Question about using bleach

[drknudsenx2]

I am planning on bleach curing my dry rock this weekend as it is second hand, just to remove any organic material and make sure I can start my tank from scratch. Based on BRS recommendation, I am going to use about 1 gallon of bleach per 10 gallons of water in a Brut trash can, and put enough water in to cover the rocks. I will let them sit for a week, remove and rinse well, then let them sit with RODI water and dechlorinator for a day. Then I will rinse once more and let them dry.

My questions are:
Does this plan sound appropriate?
When I rinse them the final time, can I use tap water or does it need to RODI water?
Is there any risk of the bleach that is used absorbing into the plastic of the trash can, and making that trash can useless in the future? I was hoping to use the trash can for mixing the salt water for the tank and for storage.

Thanks!

 

[Bryknicks]

Does the rock have a lot of buildup on them? If so I would acid wash them first then follow up with bleach to remove the remaining organics. I did the following with mine:

Rocks with tap water in large trash can. Added 1 gallon of muriatic acid to 20 gallons of water. Soak the rocks for 15 minutes. Added two boxes of baking soda to neutralize the acid reaction. Drain the water, let rocks dry for a day or two.

Fill the garbage can back up with the rock and water. Add bleach 1 gallon to 10 gallons of water. Let is sit for a week. Drain the water, rinse the rocks very well with tap water from a garden hose. Dry the rocks in the sun completely for a couple of days. Then soak the rock in RODI water for 3 days. Dry out completely and repeat the RODI soak again with dechlorinator. Finally one last dry for a few days in the sun.

I used an old household outdoor garbage can with no issues. I was throwing it out anyway but if I wasn't it would have been perfectly fine to reuse.

 

[mfinn]

When I bleach rock that needs it, it was never a "cure method". It was because the rock was covered in pest anemones, aiptasia, majanos, or just nasty looking palys.
After all the organic material was gone, usually 2-3 days, I would drain the bleach water and rinse with the garden hose and then do a soak in tap water with a very strong deliminator solution for 24 hrs. ( ATI Tap Water Conditioner was the cheapest I found).
Then just air dry for a day or 2.

 

[drknudsenx2]

Does the rock have a lot of buildup on them? If so I would acid wash them first then follow up with bleach to remove the remaining organics. I did the following with mine:

Rocks with tap water in large trash can. Added 1 gallon of muriatic acid to 20 gallons of water. Soak the rocks for 15 minutes. Added two boxes of baking soda to neutralize the acid reaction. Drain the water, let rocks dry for a day or two.

Fill the garbage can back up with the rock and water. Add bleach 1 gallon to 10 gallons of water. Let is sit for a week. Drain the water, rinse the rocks very well with tap water from a garden hose. Dry the rocks in the sun completely for a couple of days. Then soak the rock in RODI water for 3 days. Dry out completely and repeat the RODI soak again with dechlorinator. Finally one last dry for a few days in the sun.

I used an old household outdoor garbage can with no issues. I was throwing it out anyway but if I wasn't it would have been perfectly fine to reuse.

No, the rocks are in really great shape and appear clean, but it was recommended on here to do a bleach soak. I don't think they will need the muriatic acid, but what do I know? They do look like they have been cleaned before, honestly.

 

[KrisReef]

A few notes to the first comments:
Acid washing produced a lot of foam in my bucket, so keep that step outside and wear PPE.

Chlorine and acid should not be mixed (rinse acid washed rock well before adding bleach).

After any treatments are done, let the rock sit in a bucket of saltwater for a day and test for nitrate & phosphate, and copper if you are not certain of the history of your rocks.

GL!

Edit, Oh, if they are already clean just soak and test first!

 

[mfinn]

No, the rocks are in really great shape and appear clean, but it was recommended on here to do a bleach soak. I don't think they will need the muriatic acid, but what do I know? They do look like they have been cleaned before, honestly.

Not sure I would do a bleach soak if there is no organic matter on the rock. IMO the bleach soak is only for unwanted organic matter. It has nothing to do with starting a reef tank. It's a nuclear option only.

 

[flsalty]

No, the rocks are in really great shape and appear clean, but it was recommended on here to do a bleach soak. I don't think they will need the muriatic acid, but what do I know? They do look like they have been cleaned before, honestly.

Muriatic acid should only be used in extreme circumstances. If your rocks aren't that bad I would go with a weaker solution than 1 gal of bleach to 10 gallons of water.

Just pick whatever you feel like doing. It's all arbitrary anyway. You won't hurt anything as long as you rinse them off good and let them dry in the sun.

 

[moz71]

I pretty much did what you are describing except that I finished with the soak in RODI withDechlorinator. I did not go and ri se with tap. And all worked fine. Also I am using my tub that I did this for my saltwater mix now so will be fine as well . Chlorine does evaporate quickly anyway as it is unstable. Just rinse really well and let dry.

 

[Paul B]

I have done that many times at the start of the hobby. Whatever you do, use "Regular" bleach. It must say that.
I once killed almost all my livestock using scented bleach.
It must say "Regular"

 

[PatW]

One generally uses bleach to remove organic matter from dry rock. If the rocks are nice and white, I would not bleach.

when I did bleach, I used a fat weaker solution than 10%. I had really grungy dry rock and I used about a 1 or 2 percent solution. I did it over night, scrubbed rinsed until the rock and repeated until the rock was nice and clean. it took 2 or 3 times.