How to dechlorinate bleached rock?

[Reefs and Geeks]

I have been bleaching a few hundred pounds of used rock for a month, and just removed from the bleach bath and rinsed well. I know I need to remove the chlorine from the rock, but wanted some reassurance on my method as that part of the process seems fairly vague where I've read about it.

After rinsing the rock, I added 2 table spoons of seachem safe declorinator to each 20 gallon tub of rock, filled 3/4 of the way with tap water and then added rock. I plan to let the rocks sit in the declorinator water for a week or two.

Is there anything else that needs done to the rock to then add to my sump? Is that a reasonable amount of seachem safe to use? Should I add more? Did I add too much? Does this declorinated water then need rinsed from the rock as well after soaking?

I will likely not use most of the rock right after it's ready until I finish my sump upgrade which will be a month or two. Can the rock just sit to dry out and use when I'm ready for it?

 

[ihavecrabs]

Dechlorinator or air dry. Both work.

Though keep in mind, the dechlorinator directions are for chlorine amounts in standard tap water. You’ll likely have to use significantly more than prescribed for that if you bleached rock.

Air drying is the safest! Just takes time.

 

[ScottR]

I have been bleaching a few hundred pounds of used rock for a month, and just removed from the bleach bath and rinsed well. I know I need to remove the chlorine from the rock, but wanted some reassurance on my method as that part of the process seems fairly vague where I've read about it.

After rinsing the rock, I added 2 table spoons of seachem safe declorinator to each 20 gallon tub of rock, filled 3/4 of the way with tap water and then added rock. I plan to let the rocks sit in the declorinator water for a week or two.

Is there anything else that needs done to the rock to then add to my sump? Is that a reasonable amount of seachem safe to use? Should I add more? Did I add too much? Does this declorinated water then need rinsed from the rock as well after soaking?

I will likely not use most of the rock right after it's ready until I finish my sump upgrade which will be a month or two. Can the rock just sit to dry out and use when I'm ready for it?

Few hundred pounds? That’s a lot of rock. I’d rinse all with freshwater and then let it air dry. Chlorine will evaporate naturally. I’d usually call for Prime but that is a good deal of rock. Do you have pics?

 

[Reefs and Geeks]

Dechlorinator or air dry. Both work.

Though keep in mind, the dechlorinator directions are for chlorine amounts in standard tap water. You’ll likely have to use significantly more than prescribed for that if you bleached rock.

Air drying is the safest! Just takes time.

Thanks for the clarification. I did use 2 table spoons of safe per container, which is enough to treat 7,000 gallons of tap water. So about 250 times more than called for for treating tap water. My main concern is I may have used too much, so am curious if there would be ill effects from using to much safe

Few hundred pounds? That’s a lot of rock. I’d rinse all with freshwater and then let it air dry. Chlorine will evaporate naturally. I’d usually call for Prime but that is a good deal of rock. Do you have pics?

Yeah, it's about 350 pounds of rock actually, give or take. I used "safe" instead of prime because it's much more concentrated. a 250 gram bottle can declorinate just as much as 6 liters of prime. It's much more cost effective for this. I do still have a bottle of prime on hand in case of emergency for the tank, but for chlorine removal specifically, it seems safe is the way to go. I throught about taking some pictures of the process, but didn't have my phone on me. Took a few hours to rinse all of the rock of the bleach.



I'm thinking maybe I should rinse the rocks after declorinating, then let air dry and see if they still have a smell

 

[alton]

If you want to test it take a few of the rocks and place them in a bucket with de-chlorinated water and use a chlorine test strip to make sure there is no chlorine after a day in the bucket.

 

[AdamNC]

Air dry after a few days of water soaks. Change out the water daily. Everyday rotate the rocks so water seeps our as much as possible. Took me about 2 weeks til I was satisfied that my 50lbs of rock was safe after a bleach bath.

 

[Kevin3221]

@Reefs and Geeks I just did this for my tank i just set up. I wouldn't use tap water though I always use RODI water for everything just to be safe but thats just me. I rinsed some old dry rock i had stored in a bucket of bleach and threw a power head in there. after a day i set all the rock outside in the sun for a day then let it soak in RODI water then let that dry outside in the sun. My tank finished cycling have a couple of corals in there and everything seems fine.

 

[AiKkz]

I soaked mine in bleach, then rinsed really good, let air dry for a few days, then soaked in ro water.

 

[Reefs and Geeks]

Thanks for the reassurance guys. Seems I may be over complicating it a bit. I'll probably end up letting mine soak in the declorinator water for a week or so just because that's how long it will be before I have a chance to take out and rinse, then let air dry untill I am ready to use. I will of course check to see if there is any remaining chlorine before use, but seems unlikely.

 

[PatW]

I rinsed mine repeatedly in tap water until the bleach smell was gone. Than I air dried.

 

[Peace River]

Thanks for the reassurance guys. Seems I may be over complicating it a bit. I'll probably end up letting mine soak in the declorinator water for a week or so just because that's how long it will be before I have a chance to take out and rinse, then let air dry untill I am ready to use. I will of course check to see if there is any remaining chlorine before use, but seems unlikely.

Sounds like a good plan!