Live Rock in the OVEN?

[Fourstars]

There is that I suppose. With all the time we spend bleaching, cooking, acid washing that time could be spent quaranting, cleaning, and inspecting live rock. I have heard horror stories like everyone else, but I would think they are the exception. And even starting sterile, you all end up introducing some type of undesirables to your tanks anyways. Think of all those beautiful piles of live rock dumped off the gulf coast not being used!

 

[MnFish1]

I buy live rock from hobbyists for $1/lbs
Do you think it’s worth it not to kill it and infest thousands of dollars in corals on a 50/50 shot the live rock is clean?

There doesn't seem to be any benefit to buying live rock and then killing all the stuff on it. Then again - It always seems odd to me when people get into this debate about needing 'live rock' instead of 'dry rock'. Since so many people kill everything on their live rock before putting it in the tank.

 

[MnFish1]

I was taught,and have read not to use bleach... ever... and if you're buying Live rock... and then Kill everything on it... what the point of using it. .?? To clean live rock you swish it in a bucket of fresh water for about 30 seconds then cure the rock in saltwater for about a month.
If you do have a hitchhiker it will fall off in the freshwater.... please don't kill your live rock...

and curing the rock for a month will kill off everything also, wont it? The ammonia spike from just putting rock with live stuff on it will kill everything also

 

[Fishfeet57]

That if I get rock from someone’s tank.

I was trying to say I kill everything

Ok... that's cool... sooo.. is the rock infested or infected with something ?? Then yes.. soak it in freshwater and vinegar solution for a week... rinse it set it out to dry... it will be fine

 

[ca1ore]

Why would you buy live rock and then do your best to kill everything on it?

Unless, of course, it was the oxymoronish dry live rock ...... LOL Can't make this stuff up.

 

[ca1ore]

That we shouldn't be surprised when, what would normally not be a problem in the wild becomes an incredible predator in our tanks.

That's a fair point. Ich can be a huge problem in the confines of a tank, but is far less so in the ocean. There, everything has something that eats it - not so much in our tank. Yes, you can find animals that will eat pest anemones, but they often eat other things as well.

 

[vic5hands]

use Bayer Pesticide. Worked for me without killing the live rock

 

[Jeepguy242]

Ok... that's cool... sooo.. is the rock infested or infected with something ?? Then yes.. soak it in freshwater and vinegar solution for a week... rinse it set it out to dry... it will be fine

When I get rock it’s usually covered in hair algae or aptasia. I get it cheap. I have 300 pounds of it soaking in bleach now. It’s gonna be nice and white dry rock when I’m done

 

[Fourstars]

This guy know how to prep his live rock!

 

[Jeepguy242]

This guy know how to prep his live rock!

I prefer mine original recipe. Looks like he is making extra crispy there

 

[SFKINNC]

Wet rock in the oven can explode. People have been seriously injured by flying fragments of overheated water-soaked rock. I’ve had wet bricks explode!

Some corals contain palytoxins which vaporize into the air when heated. They can KILL people and pets such as dogs and cats. Or they can cause serious pain and paralysis.

If you must remove the living things from the rock, use Chlorine bleach followed by lots of soaking, rinsing, and plenty of pond-strength dechlorinator, followed by more rinsing and soaking.

 

[UM Aquarium Club]

Please don't cook your rock.
https://www.advancedaquarist.com/bl...-poisoning-almost-killed-myself-wife-and-dogs

 

[mcarroll]

I also think, and I don't mean it to be pejorative, that novice reefers are far too worried about pests ..... I can count on one hand the number of truly problematic HH/pests that cam along with the live rock I have acquired (and that's over 3 decades). OK, if you are tying to grow and sell 'sticks' maybe you take a different approach, but for a mixed reef tank, the little guys are half the fun.

I was taught,and have read not to use bleach... ever... and if you're buying Live rock... and then Kill everything on it... what the point of using it. .?? To clean live rock you swish it in a bucket of fresh water for about 30 seconds then cure the rock in saltwater for about a month.
If you do have a hitchhiker it will fall off in the freshwater.... please don't kill your live rock...

