Bugs in my rocks...survive bleach bath

[Ryanj1105]

This is the craziest thing I've ever seen... I recently bought some dry rock from a local guy. It was used but had been sitting in his garage for a while so first off I wanted to clean it up since it looked pretty dirty, I loaded all the rock in to buckets and fill them with water for 24hrs, then I let them dry for a day and today I decided to give them a bleach bath to ensure they have a fresh/clean start in my tank... So about 3hrs into the bleach bath I check on the rock. At first glance the rock looks whiter so I was happy about that then I see somethings crawling around, every rock had these bugs crawling on them under water like they have no care in the world. First I'm thinking how are they surviving under water then I'm like its a gallon of bleach in this water too... These are common bugs too I call them rolly-poleys I'm not sure of the correct name but the bleach isn't affecting them I have no idea what to do now!!!

 

[Ryanj1105]

There's at least 100 crawling around not great pictures sorry

 

[thebluecatapilla]

Last time I think rolley-pollies (i believe sow bugs is the actual name but rolley Pollies are more fun to say) are not aquatic insects, so they should die soon. I always thought they looked like tiny land trilobites though.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Rollie Pollies, Sow Bugs, Pill Bugs, Woodlouse....they have a bunch of different names. This rock must have been sitting outside somewhere where these guys moved in. And I would think rock, with all it's holes and crevasses would be ideal for these guys.

Their exoskeleton is most likely protecting them from the bleach...but eventually they will succumb.

 

[Jlobes]

haha, I just restarted my tank. I took all my rock out, bleach/rodi soaked it, vinegar soaked it, rodi soak, then built the rockscape. I left it outside to cure and sit for a week or so. when I put it in the tank and filled it up, had dozens of those guys coming outta the rocks and just chilling, like they didnt care. took a few days, but they all died and are gone now, i picked many out with tweezers. it was crazy, like they could live and breathe underwater. I think they were in some deep air pockets that didnt get filled until the next day or something, but you should be fine in a day or so. LOL

 

[Jlobes]

Rollie Pollies, Sow Bugs, Pill Bugs, Woodlouse....they have a bunch of different names. This rock must have been sitting outside somewhere where this guys moved in. And I would think rock, with all it's holes and crevases would be ideal for these guys.

Their exoskeleton is most likely protecting them from the bleach...but eventually they will succumb.

+1 to this!

 

[Ryanj1105]

Yea they just really caught me off guard didn't expect to see them crawling around lol...

 

[Jlobes]

Yea they just really caught me off guard didn't expect to see them crawling around lol...

me too!! i was irate, for a brief second. then i laughed and hoped for the best

 

[Ryanj1105]

Hopefully 24hrs in the bleach bath does the trick, if not vinegar is next!!!

 

[Ryanj1105]

Question which soak had better results @Jlobes

Bleach vs vinegar?

 

[Jlobes]

both. they do different tasks. the bleach was used to kill all the living organisms(algae, bugs etc) and the vinegar cleans the rock. the vinegar(full strength) also dissolves a thin layer of the rock, leaving it very clean and without the surface contaminants(phosphates)

 

[Ryanj1105]

Ok how long should I leave in the vinegar? @Jlobes

 

[brandon429]

mini trilobite fossils awaiting discovery in 10,000 yrs by some space suit clad martians.

question

who has established how deep the po4 binding goes into any rock, is it 1/16th inch, 5 inches> wondering

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

mini trilobite fossils awaiting discovery in 10,000 yrs by some space suit clad martians.

question

who has established how deep the po4 binding goes into any rock, is it 1/16th inch, 5 inches> wondering

That's a really good question. @Randy Holmes-Farley, do you know?