Curing dead reef rock with sodium percarbonate?

[MannyS]

Hello Everyone I hope that you are all well. I need some urgent advice.

So basically I'm in the process of curing some old dead rock that was full of dead organics.

Ive bought a second hand red sea reefer 625. It came with all of the equipment and about 150kg of reef rock. I wanted to keep them alive. But wasn't able to so they sat in the bins. For about a month.

Ive gone with a bleach cure. However I'm not sure if I've used the right bleach . It was soo hard to find the right one. And I think the one that I've gone for might not be right as it contains sodium percarbonate instead of chlorine. It was in a powder form(violets bleach)


These are the pictures of how I've set it up. Got two bins and two pumps for circulation. And two heaters in either one set to 25 degrees

Ive let them soak in rodi water for about 4 days now. Im not sure if its working. It is starting to smell so I thin that it's working. But not sure as there is still a lot of green stuff on it. There are some pictures below of the rock. My question is how would I know when they are cured and how long shall I leave them in there for. I have watched the brs video on it. Do you reckon I should empty it out and fill it with tap water then use the Right bleach.

I want to cycle my tank as soon as possible.
In terms of cycling my tank I will be using natural sea water which comes with bacteria and live sand. I have got a few pieces of dry ceramic rock as well. I was going to go with all ceramic Rock. But I thought would be a waste not using the rock that I already have.


Thank You looking forward to your views on this
Manny

 

[homer1475]

Why on earth is bleach vegan friendly? Who the heck is going to eat it? lol

If it were me, I would just empty the buckets out and get some normal chlorine bleach (any chlorine bleach will work, as long as it's not the splashless kind) and start over. Normal bleach will kill the organics, and bleach the rock back to white.

 

[MannyS]

Why on earth is bleach vegan friendly? Who the heck is going to eat it? lol

If it were me, I would just empty the buckets out and get some normal chlorine bleach (any chlorine bleach will work, as long as it's not the splashless kind) and start over. Normal bleach will kill the organics, and bleach the rock back to white.

Haha thank You soo much for your reply. Haha I honestly have no idea. It sounded good and eco friendly. I think I was too cautious didn't want to add any bad chemicals to the rock. Ok I will defo try that. Can I use tap water instead of rodi then just add dechlorinator? Because I might just use a pressure washer to wash them first then restart the process

 

[homer1475]

This is the bleach I buy at my local walmart, but any non scented, splash less chlorine bleach will work.

Clorox Disinfecting Bleach - Regular - 121oz

Read reviews and buy Clorox Disinfecting Bleach - Regular - 121oz at Target. Choose from contactless Same Day Delivery, Drive Up and more.

www.target.com

 

[homer1475]

Haha thank You soo much for your reply. Haha I honestly have no idea. It sounded good and eco friendly. I think I was too cautious didn't want to add any bad chemicals to the rock. Ok I will defo try that. Can I use tap water instead of rodi then just add dechlorinator? Because I might just use a pressure washer to wash them first then restart the process

Most certainly. I would use tap, soak for a few days, rinse with tap, or pressure wash like you mentioned, put back in bucket, fill back up with tap, add dechlorinator, let sit for a few more days. Then do a final couple day soak in RO/DI, and more dechlorinator(prime from seachem works great).

 

[homer1475]

Ha just realized I google a link to target, but I get the same from walmart.

Chlorox disinfecting bleach. Or cleaning bleach. Both are the same, just slightly different concentration of chlorine.

 

[MannyS]

Most certainly. I would use tap, soak for a few days, rinse with tap, or pressure wash like you mentioned, put back in bucket, fill back up with tap, add dechlorinator, let sit for a few more days. Then do a final couple day soak in RO/DI, and more dechlorinator(prime from seachem works great).

Perfect Thank Youu soo much!! I will try that and see how I get on. Thank you

 

[homer1475]

No problem. Were all here to learn and share our experiences and knowledge.

 

[Blindzy]

Why on earth is bleach vegan friendly? Who the heck is going to eat it? lol

If it were me, I would just empty the buckets out and get some normal chlorine bleach (any chlorine bleach will work, as long as it's not the splashless kind) and start over. Normal bleach will kill the organics, and bleach the rock back to white.

Soooo, Why not the splashless type? That is all my store had and I have some of my old rock from my last tank in it now for 3 days. Am I screwed?

 

[Dcloser12]

Swimming pool shock or any chlorine powder for spas and pools if you can't find run of the mill bleach. Soak for a day, rinse. Allow to air dry then soak for another day in dechlorinator then rinse in ro. Presoak in some salt water with microbacter or another culture to preload the rock and test the water for chlorine before you add it to the new tank setup. You should be on your way to a good live rock setup that's pretty and white

 

[mfinn]

Most certainly. I would use tap, soak for a few days, rinse with tap, or pressure wash like you mentioned, put back in bucket, fill back up with tap, add dechlorinator, let sit for a few more days. Then do a final couple day soak in RO/DI, and more dechlorinator(prime from seachem works great).

This is what I do, and have done multiple times.

 

[mfinn]

Soooo, Why not the splashless type? That is all my store had and I have some of my old rock from my last tank in it now for 3 days. Am I screwed?

there was a thread on R2R a while back that had some negative things said about the splashless bleach.
Regular bleach is easy to find so I just go with what I've used in the past.

 

[Dcloser12]

Splashless has additives that soak into the rock, are impossible to wash out and leach back into the water.