Rock cooking, it does work.

[bheron]

Tyler - thats more of what I'm thinking too. Cant seem to get a straight answer, or anyone that said they tested for PO4 until your post. thx.

 

[SeanT]

Q: How do I know my rocks are done cooking? Check the pop up thermometer?

The easy rule of thumb is that after you get done dunking and swishing, there is very little detritus in the buckets.
hth,
Sean

 

[bheron]

Thanks Sean. I got it.

Another quesiton - right now, my rock has been cooking in the dark in new RODI SW with a powerhead and heater. But I dont see too much on the bottom of the tub. Should I be seeing alot? Its been about 2.5 weeks, and I'm on my 2nd cycle of swishing.

Here's what my LR looked like about 1.5 weeks ago. I thought this was in bad shape?

 

[Mogrash]

Depending how loaded your rocks are with phosphate, it might not be a bad idea to monitor the phosphate level in your cooking tub.

The rock I cooked started off releasing lots of phosphates into the water. Each week the amount seemed to stay the same until finally near the 6th week it started going down considerably until finally it registered near 0.

At the last swish/dunk the rocks were still able to give off a bit of crud, but nowhere near what they did initially. Some would say I should've waited longer until they came out perfectly clean, but I did get rid of the PO4, and that's mostly what I was aiming for.

Tyler

I'm curious as to what point (time) after starting cooking the rock you noticed phosphate. Did you wait a week before testing phosphate? As soon as you took the rock out? When?

I'm also wondering why if at week 6 (2.5months) you see no more phosphate yet the recommended time is 6months for cooking.

Thanks in advance,

Moggie

 

[bighaig]

Mogrash
People are usually done "cooking" at the end of 2 months (8 weeks). Again that is MOST people, not ALL people. It all depends on what you are really trying to do...kill algae, kill Apastia (sp), remove PO4, etc...and how much of each you have on/in the rocks.

I am at week 2 of the cooking process, but I do not have algae or Apastia issues, I simply want to remove all PO4 and crud in my rocks so they are cleaner for my tank. I will most likely be done at 8 weeks, as long as I swish, dip, water change every weekend.

 

[tgunn]

I'm curious as to what point (time) after starting cooking the rock you noticed phosphate. Did you wait a week before testing phosphate? As soon as you took the rock out? When?

I'm also wondering why if at week 6 (2.5months) you see no more phosphate yet the recommended time is 6months for cooking.

Thanks in advance,

Moggie

I generally tested at the END of a week before I dumped the water, swished and filled back up again.

Generally in the first week not a lot happened; minimal ammonia, no phosphate, etc. Around week 2 my ammonia was starting to spike, and nitrites began showing up... Phosphates came in around 1.0 mg/L, so pretty high. Around week 3 the nitrates spiked pretty high and the phosphates started reading around 0.5 mg/L consistently. Week 4-5 PO4 was consistent around 0.5 mg/L...

I didn't really stop cooking based on the PO4 alone; it had dropped to around 0.1 mg/L before the last dunk/swish and week of soaking.

There was little detritus coming out at this point and I deemed the cook done enough for me...

Tyler

 

[tgunn]

Thanks Sean. I got it.

Another quesiton - right now, my rock has been cooking in the dark in new RODI SW with a powerhead and heater. But I dont see too much on the bottom of the tub. Should I be seeing alot? Its been about 2.5 weeks, and I'm on my 2nd cycle of swishing.

Here's what my LR looked like about 1.5 weeks ago. I thought this was in bad shape?

Bryan,

Is that rock all covered in green algae or is that just the rock color? If there's lots of algae on the rock you might try scrubbing some of it off in the swish/dunk stage with a brush of some kind. If there's lots of algae it may be plugging the pores of the rocks and keeping it harder to get the gunk out. Are you getting a lot off when you dunk/swish?

Tyler

 

[SeanT]

Thanks Sean. I got it.

