Opinions before I bleach my rock and ruin it.

[Mark Novack]

Hello,
This is old live rock that has been through several aquariums. I was planning on sterilizing with acid and bleach as I placed it in a cistern a few months ago outside, in the cold and covered it with fresh tap water where it has been ever since. Today I looked closely and there is still live marine life on those rocks. Sponge, some macro algae. The salinity is 1.001 or like softened water.

Should I skip the bleach and go right to a three week salt water cure? I believe there may still be some good stuff in the rocks. These rocks sit dry on the docks for weeks before leaving the tropics and still have all of the life needed. If there is dormant pod life but viable, I don't want to kill it.

Opinions? I could start a salt water cure tomorrow.

Humble thanks,
Mark

 

[BostonReefer300]

Hi there. You'll find differing opinions on this on R2R. One camp (that I'm in) would advise you to nuke the rocks because preserving some biodiversity on the rocks isn't worth the risk of adding something (or many things) you don't want. Others would say that having biodiversity from live rock is priceless and you'd be a fool for killing it off.
In your particular case (old rocks numerous aquariums soaked in cold tap water for months), it's likely that most life that requires saltwater is dead. Anything left living is either adapted to freshwater---or is a super hardy saltwater life form. In my experience, most "super hardy" things are usually bad pests. For instance, I was very surprised about the beating vermetid snails could take. Also, there are pests that live dormant for a long time in an encysted stage.
All that's to say: my opinion is that you should do the acid and bleach route. It's a clear risk vs benefit calculation for me in this case. HTH

 

[Tamberav]

Live rock is like gold… I would just cure it.

I don’t get why people are upset about pests. Most pests come from the coral frags they buy, not rocks. So many dry rock starts and still they have pests and Dino both instead.

 

[Mark Novack]

Sterile was my original plan. I can still get a choice piece of long cured Indonesian live rock for podding up. Looking back on the diseases I have battled, I'll sterilize. I think I was just wanting to take the easy way.

 

[mfinn]

Live rock is like gold… I would just cure it.

I don’t get why people are upset about pests. Most pests come from the coral frags they buy, not rocks. So many dry rock starts and still they have pests and Dino both instead.

I agree real live rock is like gold. But in many cases with old live rock the pests that were introduced years ago can colonize the rock and make it unsuitable for specific corals.

Without pictures it's hard to judge which way to go.
Most sponges are perfectly ok, and macro algaes can be dealt with by using a chemical specifically for them.

 

[Rmckoy]

Personally . Imo I would cure and cycle these rocks .
I highly doubt anything is actually “live” on these rocks that’s been in freshwater for so long .
Once added to marine salinity most will die off creating ammonia spike .

I would …. Rinse in marine salinity . Shaking off what you can and place in the tank to be cycled .

 

[Paul B]

I would just put it in your reef as it is. It is hard to find life now

 

[BrianAnthony]

I vote cycle it and see what happens.

 

[DeniseAndy]

I would have two different sets of advice. If you battled with briopsis or red turf algae in the past, velvet, or major aiptasia, nuke the rock. It is just a pain.

If it is rock that may have some life (not soaked in freshwater as it will take the freshwater life and die in saltwater), why not cure in a vat of saltwater for weeks with total darkness and see what happens.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Preserve what you have instead of wiping clean.
Using a container or bucket with tank water, simple brush or scrub surfaces with a toothbrush then dip in a bucket with tank water and 2ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for about 1 minute which will rid of any algae stems/roots and return to tank.

 

[Rmckoy]

Preserve what you have instead of wiping clean.
Using a container or bucket with tank water, simple brush or scrub surfaces with a toothbrush then dip in a bucket with tank water and 2ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for about 1 minute which will rid of any algae stems/roots and return to tank.

Does hydrogen peroxide effect tank parameters ?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Does hydrogen peroxide effect tank parameters ?

no - its mainly water and the agent used when battling dino within the tank

 

[Mark Novack]

Preserve what you have instead of wiping clean.
Using a container or bucket with tank water, simple brush or scrub surfaces with a toothbrush then dip in a bucket with tank water and 2ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for about 1 minute which will rid of any algae stems/roots and return to tank.

Peroxide totally slipped my mind.

One thing I have is time and patience. This is not my first start-up but it will be my last. I can very well place it in a salt cure and see what happens. I can do a peroxide treatment. Should it look fishy as in suspicious, then it only takes a few extra days to blast it.

As I stated, real rock is still available at the home depot of fish stores here (its huge, 80 marine tanks and 300 fresh perhaps). The rock I have is most valuable in their forms. Much plate rock and pieces that fit my scheme. The prices I see for these forms in dry ocean rock tells me I am sitting on a fortune.

 

[Mark Novack]

OK, I have my plan.

The reef rubble, will go into a 40 gallon tank directly for observation, perhaps for a year. It used to contain massive amounts of pods. I'll be using Marine Pure for the new setup so this is just to see what happens. The display rock will get nuked because of one word. VERMATIDS! A massive quantity. While many shells look empty, many don't.

Should a pump go into the bleach barrel?

