Curing Dry Rock

[Dragon174]

I know that there is a thread around here some where I just can't find it. I had to tear down my tank and I'm restarting. I am power washing all of my rock and spraying it with 35% hydrogen peroxide to kill all of the nasty brown hair algae and will let it soak in the sun before a final wash. I want to then start to cure the rock in RO/DI saltwater for at least a week or two before it goes back into the tank for scaping.

I was going to add Brightwell Aquatics ERASE-CL DECHLORINATOR to the water. Is there anything else I should do besides adding a power head for water movement? How long should it sit in the container (35 gallon Brute)?

 

[Shusblues]

I have done the same process. I used to get dry rock from Florida and cure it. There is no need for the DECHLORINATOR. You didn’t use any chlorine or beach so your good there. Adding a heater helps, keeping the water warmer speeds up bactieria population set it at 84 degrees. Also another tip is to seed it with start up, bio spira, Dr Tim’s or etc. Let it circulate for about three weeks or you can Add a source of nitrogen and cure it for months. The longer the better.

 

[cvrle1]

I would personally use bleach bath. This way you are sure that you kill everything on it, and in it. By spraying hydrogen peroxide, you are only going after areas where you have algae, but may miss a lot of other things. Sun will not kill these either. This in turn can cause lots of issues down the road when you setup your tank.

Proper rock bleach is done in about 3 weeks or less, and you have guaranteed clean rock.

 

[Shusblues]

I would personally use bleach bath. This way you are sure that you kill everything on it, and in it. By spraying hydrogen peroxide, you are only going after areas where you have algae, but may miss a lot of other things. Sun will not kill these either. This in turn can cause lots of issues down the road when you setup your tank.

Proper rock bleach is done in about 3 weeks or less, and you have guaranteed clean rock.

I agree, I have done a bleach bath as well with curing and completely sanitizes the entirety of the rock. Also it will reduce the amount of ammonia and phosphate leeched out from the rock when curing

 

[andrewey]

+1 on using bleach in lieu of hydrogen peroxide in this situation.

That being said, I'm a bit confused why you are recuring your rock? Is it just for the hair algae or another reason? If it's just for hair algae, you can treat the rocks other ways and avoid the curing while maintaining your hard earned mature rock.

 

[Shusblues]

Vibrant