Will cooking rocks, kill bristle worms?

[reef4life07]

I'm in the process of cooking, baking, curing(I prefer curing) some live, and dry rocks for at least 2 months. By doing this, will this kill hitch hikers? I'm trying to target bristle worms, I have a lot of them. These rocks are going in my soon to be seahorse tank.

 

[Dapg8gt]

Do a bleach bath Initially to kill the organics/worms then cycle the rocks normally with ammonia/shrimp etc.. That should get rid of the bristle worms imo. I'm not sure if they will be eradicated just by not adding food since they eat basically anything.

 

[shesacharmer]

Won't soaking them in fresh water kill them just as easily? Beware actually cooking live rock due to toxins released.

 

[reef4life07]

Won't soaking them in fresh water kill them just as easily? Beware actually cooking live rock due to toxins released.

Hmmm, didn't think of that. So how long should I leave them in fresh water? Can it be done in minutes?

 

[Amethyst]

I have boiled rocks successfully - not reef type, but just plain old rocks for my freshwater tanks. I have also been told by numerous people not to boil rocks because they could explode, causing risk of harm.

I would think a bleach solution would work just as well without the risk of exploding rocks. If you do this, rinse until you can no longer smell chlorine and then soak in water with 2x the dechlorinating conditioner you would normally use for awhile, just to make sure all the chlorine is out of the rocks.

 

[avandss]

Whatever you do don't boil them indoor, even outdoor is risky

 

[dan_k]

Yes please no oven or boiling water 1 week bleach 3-1.....1 week vinager 3-1 this will neutralize the bleach then a week freash rodi done and done
This has always worked for me never any problems and all done outside
Note
3 gallons tap to 1 gallon bleach
3 gallons tap to 1 gallon vinager

 

[Aquarist007]

This is a very useful thread

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1587539

 

[reef4life07]

Thanks guys, I will go to the super market tomorrow, and pick up bleach, and vinegar.

 

[Crooked Reef]

I have boiled rocks successfully - not reef type, but just plain old rocks for my freshwater tanks. I have also been told by numerous people not to boil rocks because they could explode, causing risk of harm.

I would think a bleach solution would work just as well without the risk of exploding rocks. If you do this, rinse until you can no longer smell chlorine and then soak in water with 2x the dechlorinating conditioner you would normally use for awhile, just to make sure all the chlorine is out of the rocks.

It's not so much about exploding rocks for reef tanks. It's the chance or some unseen palythoas or zoanthids releasing toxins which get into the air when you boil them. Look up palytoxin. It could actually be fatal, though usually you just get really sick if you can get to an ER.

 

[tkeracer619]

Reef rock is full of holes. It can explode from pressure built up inside.

That said...

DO NOT BLEACH YOUR LIVE ROCK. Bristle worms are not bad, they are a sign of excess feeding/nutrients.

Just putting it all in saltwater for two months will reduce their population but you want them, they are beneficial to your tank.

 

[Dapg8gt]

I totally agree about the bristle worms being one of the best things to have in a tank and it's actually a pet peeve of mine reading the usual threads asking advice on how to kill them because "I don't like them" or "they totally gross me out" . But if the op is using this for a seahorse tank they actually can do harm to them from what I've been told.

That being said I've never dabbled in seahorses but from my friends long experience with them there is a lot of things that can effect the health of these fragile animals, and from what I remember he said the same thing towards bristle worms fwiw..

 

[Crooked Reef]

Reef rock is full of holes. It can explode from pressure built up inside.

That said...

DO NOT BLEACH YOUR LIVE ROCK. Bristle worms are not bad, they are a sign of excess feeding/nutrients.

Just putting it all in saltwater for two months will reduce their population but you want them, they are beneficial to your tank.

Sure they can, but exploding from boiling water is a lot less likely than exposing them to fire. Porous rocks explode when they have moisture in side of them that is stuck in internal holes and super heats resulting in steam. The steam expands to a much greater volume and pressure than to what water expands when heated to boiling. Even if the pores have water in them that expands too much I think the most anyone will get is a cracked rock. It could crack with enough force to splash some water out of a pot but if you remove the rocks from heat when the water starts to boil there is no way for the water inside of the rock to heat to the temperature to produce steam. With no steam building up the pressure in a rock will not get high enough to "explode".

 

[shesacharmer]

My comment originally was referring to palytoxin which while not especially likely can be fatal to people and pets. Just not worth the risk. I would think a day in freshwater would kill the worms.

 

[ktownhero]

I don't get the point of worrying about bristle worms, they are signs of a healthy tank. I certainly would never consider straight-up KILLING live rock over them. Why not just leave it alone? Like somebody else said, you could just let the rock sit alone in some salt water for a while and they will likely die off a bit.

Definitely don't bleach it. I don't understand why people ever put bleach on something that is going into their tank (any type of tank). But live rock especially since it has so many holes in it, there's absolutely no way to be sure you got everything out.

 

[Kungpaoshizzi]

I took others advice originally about leaving bristle worms, they're a sign of a healthy tank.

After time, they WILL over run the tank. (if you haven't had them do that, good for you lol I wasn't so lucky)

Anyways, that sucked, I obsess now about making sure I don't introduce them at all.
So ya, a good vinegar bath will help (it also helps release phosphates from the rock) and a quick bath in some bleach overnight won't hurt. (use only a cup or small amount to 5 gallons or such, but be sure it's plain old chlorox and you soak+rinse a couple times after that; add dechlorinator if u like to neutralize the bleach)

 

[reef4life07]

I have bristle worms in my reef tank, but don't want them in my seahorse build. The tank is filled with establish water, have all my equipment running, gfo, gac, cheato, and skimmer. Water parameters are on point. All I really need is my rocks, but until I cure/bleach so I can get rid of them worms/toxins that are a threat to seahorses, I will not add those fish until the rocks are ready. I want to thank you all for your opinions, and informational replies. Any more thoughts would be highly appreciated. Thanks again.

 

[ktownhero]

I have bristle worms in my reef tank, but don't want them in my seahorse build. The tank is filled with establish water, have all my equipment running, gfo, gac, cheato, and skimmer. Water parameters are on point. All I really need is my rocks, but until I cure/bleach so I can get rid of them worms/toxins that are a threat to seahorses, I will not add those fish until the rocks are ready. I want to thank you all for your opinions, and informational replies. Any more thoughts would be highly appreciated. Thanks again.

Why not just buy a few pieces of dry rock?