Help me recover my rock

[Florida Sunshine]

Ok so I am currently fighting a plague of aiptasia after defeating a plague of Colonial hydroids.
As fart of this effort I have removed quite a bit of the rock that was in my reef and replaced it with rock that had been in my sump for years.
I would like to re-cycle the rock I took out and be able to eventually put it back in either the tank or sump depending on the piece.
This rock is currently dry sitting in a bin and there are many dead tubes from the hydroids on it and I want to be really sure the aiptasia is dead dead dead before I even consider putting it back in the tank.
Does anybody have any good ideas about how to get the dead hydroid tubes off of the rock? I have tried scrubbing with a hard metal brush and that doesn't work. Any other ideas?
Also I know I want to soak this rock in something that will for sure kill any aiptasia spores that may still be deep in the rock. Should I soak it in a chlorine mixture, or an acid bath of some sort. I want to make sure these pests are really gone before I try to bring life back to these rocks.

 

[Doctorgori]

Set it out in the sun for a few days ... or depending on where u live just leave it outside ... here in Ohio this time of year rock outside will be froze at night and 70f during the day... if pest survive that ....

 

[Florida Sunshine]

Oh it has been sitting in a tub on my screen porch for a couple of weeks now. It is fully dried. But the tubes from the hydroids are still there and I need to be sure I get rid of any aiptasia spores or remnants.

 

[Florida Sunshine]

Bump for the afternoon crowd. Any suggestions out there?

 

[Act1n1c_L1fe]

Bump for the afternoon crowd. Any suggestions out there?

Why not get tweezers and pull the tubes off?

 

[NinnJinn]

I soaked mine for a week in pure bleach no scents or anything just plain bleach.

Based on your screen name Florida, if you do live in Florida if you're going to do this outside I would recommend adding bleach each and every day because the sun will cause the chlorine to dissipate.

And then I rinsed off my rock really good and then let it soak in regular water changing it out every day for a week and then sit it out in the sunshine Flipping The Rock every day to make sure that it was nice and dry for a week. That same Rock has now been in my tank for over a year with no problem.


I am not saying you have to put three weeks worth of effort into the Rock, that's just what I did with success.

Some people will bleach and then just rinse it off and let it sit in the sun where as I left mine soak in water

 

[Florida Sunshine]

There are thousands and thousands of tubes. The rock is actually almost "fuzzy" with them.
Yes I am in Florida and yes this will be done outside.
You did straight bleach or what concentration bleach/water?

 

[NinnJinn]

With the tubes if bleach doesn't take care of it you might have to resort to an acid bath however I have heard with an acid bath it will take the top layer of your rock so your rock will be a smidge smaller then before you started.

However with the Bleach solution it will definitely kill it/ make your rock sanitized.

As for my mixture I did 50/50 bleach to water.

And to further explain my last comment about Florida, if the Rock is in the shade 24/7 you should not have to worry about adding bleach everyday Because the actual direct sunlight is what dissipates the chlorine

 

[Florida Sunshine]

Ok so outside in the shade is good. I just need to grab some Bleach and get started

 

[Jon Fishman]

One rock you're talking? I'd throw it out.

 

[Florida Sunshine]

One rock, I would as well. This is probably 40-50 lbs of rock.

 

[link81]

wonder if a muriatic acid bath would dissolve them

 

[Florida Sunshine]

I have hear that mentioned before, but don't know where to get it or how to safely use it.

 

[Jon Fishman]

Put it in a bucket, pour a gallon of bleach and however much water is needed to cover it completely, let it sit for 2 days.... then toss it outside in the sun for a week.....


If anything is alive after that, then I say we should welcome our new supreme beings to our humble planet.

 

[link81]

I have hear that mentioned before, but don't know where to get it or how to safely use it.

they sell it at the big box stores. HD, lowes ect.
ive seen threads before how to use it. something like 50/50 mix with water or something like that.

 

[cracker]

I would think the bleach would kill anything. Now removing the tubes & crud, Is a different story. It would require a good pressure wash maybe or a long curing process until it rots & disintegrates. Don't know how much time You have .
Please reconsider before using acid. Just my OP being old School & all.

 

[Florida Sunshine]

I'm not really in any rush. I am still fighting the aiptasia in the tank so I have time.
You think a good soak in 50/50 Clorox/water for a couple of days will take care of any aiptasia spores?
I should then be able to cook the rock to get the tubes etc off of it?

 

[Jon Fishman]

50/50 will absolutely kill aiptasia. Yeah, soak, then chip away any tubes etc you can, soak again, then boil..... should kill all forms of life

 

[Florida Sunshine]

I have been told that boiling is not a good idea. Apparently there is the possibility of releasing palytoxins during the boiling so I will probably skip that part. I think we are going to go with bleach overkill and then several rinses followed by some time in the sun and a good scrubbing. Hopefully that will take care of it. Cracker already made me do some research on the acid bath and I agree with him that I should avoid that if possible.

 

[Jon Fishman]

If you boil, it’s fine, but you do it outside..... the toxins would be released as a gas