cleaning used dry rock ... questions? can we bleach it?

BummersReef · May 20, 2016

125 gallon set up in the works. ordered 50 lbs BRS reef saver that should be here in 5 days or so. We got some used rock that was wet a few weeks ago, from a guy that broke down his tank. A couple of the pieces are real nice and we'd like to use. read somewhere to "acid bath" it. but ... ackkkk ... that sounds relatively dangerous and a big pain. Read elsewhere that washing/soaking in bleach will also work.

any thoughts on how to best prepare/clean this used rock so we can put it in when we build the scape and start the cycle? its is not stinky or anything but I do see "stuff" on it. not totally green covered just a little brown and green in spots. I really don't want to do the acid thing .....

thanks all!!

Untamedrose · May 20, 2016

If you bought it as just more rock...and dont want live sure bleach it.

But....if it's not smelling and it's stuff on it... I'm just a bit Why? whats the point of killing it?

BummersReef · May 20, 2016

Untamedrose said:
If you bought it as just more rock...and dont want live sure bleach it.

But....if it's not smelling and it's stuff on it... I'm just a bit Why? whats the point of killing it?

uhhh .. I don't know! LFS seems to think we should. actually they said bring it in and they will cure it for 6 months and give us 50 cents a pound ... so we can buy their live rock I suppose?? might there not be bad disease stuff growing on it? it is recently dead. perhaps it shall decay further? oh heavens I am confused.

Untamedrose · May 20, 2016

Id just stick it in the new tank.... Yes it will spike ammonias part of your cycling, will cure and seed the dry stuff all at the same time.

vic67 · May 21, 2016

+1 ^ - Anything on the rock will add "fuel" to the cycle.

LetItReef · May 21, 2016

When in doubt. Give it a good scrub with ro/di or distilled water. Let it dry then cure it on a seperate container with a powerhead for a couple weeks.

BummersReef · May 21, 2016

LetItReef said:
When in doubt. Give it a good scrub with ro/di or distilled water. Let it dry then cure it on a seperate container with a powerhead for a couple weeks.

plan is to put it in the tank with the dry we are buying plus the live we are getting from LFS all at the same time. Expect to be doing that within the week. As we have acrylic, we want to build the scape just once and not be adding rock later, to minimize scratching.
it is quite clean already and has no smell but as we really have no idea if the guy we got it from had any tank problems with pests, we do want to try and kill any badguys.
Right now we have it soaking in weak water and bleach bath. Plan is to wash real well after, soak again with declorinator and dry for a day or two and use it to build with the other rock. we won't put it in if there is any bleach odor etc.

so appreciate this advice everyone!

Tautog · May 21, 2016

That sounds like a good plan, I did the same to a large clam shell and coral that was in my garden for 20 years. But, and there's always a but, how come after all my live rock, coral( dead), and clam shell were in the tank, why did all of the fish hang out by the dead stuff from my garden???

PatW · May 22, 2016

Bleach will oxidize things. If your rock is loaded with organic matter, bleach will attack it and get most of it off of the rock. After bleach, I would soak the rock for awhile in RODI.

Acid is best for attacking phosphates that are bound to the rock. Rock is calcium carbonate. Acid converts your rock to CO2 and water. Acid is fast.

For removing phosphates, I like curing. Dump the rock into salt water with a power head and let it soak for several weeks. Curing will correct virtually all the problems given a water change or two and time. If there is a bunch of organic matter on the rock, it could really smell during curing. Doing a bleach attack first will make the curing a lot less smelly

reefcleaners · May 22, 2016

If you do an acid bath with muriatic acid or something like that, remember to add the rock to water, and then add the acid. Never pour water into acid or drop the rock into an acid bath because splashes will be dangerous. Same with chlorine or bleach. This greatly reduces any danger. Rubber gloves, safety goggles, neutralizing agents and a shower nearby in case of spills. Use in a well ventilated area. (Outside next to the hose for example). Remember of course to neutralize either later and flush and rinse the rock well.

You can probably just scrub and rinse the rock or cure it in the tank. The LFS sounds like they are scaring you into paying them, unless you are worried about the possible odor.

zoomonster · May 22, 2016

If its got organic material I would bleach it first. I used a bunch of fairly clean old rock from storage this time around and it just got the muriatic bath. Outside, gloves, goggles, garden hose, rubbermaid container, muriatic acid and some baking soda to neutralize and your good to go. Pretty simple and plenty of threads about how to do it. Between buying a pack of gloves, a couple boxes of baking soda and 2 gallons of acid (needed some for my pool too) maybe I spent $25 at Lowes. Old rock years in tanks and I was not going to chance having a new tank have issues from the start from leaching phosphates (plus I ended up with nice clean white rock). Depending on the condition of the rock (i.e. precipitated phosphates) that leeching could go on indefinitely and no cure/soak for a few weeks is going to resolve that. Do what you feel comfortable with and if that rock had a fairly good life in that other tank you'll probably be fine. Hey if nothing else there is always GFO after the fact.

