Decontamination/bleaching of live rock

[hotdrop]

Stupidly I bought 3 large rocks from a guy on CL for $20. Get what you pay for it was contaminated with hair Algee and Aiptasia. It either needs to be tossed or bleached. Is it worth doing a bleach soak or just better to toss it? There are a few tiny low grade corrals on the rocks and Kenya trees but I’m not sure they are worth the effort to save.

One of them is the real reef stuff and another something similar, 1 5gallon bucket in size so 15-20 lb approximately 1 gallon displacement if that makes any difference for value.

A cheap lesson on the importance of good quarantine practice I suppose as I didn’t stock the tank yet.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Depends on how cool the rocks are really.

 

[hotdrop]

Nothing special, just 2 chunks of life rock. How does one actually find high quality live rock anyway? Seems likely that it will have one of the highly invasive pests I read about here.


Is man made or dry rock now the recommended starting rock? What’s the current wisdom

 

[A sea K]

Starting with dry rock to eliminate any pest does seem to be the "in" thing to do for most. I would still take additional cleaning steps even when using dry rock. I personally soak the rock to loosen any dried and crusty debri then I do an acid bath to help aid in the release of any pent up phosphate followed by several soak/rinses before finally adding to the tank.

 

[hotdrop]

Do I need a special acid or will star San work fine?

 

[AcroNem]

Do I need a special acid or will star San work fine?

A muriatic acid bath with a lot of rinsing will help get organics off of it. For bleaching you need at least a ten minute soak at 500ppm (1tbs dry per 5gal) to sterilize, then ten minutes in sodium thiosulfate (1/2tbs per 5 gal). I'd be concerned with bleaching something so porous though, an acid bath is likely your best way.

 

[A sea K]

Yes muriatic acid, have no idea what star fan is. You should do a search for specifics on acid washing LR before proceeding. Muriatic acid is some strong stuff so knowledge and caution are well advised before undertaking.

 

[hotdrop]

Yes muriatic acid, have no idea what star fan is. You should do a search for specifics on acid washing LR before proceeding. Muriatic acid is some strong stuff so knowledge and caution are well advised before undertaking.

Starsan https://www.amazon.com/Five-star-St...9520405014&psc=1#immersive-view_1549393923817 typical food grade sanitizer. Yeah I figure it would be pretty nasty stuff if handled improperly

 

[A sea K]

Well that stuff looks pretty dangerous as well. You can get muriatic acid at nearly any lowes, home depot, hardware or pool supply place. Likely be cheaper than the starsan stuff anyway.

 

[redfishbluefish]

For an opposing opinion, I'm not big on acid dipping rock. It simply give you less rock as the acid eats away the calcium carbonate. It's also very dangerous and if you go that route, do it outside.

I'm a bleach believer. Put your rock in bleach for at least a week. This will start the cure by oxidizing the organics in the rock. After bleach, rinse multiple times and let completely dry out. If you wish to use sodium thiosulfate, that will immediately bind up the remaining chlorine in the rock.

Now the rock needs to cure in saltwater. Soak in saltwater and do weekly water changes....continue until nitrates and phosphates are pretty much gone. This could take a month of two. It's now ready for your tank. The cycle has most likely occurred during the cure.

Here's the BRS video on acid and bleaching rock:

 

[RazorD]

why not just scrub off hair algae and starve it off? A large bin and powerhead with frequent water changes.

 

[redfishbluefish]

why not just scrub off hair algae and starve it off? A large bin and powerhead with frequent water changes.

That's more or less Melev's way......

 

[TriggerFinger]

I got 80ish lbs of “used” dry rock that was previously live in a tank. I put the rocks in a brute with vinegar, prime and tap water for a week to get the initial stank off. I changed the water a few times bc the smell was terrible. I then rinsed and dried in the sun for another week. I then put them in a bleach solution for a few days and did the rinse and dry again. Some of these rocks are in a small tank I have and the rest are cycling in another brute in saltwater. Knock on wood, so far so good 7 months later.

 

[doughboy]

if you want to sanitize it, do it all the way.
I've always used muriatic acid, then bleach.
you can use vinegar instead of muriatic acid.
acid until the rocks stop bubbling or it slows down. repeat until you don't get bubbling on a fresh batch of acid solution.
if it is not bubbling, its not doing anything. so leaving it in non bubbling solution does not do anything.
bleach will kill anything organic on the rocks.
I then power wash (or just hose off with tap water if you don't have a power washer) afterwards, then let it dry in the sun for a few days.

 

[A sea K]

For an opposing opinion, I'm not big on acid dipping rock. It simply give you less rock as the acid eats away the calcium carbonate. It's also very dangerous and if you go that route, do it outside.


Now the rock needs to cure in saltwater. Soak in saltwater and do weekly water changes....continue until nitrates and phosphates are pretty much gone. This could take a month of two. It's now ready for your tank.

Yes it does "eat" away at the rock but this effect is minimal and unnoticeable to a casual observance so I do not give this any consideration. Yes, this is not something you would do in a closed environment, the fumes are dangerous, make sure your outside in the open air. Here is the best part about acid washing, it releases bound up phosphate in the rock, acid wash, rinse, bleach wash if you wish as well, rinse again and out it in your tank. I have started my last two systems using phosphate soaked LR that came from original 210 and have not had any phosphate issues in either of the newer systems. No waiting months for phosphate to leach out of the rock.

 

[vetteguy53081]

soak in hot water , then bleach it and rinse well in cold water until you can barely smell the bleach. While you're at it. Drill some 1/3" holes in various spot so you can place frags in them and turn that rock into life !

 

[Marie7]

Nothing special, just 2 chunks of life rock. How does one actually find high quality live rock anyway? Seems likely that it will have one of the highly invasive pests I read about here.


Is man made or dry rock now the recommended starting rock? What’s the current wisdom

Get some live rock from a respetable coral reef store, no matter how you look at it it will bring something either bristle worm, gorilla crab and many other things that come in a life rock.

 

[DeeReefer247]

For an opposing opinion, I'm not big on acid dipping rock. It simply give you less rock as the acid eats away the calcium carbonate. It's also very dangerous and if you go that route, do it outside.

I'm a bleach believer. Put your rock in bleach for at least a week. This will start the cure by oxidizing the organics in the rock. After bleach, rinse multiple times and let completely dry out. If you wish to use sodium thiosulfate, that will immediately bind up the remaining chlorine in the rock.

Now the rock needs to cure in saltwater. Soak in saltwater and do weekly water changes....continue until nitrates and phosphates are pretty much gone. This could take a month of two. It's now ready for your tank. The cycle has most likely occurred during the cure.

Here's the BRS video on acid and bleaching rock:

Great post! Thanks for the video and the tips. I had a flood in my apartment which means that all my floors are going to be replaced. So I have to move my aquarium. I have a 65 gallon Redsea Max 250 And I’ve decided to use the opportunity to start over. I wasn’t sure if I should toss the sand and rock. But after reading your post and watching the BRS video I will toss sand and try the rock bleaching method. I acquired several parasites; bubble algae, aptasia and asterina starfish and cleaning the rock is better than purchasing new rock.