Boiling Dry Rock

Earl Karl · Jan 19, 2018

I know a lot of people are against this, but I do not have time to spend with other methods (for personal reasons). I want to add a piece of fuji and pukani rock from BRS to my system, but I obviously need to cure it first. All method but one (according to my research) takes a long time, as stated I do not have time for that. I know the dangers of boiling live rock, but what about dry rock? Does boiling speed up the process of leaching organics and phosphates? Is it still safe, or are there things I need to be concerned of?

Brew12 · Jan 19, 2018

Earl Karl said:
I know a lot of people are against this, but I do not have time to spend with other methods (for personal reasons). I want to add a piece of fuji and pukani rock from BRS to my system, but I obviously need to cure it first. All method but one (according to my research) takes a long time, as stated I do not have time for that. I know the dangers of boiling live rock, but what about dry rock? Does boiling speed up the process of leaching organics and phosphates? Is it still safe, or are there things I need to be concerned of?

It is still fairly dangerous. Not only do you risk the rock exploding but it can still release dangerous toxins.

It will speed up the process as far as organics go but won't impact phosphates as much.

If you are in a hurry and the pieces are small enough I would soak it in straight vinegar for a few days before installing it. Then again, if they are small enough in relation to your water volume you may not need to worry about curing it at all.

Earl Karl · Jan 19, 2018

I'm not saying you're wrong, but isn't the only way for the rock to blow up if hot air molecules expand within the pores of the rock? Is it the same with water molecules? As far as my knowledge go, I don't think it would explode, but I don't know if it wouldn't. But toxins is also something I don't want. The rocks are large though, I like the vinegar option, but I also don't have time for a few days...
Well, looks like I need some toxic in my body. But before I inhale some palytoxin or whatever, could you verify if the rocks will explode or not? I have heard rocks exploding due to idiots trying to kill things off with a propane torch, but not boiling water... but I may be wrong as well.
DISCLAIMER: I do not plan to kill myself or my family, I will boil this outside.

glagunda · Jan 19, 2018

muriatic acid , rinse with water and put it in a container with salt water. add bio spira and done. should take less than 30 days to cure.

MounteeFrag · Jan 19, 2018

It's dry rock. I would rinse in ro/di water and just throw it in.

Brew12 · Jan 19, 2018

Earl Karl said:
I'm not saying you're wrong, but isn't the only way for the rock to blow up if hot air molecules expand within the pores of the rock? Is it the same with water molecules? As far as my knowledge go, I don't think it would explode, but I don't know if it wouldn't. But toxins is also something I don't want. The rocks are large though, I like the vinegar option, but I also don't have time for a few days...
Well, looks like I need some toxic in my body. But before I inhale some palytoxin or whatever, could you verify if the rocks will explode or not? I have heard rocks exploding due to idiots trying to kill things off with a propane torch, but not boiling water... but I may be wrong as well.
DISCLAIMER: I do not plan to kill myself or my family, I will boil this outside.

The risk of explosion is from water expanding and/or turning to steam and increasing pressure faster than it can escape. It is much less likely in boiling water but not impossible.

jda · Jan 19, 2018

Boiling will not release any of the bound phosphate. Only time in saltwater with a lower concentration of phosphate will do this.

If you want something fast, go and buy a cured piece of liverock from a LFS. ...or some Real Reef man-made rock.

sde1500 · Jan 19, 2018

Boiling won't do a thing for phosphates bound in the rock. Why hurry, most overused yet true mantra is nothing good happens fast.

SDReefer · Jan 19, 2018

Boiling is too risky and dangerous. A little algae in your tank is nothing compared to personal injury. Just rinse it off and put it in the tank if you don't have time.

FlyinBryan · Jan 19, 2018

Earl Karl said:
I know a lot of people are against this, but I do not have time to spend with other methods (for personal reasons). I want to add a piece of fuji and pukani rock from BRS to my system, but I obviously need to cure it first. All method but one (according to my research) takes a long time, as stated I do not have time for that. I know the dangers of boiling live rock, but what about dry rock? Does boiling speed up the process of leaching organics and phosphates? Is it still safe, or are there things I need to be concerned of?

I used the same product and did not boil the rock or anything. I just put it in the tank and let it cycle for several weeks. I had the typical green slime outbreak on the rocks. However, the CUC helped handle this. My po4 is very low, I have to overfeed to get a reading.

I personally think too much is made of boiling or acid bathing the rock. I’ve used the same rock for numerous builds and have never had an issue with po4 etc.

Reefnewb · Jan 19, 2018

If it’s clean dry rock from a supplier like Marco or brs i would just rinse it and put it in slowly over a couple weeks. If it’s dry rock from a previous system then do an acid bath rise and leave it in a bucket of RODI water overnight. Then you can add slowly to the tank. Remember nothing good in this hobby happens fast except hiding receipts from the wife!

User1 · Jan 19, 2018

Unless you want rock soup for dinner, the short answer is no. It won't do anything for you nor will it fill up your tummy. The risk of high temperature far outweighs any benefits. I mean "any". There are none. If you are in a rush, which is bad this hobby btw, acid, bleach, rinse, rinse again, declorinator, display.

