How to properly clean/soak dry rock.

[johntdaballa]

I have Haitian rock in my garage sitting for quiet some time now. I do wood work , car repairs and some staining close by. What is the best way to soak and clean my rocks? Muriatic acid cleaning will definitely be last resort and hope I don't have to ever go that route. Can I soak in RODI water with some bleach ? Will that be enough?

 

[lapin]

Does this mean the rock has things like antifreeze, oil or oil based stains on it?
If so I would toss it.

 

[HB AL]

If your rock got chemicals on it from where it was kept i would throw it out. Unless its covered in alot of old dead growths then I would just grab my garden hose and give it a good wash down or if you have access to a power washer then use that. After that I would leave it out in the sun to dry or add it to the tank if I was gonna use it right away.

 

[johntdaballa]

Does this mean the rock has things like antifreeze, oil or oil based stains on it?
If so I would toss it.

no antifreeze or oil mostly in the air. Would that be ok to save or still not worth trying? Would acid washing save it at all?

If your rock got chemicals on it from where it was kept i would throw it out. Unless its covered in alot of old dead growths then I would just grab my garden hose and give it a good wash down or if you have access to a power washer then use that. After that I would leave it out in the sun to dry or add it to the tank if I was gonna use it right away.

Just whatever in the air . I would think thats a bit more ok possibly?

 

[HB AL]

Ya the rock is fine then.

 

[johntdaballa]

Ya the rock is fine then.

i was planning on soaking in rodi with little bit of bleach. How long should I soak for and to neutralize soak it in rodi is enough?

 

[HB AL]

To be honest in 35+ years I've never soaked any rock in chemicals to "clean" it. Ive always just used a hose or power washer and let it dry out before storage unless it was going right into the dt after washing. With that said if you soak it in water and bleach, then hose it off really good after then let it soak in water for a while. After I would hit it with the hose again and put it out in the sun for atleast a couple of weeks if not longer.

 

[johntdaballa]

To be honest in 35+ years I've never soaked any rock in chemicals to "clean" it. Ive always just used a hose or power washer and let it dry out before storage unless it was going right into the dt after washing. With that said if you soak it in water and bleach, then hose it off really good after then let it soak in water for a while. After I would hit it with the hose again and put it out in the sun for atleast a couple of weeks if not longer.

Thanks for your help !! I'll try that out appreciate your insight

 

[Hazmat312]

Brs did a YouTube video on cleaning rock with bleach, Check it out. I’ve done it multiple times. Super easy and I’ve never had an issue. Once I even pulled all the rock outa my DT(lost the fight with bubble algae) soaked in bleach water for a few days. Then rinsed off and left in sun to dry out. Rock was clean and back into the DT within a week.

 

[00W]

As long as you know there's nothing on or in it that's too gnarly (I was a mechanic for years and,yes, probably got my hands in the tank many times), I would put it in a bucket of RO water with H2O2 and a powerhead for a few days then bake it in the sun.
Albert Theil said the best way to rid that rock of everything was bake it in the sun if you can find some wherever you are .

 

[paul barker]

bleach works fine but I did not use rodi water to clean my rock was of money just tap water and a little bleach in a 32 garbage can and a return pump with a t handle that I made with holes in it to move the around I did it 3 times then I just put in the drive and washed it of with a garden hose letting it dry cleaned the garbage can put it back in with rodi salt water then but a big piece of shrimp in it a let it sit for a month now its in a 55 gallon tank with 6 fish for when my new tank comes in 12 weeks