Why would you buy live rock and then do your best to kill everything on it?

Something went wrong with the hobby when people started suggesting we start a tank as a dead sterile environment.

Unless, of course, it was the oxymoronish dry live rock ...... LOL Can't make this stuff up.

This is me reading this thread:
;Jawdrop;Bored;Jawdrop;Hilarious;Jawdrop;Meh;Stop

Thank you guys for posting some sense into it.

(I know one big reason why the dino threads are so popular now.)

FYI...

Before the Berlin Method, people used dead rock all the time.

Go back and look at "how successful" reef tanks were back then and think again whether killing your rock really seems like a good strategy.

If you're going with dead rock as your reef foundation because it's your only choice, then you better have a darn good plan because you're ignoring/undermining almost every ounce of progress that's been made in the hobby.

2¢

 

[Dburr1014]

Even dead rock can be seeded with some sand from another tank.
Some of these pests we try and kill explode in our tanks and they also travel tank to tank with live rock. Some of us get lucky some don't (mostly don't). I can see why we try to kill everything. Those pests are hard to get rid of. You just have to be careful where you get rock if it's live and be prepared to kill a pest anyway but hope to get lucky.

 

[ca1ore]

Seeded for bacteria, sure; not much else though. If one is going to go that route, then buy dry rock. I agree that some live rock bought at a discount may be unrecoverable. I got a bunch gratis that was covered in GHA and Majano anemones. I'm not stupid, no way that was going in my tank so I killed it all. But killing good rock bought from a reputable source seems pointless. Many of the 'pests' folks are so desperate to prevent find their way in anyhow. Then the absence of micro fauna actually becomes a problem. Heck, I routinely buy the crud that settles out at the bottom of my LFS live rock vats as a way to replenish diversity.

 

[drblakjak55]

No oven. Why buy live rock to kill it. If you’re starting a sterile tank Buy that white porous dry stuff. It’ll turn live soon enough. Live sand?

 

[Fishfeet57]

This is me reading this thread:
;Jawdrop;Bored;Jawdrop;Hilarious;Jawdrop;Meh;Stop

Thank you guys for posting some sense into it.

(I know one big reason why the dino threads are so popular now.)

FYI...

Before the Berlin Method, people used dead rock all the time.

Go back and look at "how successful" reef tanks were back then and think again whether killing your rock really seems like a good strategy.

If you're going with dead rock as your reef foundation because it's your only choice, then you better have a darn good plan because you're ignoring/undermining almost every ounce of progress that's been made in the hobby.

2¢

Agreed... actually I used a mix of dry base rock and live rock... and a thought came to me... if you're going to use all dead rock how are you going to seed the tank besides using bottle bacteria... that's just not the same outcome... is it?

 

[Fishfeet57]

until you get aptasia and it takes over your tank

Plain white vinegar will kill it... marine organisms can not live in a acidic environment.. they just melt.. I sterilize all my tanks and rocks filter parts before setup... the beauty of useing vinegar. . It washes away with plain water.... useing Bleach it takes a LONG time to wash off... and then you have to over dose with dechlorinator just to put yourself at piece of mind that you got all the chlorine bleach off of everything... old school rule of thumb and Aquarium keeping never use soap never ever use chlorine bleach

 

[Jeepguy242]

Plain white vinegar will kill it... marine organisms can not live in a acidic environment.. they just melt.. I sterilize all my tanks and rocks filter parts before setup... the beauty of useing vinegar. . It washes away with plain water.... useing Bleach it takes a LONG time to wash off... and then you have to over dose with dechlorinator just to put yourself at piece of mind that you got all the chlorine bleach off of everything... old school rule of thumb and Aquarium keeping never use soap never ever use chlorine bleach

But I like my rocks sparkly white.

 

[Fishfeet57]

But I like my rocks sparkly white.

Looking down and shaking my head... smh