased flow is now reaching to what were once dead areas. 6. There was so much crap coming off the rocks after switching to BB that I finally new where my phosphates were coming from. 7. I had some areas of gulf rock that had total die off and were rotting due to lack of light. 8. less rock and more aquasacping means increased flow - The list goes on and on-
I also figure that once back in my tank if I continue with aggressive water changes and coraline scraping I will have more healthy stable water paramaters.
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edwar050
New member
So there was more life?? Wonder if it was bc there was so much algae on the rocks lol... There would not be much reason to cook IMAO if your rock was pretty bare and you had good coraline coverage and stable water parameters. I was just fighting an uphill battle and was loosing. I left about 20 pounds in the tank and fuge. The 20 pounds was mostly shelf and non porous. All corals are attached to these rocks as well, much like the small frag rocks shean T eluded to earlier. How much of a detrimental effect will keeping some of the rock in my tank have on cooking. I have nearly elimintated the HA in my tank and sump after 1 week of cooking. Also, what is the reccomended time on cooking? 1 1/2 months??? Very happy with the progress so far- Tank looks alot better
"not everyone in this hobby can afford the proper equipment as well"
"not everyone in this hobby can afford the proper equipment as well"
poknsnok
New member
ok.. I may have missed this... I see all this hair algae on rock of a bare bottom tank. I thought that the bb method was the way to go to keep this from happening. ive read all these bare bottom posts and am leaning towards the task of desanding my 200 gal. i dont have an algae problem but my nitrates are too high. this thread was tied to a bare bottom thread,so thats why im asking Im not attacking the bb-ers, just looking for info. what was the problem with this BB tank to spur the algae to grow?
