Nuking live rock

[Bulldog07]

I'm going to finally move everything from my temporary tank to the 220. I started fresh with dry rock in the new tank, and it has been sort of nice not killing aptasia every other day. I went to pull my live rock out of my temporary tank and found the back side that I couldn't see due to location was covered in aptasia and cyanobacteria. I don't really want to move that to the new tank.here's the question:

Is there a way to nuke that rock, cure it, then add it to the big tank later?

All of that rock came with my tank that cracked from the previous owner,so it is quite old. I'm guessing it has to do with my nitrate and phosphate issues. Can I take this as an opportunity to clean it? I'm fine with this taking a while to get it back to living rock, I just don't want to introduce problems where I don't currently have them.

 

[Babygecko1233]

DO NOT NUKE THE LIVE ROCK...INHALING THE DYING/COOKING BACTERIA WILL BE MAJOR DEADLY TO YOUR HEALTH. PLEASE. PLEASE DONT NUKE OR BOIL THE LIVE ROCK..U WILL POTENTIALLY HARM ANYONE AROUND..

another option you could try is letting it sun bleach...

Or ... Scrub it with a brush under R.O water preferably..
Then dip in some form of hydrogen peroxide..let sit for a couple minutes in the solution...
Then rinse again.. You should be good to go... Repeat process if needed.

Just dont cook the live rock in any way shape or form...the toxins will hurt you severely...if not live takingly.

 

[Babygecko1233]

Hope I helped

 

[Bulldog07]

To be clear, I'm looking for a safe way to kill all unwanted things in the rock. I realize this will involve killing the things I want, but that's ok. I'll restart it.

In no way was I planning on boiling. I am looking for another method.

 

[MamaLovesHerReefTank]

I've used muriatic acid on some dead rock. I have a large rubber garbage container that I put the rock in. Filled with water to cover the rock and added the muriatic acid. If you go this route, please wear long chemical resistant gloves, eye protection and a mask for breathing. Do not breath in the fumes. Have water and baking soda near by. Baking soda stops the acid process. My rocks came out looking new although some a little lighter and a bit smaller. Not a huge difference though. There are many options and youtube has some great step by step videos.

 

[Jacobscorals]

Put it outside in a clean safe place to dry out.then clean everything off with 5 percent bleach and ro solution and let dry again and rinse in ro and put in a container with a pump and salt mixed like your tank and add a cycling bacteria like squeezing from a good tank filter and even add pods if you like and leave for a few days and put them back in display.I have had success with this method and the purple even came back in a week under blue light in the display

 

[MamaLovesHerReefTank]

Put it outside in a clean safe place to dry out.then clean everything off with 5 percent bleach and ro solution and let dry again and rinse in ro and put in a container with a pump and salt mixed like your tank and add a cycling bacteria like squeezing from a good tank filter and even add pods if you like and leave for a few days and put them back in display.I have had success with this method and the purple even came back in a week under blue light in the display

Make sure to use a dechlorinator like prime after the bleach soak.

 

[Bulldog07]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I'm going to use one of the bays in the garage to dry things out. Not sure about the next steps yet,but that should be a decent start. Sunny dry days are hard to come by in fall around here, so I figured in the garage is better than the back yard.

 

[Breadman03]

I’m currently allowing my rock to dry, which means I’ll have to deal with the dieoff in the next step by curing it in a dark bin with lanthanum chloride to deal with the PO4.

 

[lilbitreefer]

What type of rock is it? I had Pukani and found after I did the muriatic acid bath it became very brittle. I also had some tonga that faired pretty well and wan't brittle at all. The method can depend on the type of rock you use. I also tried the bleach method, I don't remember it comming out as well. Peroxide works very well too but I have let my sit over night before taking it out. I then cured it all in trashcan with heated salt water for a month or so. Don't worry about using RO/DI water for the cure, never had a problem. While I cycled my tank I did not have any horrendous alage blooms that destroy a new tank. It has been almost 2 years before I started having algae problems (FYI just set up an autofeeder when on vacation, don't let a non-fish friend feed them).
I was a first time saltwater tank owner, and followed just about everyones sane advice on setting up a tank. I was quite surprised when I did not get the problems everyone else was complaining about.

 

[ihavecrabs]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I'm going to use one of the bays in the garage to dry things out. Not sure about the next steps yet,but that should be a decent start. Sunny dry days are hard to come by in fall around here, so I figured in the garage is better than the back yard.

It will stink..

I'd recommend getting a brute garbage can and doing a bleach bath outside. Maybe twice depending on how much is on/ in the rock.

The bleach will kill anything living and you can dry the rock in the garage after with limited smell. After it dries, is recommend curing the rock and adding a dechlorinator like prime and a bacteria product like Dr tims or the like.

 

[ihavecrabs]

Just read your build thread.. looking good so far!

So you are aware coming from a long history of freshwater, I understand using boiling water to rinse or to soak rocks in is common..

In saltwater, this is incredibly dangerous due to the toxins which many saltwater creatures and corals contain.

When the term cooking rocks is used in this side of the hobby, if used correctly, it means to give an acid bath (vinegar or muriatic acid) to remove organics and other unwanted material. Never to actually boil a rock.

There have been a few cases of people attempting this inside their houses or garages and have caused near-death experiences due to having zoanthids or palythoa corals on the rock and releasing their palytoxin to be breathed in.