BummersReef · May 23, 2016

reefcleaners said:
If you do an acid bath with muriatic acid or something like that, remember to add the rock to water, and then add the acid. Never pour water into acid or drop the rock into an acid bath because splashes will be dangerous. Same with chlorine or bleach. This greatly reduces any danger. Rubber gloves, safety goggles, neutralizing agents and a shower nearby in case of spills. Use in a well ventilated area. (Outside next to the hose for example). Remember of course to neutralize either later and flush and rinse the rock well.

You can probably just scrub and rinse the rock or cure it in the tank. The LFS sounds like they are scaring you into paying them, unless you are worried about the possible odor.

We were too scared of the drastic acid thing so we opted for the bleach. We've already done the bleach wash once and rocks look good and have no smell. we think it is safe to pop them in with everything else when we build the scape and start the cycle.
We really wanted to do all dry rock and save the money (and also reduce use of real coral rocks, reef ecology etc...) but the LFS scared us too bad by saying it would take 6 months to cycle. So we opted to do the combo of live and dry.
expect to start building scape as soon as BRS rock order arrives.

thank you so much, this forum has been SOOOO helpful. Can I give it an award??

FishOfHex · May 24, 2016

BummersReef said:
125 gallon set up in the works. ordered 50 lbs BRS reef saver that should be here in 5 days or so. We got some used rock that was wet a few weeks ago, from a guy that broke down his tank. A couple of the pieces are real nice and we'd like to use. read somewhere to "acid bath" it. but ... ackkkk ... that sounds relatively dangerous and a big pain. Read elsewhere that washing/soaking in bleach will also work.

any thoughts on how to best prepare/clean this used rock so we can put it in when we build the scape and start the cycle? its is not stinky or anything but I do see "stuff" on it. not totally green covered just a little brown and green in spots. I really don't want to do the acid thing .....

thanks all!!

To be honest i would stay away from used rock all together, I like to think of reef rock as a big sponge whatever mistakes have been made in that tank more or less have gone into the rock. I have had several clients who have purchased used rock off CL just to find themselves fighting algae for months and months with no idea why and after paying hundreds of dollars for someone to help them figure it all out they could of just saved that money and got more dry rock before. I'm sure some people have gotten away with it and wont agree but im just giving you a heads up.

BummersReef · May 25, 2016

T

FishOfHex said:
To be honest i would stay away from used rock all together, I like to think of reef rock as a big sponge whatever mistakes have been made in that tank more or less have gone into the rock. I have had several clients who have purchased used rock off CL just to find themselves fighting algae for months and months with no idea why and after paying hundreds of dollars for someone to help them figure it all out they could of just saved that money and got more dry rock before. I'm sure some people have gotten away with it and wont agree but im just giving you a heads up.

thank you! I so appreciate the thoughts. I've gotten range from "just throw it in" to "don't use" so we are going right down the middle lol ... We bleached it and soaked real well and will only use select pieces. Some are light in color and light weight .. Others dark grey and brown (rock color ... Nothing organic on it) and dense.

Anyone know what type of rock the darker one might be? I love the shelf it has and want to use but it is so dense .... And a color I am not used to seeing ???

FishOfHex · May 25, 2016

BummersReef said:
T

thank you! I so appreciate the thoughts. I've gotten range from "just throw it in" to "don't use" so we are going right down the middle lol ... We bleached it and soaked real well and will only use select pieces. Some are light in color and light weight .. Others dark grey and brown (rock color ... Nothing organic on it) and dense.

Anyone know what type of rock the darker one might be? I love the shelf it has and want to use but it is so dense .... And a color I am not used to seeing ???

The

BummersReef said:
T

thank you! I so appreciate the thoughts. I've gotten range from "just throw it in" to "don't use" so we are going right down the middle lol ... We bleached it and soaked real well and will only use select pieces. Some are light in color and light weight .. Others dark grey and brown (rock color ... Nothing organic on it) and dense.

Anyone know what type of rock the darker one might be? I love the shelf it has and want to use but it is so dense .... And a color I am not used to seeing ???