Rock cooking, it does work.

[Siffy]

I am trying to get some algae or other life form

Other. The whole point is to kill algae by removing one of their necessary energy sources (light) letting bacteria (the "other") become essentially the only user of nutrients. Through multiple cycles of anaerobic and aerobic bacterial processes the buildup in the rocks is pushed into the water column and then physically removed with water changes.

 

[rdmpe]

So if I want to cook this dry rock, I need to seed the cook tub with some water or a bit of sand from someone's tank to get some of the correct bacteria going in there I guess. Sounds easy enough...

 

[Milamber]

Power wash?

Power wash?

I have been cooking for almost a month now. The water after the dunk and swish wasn't as bad as when I first started. Then I grabbed a MaxiJet and blasted the rock. The water instantly became yellow on my first rock and all my pails were a yellowish brown colour when I was done. It seems like there was a lot more crap in the rock that the dunk and swish wasn't getting rid of.

 

[tgunn]

So if I want to cook this dry rock, I need to seed the cook tub with some water or a bit of sand from someone's tank to get some of the correct bacteria going in there I guess. Sounds easy enough...

I didn't seed my dry rock when I cooked; the decaying matter in the rocks started the cycle within a week. Seeding with a bit of sand or water from someone else's tank may speed up the process a bit though.

Tyler

 

[rdmpe]

I'm thinking that I need to seed the bacteria because my rock has been dry for years. I doubt there is much organic stuff left to decay. I may be wrong though. I was thinking I was trying to get rid of the Nitrates and Phosphorus compounds that may still be in the rock rather than actual rotting flesh (yum!)...

 

[tgunn]

I'm thinking that I need to seed the bacteria because my rock has been dry for years. I doubt there is much organic stuff left to decay. I may be wrong though. I was thinking I was trying to get rid of the Nitrates and Phosphorus compounds that may still be in the rock rather than actual rotting flesh (yum!)...

Bacteria is kinda magic that way. Same way when you start a cycle in a tank with a dead shrimp; the bacteria finds the decay and starts to multiply to consume it. I believe the bacteria's just all around us in the air, etc so it always can multiply where needed.

That said, it's not going to hurt to seed with some bacterial sources.

You could always try taking a piece of rock and swishing it real good in a bucket of RO water to see if anything comes out. Maybe even let it sit in the bucket for a few days and see if you start to see ammonia showing up in tests of the water; that'll give you a sure fire idea of what's in there..

Tyler

 

[bheron]

also, i beleive to your point you are trying to get rid of phosphate. and, in dry dead rock there can be tons of phosphate.

 

[canadian_001]

what worked for me was my yellow tang, eats the stuff like it's candy

 

[Rob_Reef_Keeper]

Week 3 - Not allot of detritus coming out of the rock. Some algae still present. A few mushrooms on the rock are still fully opened.

Tank is a mess. Brown diatom looking algae everywhere now.

I probably destroyed the tank now.

 

[tsquad]

Rob, don't worry. Are the diatoms primarily on the eggcrate coral racks? That's normal, as the plastic is leaching PO4. Mine got REAAAALLY nasty for a week or so, until I upped the flow around it, and now it's gone. Your tank should be fine, so long as you're running your skimmer wet (to make up for lack of bio filtration of the rock).

 

[graveyardworm]

Week 3 - Not allot of detritus coming out of the rock. Some algae still present. A few mushrooms on the rock are still fully opened.

Tank is a mess. Brown diatom looking algae everywhere now.

I probably destroyed the tank now.

Sorry to hear whats happening Rob, my guess on whats happened. You removed all of your bio filter at once and at the same time left alot of detritus behind, possibly your skimmer wasnt up to the task, ammonia spike? Maybe adding some of the rock back may help, large water changes. Then slowly remove the rocks to the cooking tank. I've been doing mine one rock at a time and so far havent experienced any algae bloom.

 

[graveyardworm]

Last night I was switching cooking rock from one tank to another, and carefully picking them over for nuisance algae, and I found this guy hiding in a crevace.

Probably never would have found it otherwise. Its living happily in my 10 gal catch all tank now. Also I've been finding alot of chitons on the inside of the barrel.

 

[Milamber]

I have a question regarding cooking. From my understanding you leave the rock in the dark to let the anaerobic bacteria take over from any light requiring bacteria/algae. Is there aerobic and anaerobic bacteria? How do you know the anaerobic bacteria is cleaning everything out when clearly there is oxygen in the water.

Am I missing something?

 

[NorthernCF]

The anaerobic bacteria lives in the worm and other holes deeper in the rock. You know it is cleaning the rock because crud will be shedding out of it.

 

[graveyardworm]

The reason you keep it dark is to kill off algae and allow bacteria to take over. The O2 in the water really only penetrates alittle way into the rock, as you get deeper into the rock the O2 runs out and the anaerobic bacteria take over.

 

[Milamber]

How do you know when you are done? Or at what level do you stop might be a better way to put it.

When I dunk and swish the water doesn't really get dirty (it's been a month). But, if I take a powerhead to the rock the water gets dirty pretty quickly.

 

[graveyardworm]

Ithink it was posted earlier maybe page 13, it depends on what your removing from the rock ( algae, aiptasia, or just detritus). You'll probably never get the rock 100% clean, I think 6 or 8 weeks was perhaps the minimum. Someone suggested testing for PO4? If you havent already done so read through the last 2 or 3 pages the answer was there somewhere.

 

[SeanT]

How do you know when you are done? Or at what level do you stop might be a better way to put it.

When I dunk and swish the water doesn't really get dirty (it's been a month). But, if I take a powerhead to the rock the water gets dirty pretty quickly.

Then you are not done.
My rule of thumb is that when you have very little detritus in the bottom of your cooking tub and swishing does not dirty the water up too much.

Sean

 

[wds21921]

While some of the inhabitants will normally die off doesn't the same thing happen in the ocean? Perhaps not for the same reason but die off is a natural process. Isn't this along with nutrient exchange the reason for water changes? As well as protein skimming etc.

There's no way we're ever going to have a completely perfect system but creating a system that supports the life we're trying to keep is the goal I believe.

At the same time cooking rock to me simply to avoid one or a few types of algae defeats the purpose of LR altogether. Essentially what you wind up with is dead rock.

Sorry but I'm not sold on this idea at all.

 

[sherm71tank]

I didn't want a tank that was full of algae - HA mostly and tried everything I could think of and then lots of things I didn't think of like AZNO3 and PO4MINUS and nothing I did worked. I was about ready to just give up and get out of the hobby. I kept running across these threads by SeanT and Bomber about rock cooking and the BB method. I thought "what do I have to lose?" This was several months back and my tank is algae free and cleaner than it has ever been and I'm actually trying some sps now that are looking good so far. You may not be sold on it but I am and I'm glad I did it!