Dry Pukani has a lot of phosphate in it - or at least so the history across the interwebs go. I tend to believe it because, well, I'm cycling 150lbs of it right now has I type this. My process was: power wash, 24 hours in a tub of bleach, rinse, 24 more hours in bleach, rinse, 24 hours in phosphate remover from a pool supply store (water instantly turned white), rinse again, another 24 hours in phosphate remover water, less white stuff, rinse again, with a plan to power wash on Saturday then place in tank to start the real aquarium cycle. I'm going to use Dr. Tim's just for the heck of it but I am in no rush since I believe phosphates will still be high.

TL;DR - don't boil. Risk is higher than zero gain. Just know even acid baths are risky to some degree and you will lose some of the rock during the process.

saltyfilmfolks · Jan 19, 2018

SDReefer said:
Boiling is too risky and dangerous. A little algae in your tank is nothing compared to personal injury. Just rinse it off and put it in the tank if you don't have time.

Yea. That.
Large volume small rock. It’s fine.
Large rock small vol. not good. Alk spike. Organics , who cares really. Stuff doesn’t get killed by increasing nutrients.

Boiling is ineffective. Cost benifit , none.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 19, 2018

I don't think it likely that boiling will remove phosphate from rock, since phosphate absorbs more strongly to aragonite as the temp is raised (at least in the 0-50 deg C range where I have seen data).

Boiling certainly may remove some organics, but some will remain, like a boiled piece of meat still stuck to the rock. lol

Fishfinder · Jan 19, 2018

What is the reason for the rush? There may be other options....

Earl Karl · Jan 20, 2018

UPDATE: Well, I boiled the rocks yesterday while you guys were telling me not to

. I decided to do an experiment since all of you had the same answers, but different reasons. None of the rocks exploded, in fact I'm glad I boiled the rocks. Well, I did it in half heat, since full heat made water splash everywhere, but it took out so much dead materials out of the rocks. The water was just murky, no way in hell the rocks were gonna cure in a month or so, especially when I could just do it in a day. Water in my tank is still sparkling clean and no algae outbreaks yet. I don't mind PO4 because this is a macroalgae tank. The macroalgae can appreciate some PO4 and maybe the bounce shrooms too. Now, I have a true beautiful underwater garden. Sure nothing good happens fast, but in reality, slow and steady loses the race. Jk.
In case you want to know what I did, all I did was slowly ramp up to half heat when boiling the rocks for 3 hours, then I simmer down slowly to prevent rock "explosions" which rarely happens.
P.S. For those who think that I could have just place the rocks in the tank because it was a macroalgae tank, you have no idea how murky the tank would have been if I didn't boil them.

Mark-Stover · Jan 20, 2018

Reefnewb said:
If it’s clean dry rock from a supplier like Marco or brs i would just rinse it and put it in slowly over a couple weeks. If it’s dry rock from a previous system then do an acid bath rise and leave it in a bucket of RODI water overnight. Then you can add slowly to the tank. Remember nothing good in this hobby happens fast except hiding receipts from the wife!

I love that last line...boy is that true!

FlyinBryan · Jan 21, 2018

Earl Karl said:
P.S. For those who think that I could have just place the rocks in the tank because it was a macroalgae tank, you have no idea how murky the tank would have been if I didn't boil them.

Thank you for the experiment. I got the same results you had for just putting it in the tank. Makes the water very murky, stinks to high heavens throughout the house etc. however, I believe it helps with the overall cycling process. It cleared in about 2 weeks and Ammonia read zero in 3.

I have a great system now supporting huge livestock population and corals are growing like weeds.

Hope yours goes well be interesting to see downline the results. Hope you post the cycling process!!

HexaReef · Jan 21, 2018

glagunda said:
muriatic acid , rinse with water and put it in a container with salt water. add bio spira and done. should take less than 30 days to cure.

Thats what i did

aumoenoav · Jan 21, 2018

Earl Karl said:
UPDATE: Well, I boiled the rocks yesterday while you guys were telling me not to . I decided to do an experiment since all of you had the same answers, but different reasons. None of the rocks exploded, in fact I'm glad I boiled the rocks. Well, I did it in half heat, since full heat made water splash everywhere, but it took out so much dead materials out of the rocks. The water was just murky, no way in hell the rocks were gonna cure in a month or so, especially when I could just do it in a day. Water in my tank is still sparkling clean and no algae outbreaks yet. I don't mind PO4 because this is a macroalgae tank. The macroalgae can appreciate some PO4 and maybe the bounce shrooms too. Now, I have a true beautiful underwater garden. Sure nothing good happens fast, but in reality, slow and steady loses the race. Jk.
In case you want to know what I did, all I did was slowly ramp up to half heat when boiling the rocks for 3 hours, then I simmer down slowly to prevent rock "explosions" which rarely happens.
P.S. For those who think that I could have just place the rocks in the tank because it was a macroalgae tank, you have no idea how murky the tank would have been if I didn't boil them.

Im not sure if this was irony or not, but I really hope you did not BOIL them in a pot on the stove or something? "Boiling rocks" are a very stupid word for beginners who thinks it really means boiling rocks in water on a stove.