With that said, please take necessary caution and perform rock cleaning outside [emoji4]

 

[Bulldog07]

Thank you again for the responses. My garage is more of a wood shop. It's detached, full, and not heated. It doesn't get used for much. Seemed like a good place.

As for boiling, I have read those stories. As stated before, I'm trying to find something other than boiling. I'm leaning towards bleach since I have that on hand.

 

[ihavecrabs]

Thank you again for the responses. My garage is more of a wood shop. It's detached, full, and not heated. It doesn't get used for much. Seemed like a good place.

As for boiling, I have read those stories. As stated before, I'm trying to find something other than boiling. I'm leaning towards bleach since I have that on hand.

Standard Chlorox is the best. No added fragrances or the no splash stuff.

I'd definitely recommend ensuring good ventilation in your detached garage/woodshop.

Good luck!

 

[Bulldog07]

What type of rock is it? I had Pukani and found after I did the muriatic acid bath it became very brittle. I also had some tonga that faired pretty well and wan't brittle at all. The method can depend on the type of rock you use. I also tried the bleach method, I don't remember it comming out as well. Peroxide works very well too but I have let my sit over night before taking it out. I then cured it all in trashcan with heated salt water for a month or so. Don't worry about using RO/DI water for the cure, never had a problem. While I cycled my tank I did not have any horrendous alage blooms that destroy a new tank. It has been almost 2 years before I started having algae problems (FYI just set up an autofeeder when on vacation, don't let a non-fish friend feed them).
I was a first time saltwater tank owner, and followed just about everyones sane advice on setting up a tank. I was quite surprised when I did not get the problems everyone else was complaining about.

How do I tell what kind of rock it is? It came with the whole setup we bought over a year ago, and they didn't say when we bought it. If course, I didn't ask either.

 

[Bulldog07]

Just read your build thread.. looking good so far!

So you are aware coming from a long history of freshwater, I understand using boiling water to rinse or to soak rocks in is common..

In saltwater, this is incredibly dangerous due to the toxins which many saltwater creatures and corals contain.

When the term cooking rocks is used in this side of the hobby, if used correctly, it means to give an acid bath (vinegar or muriatic acid) to remove organics and other unwanted material. Never to actually boil a rock.

There have been a few cases of people attempting this inside their houses or garages and have caused near-death experiences due to having zoanthids or palythoa corals on the rock and releasing their palytoxin to be breathed in.

With that said, please take necessary caution and perform rock cleaning outside [emoji4]

Thanks! I was actually just about to update that today.

I guess I should have used different terminology. I don't want to cook the rock, I just want to kill everything on it as most of what is there is not desired. Also, the rock is quite old. The system was up and running for several years before being neglected and eventually sold to us. I am hoping to use this as an opportunity to "refresh" it a little.

 

[ihavecrabs]

How do I tell what kind of rock it is? It came with the whole setup we bought over a year ago, and they didn't say when we bought it. If course, I didn't ask either.

You can take a picture and post it. Likely someone will know what type it is.

 

[LJLKRL05]

I have used a weak solution of muriatic acid with great results. It does not take long and the rocks will come out looking like the dry rock you started your new tank with.
I have a pretty bad vermited snail problem in my 210, so I wanted to see how well an acid bath would work to clean a few rocks of the snails. It worked perfectly.
My rock is pretty dense though, I got it from Reef CLeaners out of Florida.
I used about a quart of muriatic acid I bought at Home Depot in a 5 gallon bucket of RO water. This works out to be about 5% acid. I got a slight bubble action but nothing that would foam up over the top of the bucket. I let them soak in the acid bath for only about an hour and that was long enough to dissolve the snail shells and clean the surface of the rocks.
After the rocks were clean, I added baking soda, rinsed the rock with a high pressure garden hose really good, and put them in a bucket with new RO water and a powerhead for a few days.
I then let them dry out in the carport a few days and put them back in my tank.
Now I need to do the rest of them a few at a time a couple of months apart and hope the snails don't come back with a vengeance.

 

[Bulldog07]

You can take a picture and post it. Likely someone will know what type it is.

Right now, it just looks like dead slime. If I get a chance this afternoon I'll try to clean some up and get a picture. Thanks!

 

[Bulldog07]

I have used a weak solution of muriatic acid with great results. It does not take long and the rocks will come out looking like the dry rock you started your new tank with.
I have a pretty bad vermited snail problem in my 210, so I wanted to see how well an acid bath would work to clean a few rocks of the snails. It worked perfectly.
My rock is pretty dense though, I got it from Reef CLeaners out of Florida.
I used about a quart of muriatic acid I bought at Home Depot in a 5 gallon bucket of RO water. This works out to be about 5% acid. I got a slight bubble action but nothing that would foam up over the top of the bucket. I let them soak in the acid bath for only about an hour and that was long enough to dissolve the snail shells and clean the surface of the rocks.
After the rocks were clean, I added baking soda, rinsed the rock with a high pressure garden hose really good, and put them in a bucket with new RO water and a powerhead for a few days.
I then let them dry out in the carport a few days and put them back in my tank.
Now I need to do the rest of them a few at a time a couple of months apart and hope the snails don't come back with a vengeance.

Thank you! I appreciate the help, and the lab tech in me appreciates solid numbers too! I'm headed out today to get a tub to put these in. I might have to wait until summer as I don't currently have space inside the house that my wife is willing to give up and Michigan falls/winters can get cold.

I also think I may need to do something to prevent phosphate leaching. That may also be added to thelist before the rock goes into the new tank.