Another quesiton - right now, my rock has been cooking in the dark in new RODI SW with a powerhead and heater. But I dont see too much on the bottom of the tub. Should I be seeing alot?

bheron,
It takes a bit for the detritus to start coming out.
If there are nutrients in the water then the bacteria go for that first, easiest meal.
That is why 2 water changes a week are recommended to keep the bac hungry and boring.

hth,
Sean

 

[SeanT]

To set the record straight in my personal beliefs.
I don't test for PO4 when I "cook" rock.
Waste of a test.

When all the algae is gone and the rocks have stopped shedding and your dunking and swishing in the buckests has left reasonable clean water you are through...so long as it has been going for at least 4 weeks imo.

Sean

 

[bighaig]

Would srubbing the rocks weekly help speed up the cooking process? In terms of pulling deal life and detrius off? Or is it extra un-necessary work?

 

[graveyardworm]

Generally in the first week not a lot happened; minimal ammonia, no phosphate, etc. Around week 2 my ammonia was starting to spike, and nitrites began showing up... Phosphates came in around 1.0 mg/L, so pretty high. Around week 3 the nitrates spiked pretty high and the phosphates started reading around 0.

Tyler

Hi tgunn, Is the rock you describe here new or rock from an established tank?

 

[SeanT]

Would srubbing the rocks weekly help speed up the cooking process? In terms of pulling deal life and detrius off? Or is it extra un-necessary work?

The more algae you take off the rock the quicker the procees.
Not cutting the time in half or anything, but quicker.

 

[kimoyo]

I generally tested at the END of a week before I dumped the water, swished and filled back up again.

Generally in the first week not a lot happened; minimal ammonia, no phosphate, etc. Around week 2 my ammonia was starting to spike, and nitrites began showing up... Phosphates came in around 1.0 mg/L, so pretty high. Around week 3 the nitrates spiked pretty high and the phosphates started reading around 0.5 mg/L consistently. Week 4-5 PO4 was consistent around 0.5 mg/L...

I didn't really stop cooking based on the PO4 alone; it had dropped to around 0.1 mg/L before the last dunk/swish and week of soaking.

Sean,
In regards to cooking land mined base rock to rid it of phosphates. Do you think most of the work is being done by the bacteria or the water changes?

 

[Weatherman]

Both.

Bacteria re-mobilize the phosphate compounds from the rock, releasing the compounds into the water. Water changes remove them.

The two work in tandem.

 

[kimoyo]

Thanks Weatherman.

 

[Rob_Reef_Keeper]

Well, I decided to try this method of the month since everything else has failed.

I started cooking the rock last week. After 1 week - nothign much happening in the tub. The rock still has algae on it and the mushrooms that were left behind are still opened up.

However, since I pulled ll the rock out of the tank things are not so good. I built a rack for the SPS corals. You can barely see into the tank (very cloudy) and the corals do not look so good.

I am thinking I should have just traded the corals for new LR and just started over.

 

[tsquad]

My tank was very cloudy when I first took the rock out. I was going to go BB and took out the sand, and it all got stirred up. So I took the corals and put them in my cooking tub for the night. They wouldn't know the difference. The next day, it was all clear again, so I put them back on the rack, and they're doing great now.

 

[Rob_Reef_Keeper]

I has no sand to begin with. That was last years attempt to fix the algae problem.

 

[Chrash236]

WOW

WOW

Well guys I have been cooking my rock now for four weeks, let me tell you there is a lot of crap in my rocks, worms the sizes of my finger, ect...

good news.. bubble algae gone, hair algae gone

Bad news rock is black when will the rock turn back to a clean color or look better?

anyone ever have this problem.

I have done four dunk and swishes

I know that I am at least six weeks out from putting my tank back together

but what to do about the black crud



And for all of those thinking of doing this and you dont think your rock is nasty put it in dark and see what the house smells like five days after when you lift the lid! I about puked.

 

[edwar050]

I had some of the same looking stuff on mine about two weeks ago but now its gone. It was about a month in when the black appeared and a month and 1/2 and its gone. Very happy with the cooking process so far, the rock no longer smells like crud but like natural ocean seawater.