Need to "kill" live rock fast

riche · Apr 14, 2015

Whats the best way yo kill live rock thats been neglected?

I want to keep the rock wet in freshwater due to it being outside and next to the neighbors fence (in my driveway) and it will stink if left out to "dry and die"

I want to use the rock but the person I got it from really neglected it. I want to start over fresh but dont want to do the dry and die route.

There is some corals that I want to kill off and some nasty algae that needs to go

Will vinegar and water work?

KoleTang · Apr 14, 2015

Bleach then muriatic acid (SEPARATELY). Bleach will kill everything and break down the algae. Muriatic will burn off a thin layer of the rock removing phosphate that would otherwise leech into the tank.

Text guide: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1914426

Video:

[video=youtube;mpHnz4GBiZo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpHnz4GBiZo[/video]

sid45 · Apr 14, 2015

One of best ways is to put it in fresh water for a few days . It kills all pest better then dip and leaves it safe to return to your tank . Do not use it on rock with corals on them .

KoleTang · Apr 14, 2015

sid45 said:
One of best ways is to put it in fresh water for a few days . It kills all pest better then dip and leaves it safe to return to your tank . Do not use it on rock with corals on them .

In his situation this won't work since the rock was neglected I'm assuming it is covered in algae/detritus and absorbed a good amount of phosphate. Freshwater will not fix those problems without a lot of scrubbing and waiting for the phosphate to leech.

riche · Apr 14, 2015

KoleTang said:
In his situation this won't work since the rock was neglected I'm assuming it is covered in algae/detritus and absorbed a good amount of phosphate. Freshwater will not fix those problems without a lot of scrubbing and waiting for the phosphate to leech.

Yeah its covered in the bad algae and bad anemone's but there is a lot of the rock and its nice stuff (shape wise)

So I want to nuke it