My filter should arrive today or tomorrow so I can baffle my sump and have the system plumbed and ready in a few days to receive water and sand. No more experimenting on my big tank. A nice slow maturation with modern bacterial methods and time. Not too many fish and many corals. No clams before a year.

'Hey Mark, where did you get such patience'? 'My mother in law lives in my living room'. 'Ahhh, ok'.

Thank you,
Mark

 

[Udest]

I'd agree with a lot of these people rise and cycle a sterile tank is gonna be too much trouble.
all it takes in one opportunistic organism like cyano to get a foot hold and be a headache.

 

[BostonReefer300]

If you have vermetids, then definitely nuke. I'm plagued by them despite being very careful about QT etc. Yes to the powerhead in the bleach bath

 

[Mark Novack]

Well, yesterday was sunny and warm enough to work outside so I sorted the reef rubble from the display pieces. PUTRID! An hour of having my gag reflex activated. Live sponges and, I think you call it colt coral was also hanging on, and as I cracked the vermatid tubes, little slimy creatures slithered further back into their spirals. Its all now in a 10:1 bleach solution. I skipped the acid as the rock is very porous and open frameworks of old corals that became reef rock centries ago. There are also three fabricated reef pylons that cost a fortune. I hosed them off before going into the bleach and great quantities of scum shot out of the holes.

I'm sure that with the choice of one good live rock fom Poisson D'Or (check out their website, its in English also) that in a couple of years my tank will be as live as originally.

I will probably toss in every bacterial mixture sold for reef starting just to boost the economy. I understand that its possible to shorten the cycle from 8 weeks down to 2 months. From my little tank, I have a choice of several coralines to choose to scrape spores and a wormy sandbed to take a few cups. A hybrid cycle, I will use all the modern elixers and wait out the varous bloom cycles as I did 40 years ago instead of trying to fix what come naturally.

And a completely different but finacially related subject. I won the Mercedes subframe lottery! They are replacing my subframe on the 30 year corrosion warranty so for the price of the control arms and shocks, I'm getting a whole new rear end! That's reefing money! I pay 1500 for the parts and get a 6000 dollar job done. Its good when a loyal customer has a loyal garage. The car is how I got into reefing. I was killing time as a marine store and suddenly said I'll take the largest aquarium that you can fit into my car. My current tank was delivered by a moving company with insurance, placed and leveled. The feet are telflon sliders so when it is empty I can move it quite easily on the tile floor. I ramble with my coffee.

Mark
'A dude who finally learned patience'

 

[Reefahholic]

Depends if you want to let a bunch of possible undesirables into the system or start with a clean slate? If the latter…the only animals that get in are the ones that you let in, but some will get in no matter what.

 

[Mark Novack]

I'm happy I made the last post. I forgot what day I started. It said yesterday so I guess it's day 2 now...LOL!

Ok, so it's now day 4. It's looking very white. Aquarium is almost filled. One more day of RO and I'll start the system to check out it's mechanics and salt the water. I lost 100 liters the first day by forgetting the restriction fitting in the waste tube. That should be very pure!

 

[BostonReefer300]

Well, yesterday was sunny and warm enough to work outside so I sorted the reef rubble from the display pieces. PUTRID! An hour of having my gag reflex activated. Live sponges and, I think you call it colt coral was also hanging on, and as I cracked the vermatid tubes, little slimy creatures slithered further back into their spirals. Its all now in a 10:1 bleach solution. I skipped the acid as the rock is very porous and open frameworks of old corals that became reef rock centries ago. There are also three fabricated reef pylons that cost a fortune. I hosed them off before going into the bleach and great quantities of scum shot out of the holes.

I'm sure that with the choice of one good live rock fom Poisson D'Or (check out their website, its in English also) that in a couple of years my tank will be as live as originally.

I will probably toss in every bacterial mixture sold for reef starting just to boost the economy. I understand that its possible to shorten the cycle from 8 weeks down to 2 months. From my little tank, I have a choice of several coralines to choose to scrape spores and a wormy sandbed to take a few cups. A hybrid cycle, I will use all the modern elixers and wait out the varous bloom cycles as I did 40 years ago instead of trying to fix what come naturally.

And a completely different but finacially related subject. I won the Mercedes subframe lottery! They are replacing my subframe on the 30 year corrosion warranty so for the price of the control arms and shocks, I'm getting a whole new rear end! That's reefing money! I pay 1500 for the parts and get a 6000 dollar job done. Its good when a loyal customer has a loyal garage. The car is how I got into reefing. I was killing time as a marine store and suddenly said I'll take the largest aquarium that you can fit into my car. My current tank was delivered by a moving company with insurance, placed and leveled. The feet are telflon sliders so when it is empty I can move it quite easily on the tile floor. I ramble with my coffee.

Mark
'A dude who finally learned patience'

Been there and done that with old rocks. Yuck! Anyway, if you're throwing in all those bacterial products when you start back up and your water parameters are stable and good, then you'll be instantly cycled. Doesn't mean you won't the the ugly stage again, but you can start adding livestock right away. Good luck!