Drying out live rock

Betta-Chetta · Jan 2, 2016

So I am going to set my 29 gallon up again and wanted to move live rock from my 75 to the 29. The only thing is I do not want to move any of the bugs that are in the rock into my 29 gallon. What is the best way of killing off the pest? What would yall suggest?

rayn · Jan 2, 2016

What bugs? If you have flat worms then use a flat worm killer. If they are pods, take those beneficial boogers with you!

Betta-Chetta · Jan 2, 2016

It's neither of those it's the tiny star fish and also has hair algae on some of the rocks

twilliard · Jan 2, 2016

Use peroxide on the algae
If you dont want the brittle stars you can send them to me

Betta-Chetta · Jan 2, 2016

Also have aipstasia on my rocks . Unfortunately I can't have shrimp because my clown fish decide she didn't want them in the tank and killed all my shrimp. She killed my peppermint shrimp last night. I have aipstasia-x but every time I use it is just have more popular up with the next week or two.

Betta-Chetta · Jan 2, 2016

No I love the brittle stars

it's these little stars

twilliard · Jan 2, 2016

Asternias
Ya kind of a mess there.
Just pull the rock out, dry in the sun (if you have any.. we dont)
Start that rock over

rayn · Jan 2, 2016

Drying won't always kill the Aptasia off. Neither will bleach sometimes. But both would be a good start.

Betta-Chetta · Jan 2, 2016

Ya no sun haha. You'd think living on the beach you would have sun but nope. So if I dry it out and the rinse before I put it in my 29 it shouldn't have any pest or other organism on or in it?

Betta-Chetta · Jan 2, 2016

So should I bleach it then dry it out or dry it then bleach it? How long should I bleach it for and what kind of bleach?

loglan · Jan 2, 2016

Have you thought about using muriatic acid bath for the rock? I just got 50 lbs of live and have 50 lbs of pukani coming. It should definitely kill of and clean the rock if you have any concerns with it. If you go this route just be careful with the procedure and read up on it.

twilliard · Jan 2, 2016

How long if no sun to "cook" it well it will take time depending on your climate.
Bleach just normal ol bleach and doesnt take a lot to get the job done.

Betta-Chetta · Jan 2, 2016

Alright cool. I mean I would love to keep it live but I want to avoid all the pest that it has and kinda sucks that I'll end up killing off all my feather dusters.

loglan · Jan 2, 2016

Twilliard if he has hair algae on the rock don't you think the rock may have phosphate bound in it? That was the reason why I thought about the acid bath sir.

byars73 · Jan 2, 2016

How much rock are you moving? In my opinion I'd skip all the hassle of drying, bleaching and cooking and just by new dry rock. It's usually only $2-3 a lbs or find someone getting out of the hobby, sometimes they sell for $1/lb

Betta-Chetta · Jan 2, 2016

I plan on moving at least all of my rock. It's about 60 to 80 lbs of rock. Whatever I do not use I'll use when I clean out my 120 and set it up as a fish only tank.