Acid Curing Live Rock? | Reef FAQs

[randyBRS]

Hello!

Curing live rock has some options and today we cover one of the less commonly used, but highly effective approaches with Acid Curing.

Although this one may not be our preferred method, mostly because of the loss of rock mass from the acid and additional safety precautions, but it definitely works so we thought we'd share what acid curing is, when you would use it, and how to acid cure.

 

[shred5]

Your use of the term live rock confuses people, this is dead rock.
No one would ever want to do this with actual live rock.

This does work good on dead rock though.

 

[Water Dog]

Nice video! . However, one would think that since Pukani is no longer available, acid curing isn’t really really as important as it used to be. I’ve found that BRS Reef Saver or Marco style rock is relatively clean as compared to dead organics and phosphate laden Pukani. Thus, extreme acid curing isn’t really necessary for Reef Saver or Marco rock IMO.

 

[User1]

Nice video! . However, one would think that since Pukani is no longer available, acid curing isn’t really really as important as it used to be. I’ve found that BRS Reef Saver or Marco style rock is relatively clean as compared to dead organics and phosphate laden Pukani. Thus, extreme acid curing isn’t really necessary for Reef Saver or Marco rock IMO.

You raise a great point.

I'm part of the #Pukaniistheworstrockever crowd. Probably one of the worse reefing mistakes and purchases I made. Year in and it is still leaching phosphates like a break in a levee.

Edit: Nice video btw.

 

[Water Dog]

You raise a great point.

I'm part of the #Pukaniistheworstrockever crowd. Probably one of the worse reefing mistakes and purchases I made. Year in and it is still leaching phosphates like a break in a levee.

Edit: Nice video btw.

I treated my Pukani aggressively with commercial strength Sea Klear lanthanum chloride, then it sat in a Brute can with saltwater, changed regularly for over the course of a year and a half before setting up my tank. So far, so good!

 

[McPuff]

I treated my newest rock with bleach and then with acid... after two weeks of baking in the summer sun. Worked really well. That was 3 years ago so not really "new" I guess. :0) But it was from an existing setup (not my own) and I wanted to be sure I didn't introduce anything. Besides that, I had to wait a few months before I had a place to even put the rock.

 

[User1]

I treated my Pukani aggressively with commercial strength Sea Klear lanthanum chloride, then it sat in a Brute can with saltwater, changed regularly for over the course of a year and a half before setting up my tank. So far, so good!

You are smart. I wish I would have done that. I pressure washed, then a few days in bleach, then rinsed and did a couple more days in baths of lanthanum. Obviously it wasn't enough I'm doing a water change today then maybe tomorrow attempt a dose of phosphate rx. Never used it and I am not setup to use filter socks so trying to see if I can place a sock in my sump so water passes at least and dose in there.

Live and learn, right?

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

Your use of the term live rock confuses people, this is dead rock.

I agree, the term "curing" is not really proper here. I would call it Acid Treatment or something other than "curing". Acid Treatment basically kills everything and leaves you with rock and nothing else. Not having watched the video, I'm sure you cover that though

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

I acid bathed my pukani. Super easy and well worth it. It has so many holes, crevasses and hiding spots for organics. I still have some cooking in a Rubbermaid three years later as I didn’t get the bigger tank I planned on. Lol. Maybe this year. I did use a small amount of it without issue.

 

[Dr. Reef Verified Sponsor]

i am in process of setting up my 375 gal tank and i have 200 lbs of BRS reef saver and about 100 lbs of shelf rock from BRS.
I do not want to acid wash them and just treat for phosphate. I dumped 200 lbs of pukanii rock out of my old setup which has been in my last tank for 5 yrs and with constantly using LC i just now got it low enough to be happy but i am dumping it out and starting over with reef saver and shelf rock.

My questions to you guys is, can i place all this new rock in saltwater in a tote and run a powerhead and dose LC daily till i see no phos? i cannot find a step by step procedure for just stripping phosphate out of dry rock.

 

[siggy]

No one would ever want to do this with actual live rock.

I did when I had bubble & algea problems, I pulled the rock worst affected and nuked it, Like the man said the algae was still present and Green but it easily came away with a garden hose. I have done this a few times and I found 20 to one or less is best. I fill the brute with rock then fill water until rock is covered then add acid until I see a reaction then let it sit for awhile ( less acid more time ) it really cleans out the pores in the rock (old dirty dead rock). FYI Pukani did not do well, the structure became thin and brittle. I then soak in bleach to brighten and oxidize the critters. You would be surprised how many worms/bugs survive the acid.
Tonga was acid washed and had loss (regretted it) the Fiji sat in 1 cup bleach 5 gal. water for a week and came away beautiful.

x

 

[shred5]

I did when I had bubble & algea problems, I pulled the rock worst affected and nuked it, Like the man said the algae was still present and Green but it easily came away with a garden hose. I have done this a few times and I found 20 to one or less is best. I fill the brute with rock then fill water until rock is covered then add acid until I see a reaction then let it sit for awhile ( less acid more time ) it really cleans out the pores in the rock (old dirty dead rock). FYI Pukani did not do well, the structure became thin and brittle. I then soak in bleach to brighten and oxidize the critters. You would be surprised how many worms/bugs survive the acid.
Tonga was acid washed and had loss (regretted it) the Fiji sat in 1 cup bleach 5 gal. water for a week and came away beautiful.

x

That is not what I was talking about. People are going to think they need to do this with actual live rock. This process is also like Floyd said is not curing. That process is something completely different.
My problem is not with the video it is the terms they use. It confuses people especially new people.


There is no way something survived acid and bleach.
I was doing acid and bleach washes like 15 years ago or so so I understand the process. I was probably one of the first to use this process of using bleach. I had used them on my breeding tanks so I knew it was safe.

I have dropped actual live rock into bleach and acid bath several times when tearing down a tank or rebooting one. But that is not what this video is about.

Someone will buy some aquacultured live rock and think they need to do this. It may seem far fetched but Example: cooking of live rock how many times did people think they need to actually cook or boil the rock on a oven or stove? To the point a family almost died because they did it with zoas on it. Terms are important to differentiate the between process and items. This prevents someone from waiting tons of money when they buy actual live rock and then mistakenly dump it in vinegar.

 

[siggy]

cooking of live rock how many times did people think they need to actually cook or boil the rock on a oven or stove? To the point a family almost died

I have read these scary accounts.

Someone will buy some aquacultured live rock and think they need to do this

I knew what you meant, I was just sharing what I did when algae gets out of hand, it was a quick way to clean and store until used.

There is no way something survived acid and bleach. I was doing acid and bleach washes like 15 years ago

You guys paved the way for us to reuse old rock. I agree with you with that cure or curing should not be used in these applications.
BTY 15 min. in acid and the worms were still crawling out of the rock (walking dead?). the dead ones looked plump and juicy thats when I realized bleaching was still needed to break down the fat & proteins as well as organics. I curently have a brute filled with the rock that was washed 6-12 months ago, I will test to see if anything remains.