Rock cooking, it does work.

260 lbs of LR swished, dunked, and swashed... 6" of sand... no match for a 4hp shop vac!!!! Only took me like 5 hours... nothing too bad.. I have my rock in my 180g basement sump (not hooked up to display) with my new asm G6.. this should be a fun way to test the new skimmer... corals are on racks.. can't find anywere to dump the swash buckets... someone smeeled my dumping it down the drain and I had to stop.... they smelled it for 150 feet away!!! I took lots of pics and will post them soon... I need a beer....
Click to expand...


Are you saying you cooked your rock/ or cleaned it up in a couple of hours this way?
 
This is the first stage of the rock cooking process that hes talking about. He cleaned out all the Sand. He then did the first initial cleaning of the rock. Rock cooking in no means can be done in one day. This is a procedure that takes months if not more. I am on my 3 month mark and still not complete

This is the Thread. There is also more additional reading if your interested in the science behind it.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=437342&highlight=rock+cooking
 
Triton- I am cooking my rock.. ( I love telling people that) I posted some pics on my site of the process.. (little red house) Now if you don't have the time or the space needed to cook you rock and a just removeing your sandbed or something doing the first cleaning steps of cooking would be a great idea!!! With the amount of poop that came out of the rocks on the first round of cleaning I wouldn't do less!!! It is truely scary the amount of stuff in these rocks!!!!
 
I had the standpipe on the gatevalve open... then I capped it and had a hole dripped in the cap.... had problems with noise and water level ect... so I taped it up.. I only had pink tape :(
 
No, You want to isolate the Rock from the Excess nutrients from your tank.

You have fish waste,food and other stuff that will prevent the rock from what it has to do.
 
The rock will still shed gunk even if it is attached to the main system. Just be prepared for the process to take longer.
 
Well with the process sometimes takein over 6 months for some people, and the fact that it will still be collecting junk you feed to your tank.... it could take years if it even happens at all.... isolate it from your main tank...that is the whole point.....NO FEEDING!!!!!!
 
Just an update... week 6 or 7 now, rocks look great, almost nothing comming out anymore... mostly sand... no evil green stuff anywere to be seen!!!!! :) i do think 3 thinks helped speed up the process....
#1 I am running a BIG skimmer.. helps remove most of the junk, less work for the rock
#2 I swish and dunk the rock everday, with 100% water change ever weekend... (this is most likely the biggest help)
#3 I upped the temp tp 82*F.... maybe sped things up a little.....
I now have my 6100 streams and closed loop set up.. I think I will return the rock to my display next week!!!! I will also be hooking up my basement sump to the display at that time!! I am gettin a little scared :) My corals look great (untill I move them around next week!)
Wish me luck!!!!!
Nate D
 
So you want dead rock to soak up the nutrients for a couple of years and then you leech it out and start over? Is this what cooking is? Why not just set up the tank with nutrient export systems like a skimmer, refuge or a sand bed that gets tossed out patially every year?
 
Whaledriver said:
Why not just set up the tank with nutrient export systems like a skimmer, refuge or a sand bed that gets tossed out patially every year?
Click to expand...
That's the point.
Many are now just learning how important it is to have the nutrients being exported.
However, imo, a DSB is nothing but a nutrient trap unless it is regularly innoculated with the correct critters and maintained.
I like corals not sand. ;)
 
romunov said:
I can't believe people actually do this. You buy live rock for exactly that. Life. :)
Click to expand...
"Cooked" rock is still full of life.
After many months of cooking, my rocks were still covered with pods, bacteria, sponges.
However, the pest algaes and the organic materials to include Phosphorous (which is what was fueling these algae's on) are now gone.


I like corals not algae. ;)
 
Seems to me dead rock with one piece of live rock would seed the dead rock after months in a bucket. Why spend the money on live rock to begin with? To that point why not just get plastic rocks that look good and eliminate the "problem" all together.
 
Whalediver I've been cooking base rock for just about 3 months now.You'll be suprised how much crud comes out of base rock.
SeanT is correct,in the bucket of live rock i've been cooking it's loaded with pods and theres a nice yellow sponge still alive.The rocks go back in the tank in the next day or so.Finally after 3 months theres nothing on the bottom of the buckets
 
heres a pic of what came out of the base rock cooking bucket after only a week
VATCookingVAT.jpg
 
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