Cleaning rock from second hand tank

[Sixhills]

Hi, I'm planning on buying a used tank that is up and running since 1.5 years.

The tank will ofc be emptied and thoroughly cleaned, but I'm planning on reusing the live rock.

Is there any good way of treating the rock to make sure not to bring along any pests (aiptasia) etc but still keep most of the beneficial bacteria and the "matureness" of the rock?

 

[WVNed]

Do you see any? It depends on how the tank has been maintained.
There are ways to deal with them if you get one.

Just dont glue all the new rock into a 68 pound mass that wont come out of the tank and then find one

 

[Sixhills]

Yeah the previous owner has had aiptasia problems.

I will be taking the rock out of the water and store in a trashcan with saltwater and a pump while I'm moving and setting up the tank.

I'm thinking if I can clean the rock with something like hydrogen peroxide before adding it back to the tank. But would that mean the rocks will loose the beneficial life on them?

 

[WVNed]

I dont think peroxide will do anything.
I have tried high pH, low pH, osmotic shock with saturated saltwater or RODI and heat with mechanical scrubbing.
Running tap water at full hot on them while scrubbing with a toothbrush works the best. If you are careful with the stream you can do a targeted area.

Since the aiptasia are one of the hardest things on the rock to kill any batch process that works is going to wipe out most everything else too

How big is this tank and do you have to move other animals like fish that need an immediate setup?

 

[Sixhills]

I dont think peroxide will do anything.
I have tried high pH, low pH, osmotic shock with saturated saltwater or RODI and heat with mechanical scrubbing.
Running tap water at full hot on them while scrubbing with a toothbrush works the best. If you are careful with the stream you can do a targeted area.

Since the aiptasia are one of the hardest things on the rock to kill any batch process that works is going to wipe out most everything else too

How big is this tank and do you have to move other animals like fish that need an immediate setup?

Oh so they're that hard to kill... well maybe I should just get some new rock instead to avoid the problem.

 

[WVNed]

Are the rocks covered. Are the rocks nice?

If I wanted to use the rocks I would spread them in the set up tank and kill all the aiptasia I see and then turn them and look again the next day. I think you could get them all this way. with a bit of patience.
But I know most people dont have any now,

When you buy stuff to put in your tank the odds of ending up with more in the future is very high. SO you will probably have to learn to deal with them someday anyway.

I have about 10,000 in my system but I have fish that eat them so none are seen in my DTs.