Re-building EVERYTHING! (Rock cleaning questions)

[corey.nolta]

A little over a month ago, my tank went downhill fast. I was losing coral left and right, and even fish were dying off. Could not for the life of me figure out as to why. Long story short, I decided to tear down the tank completely, and discovered my return pump had rusted on the inside big time and had been leaching metals into the tank. Well I decided to go at least a month without setting it back up to see if it was something I even wanted to get back into. I definitely do!

When I tore everything down I let the rocks drain and threw them in two brute trash cans. They have been sitting in them since.

So I'm in the process of cleaning out all the rock. Here is what I have done so far:
Took them all outside and took the power washer to them.
Let them sit in the sun for a day to really dry out (some pieces were still damp a month later just from sitting in an enclosed trash can).
Filled up a trash can of water and dunked/swished the crap out of them (and busted a few knuckles in the process).
Let them dry out in the sun again for a day and half. And that's where they sit now.

What all should I do before getting them to start cycling again? Dunk/swish them again? Power wash them again? Ideally I'd prefer not to use any chemicals as I really don't want to run the risk of not getting them off well enough and have them leach into the tank :-/

I'm excited to get the tank back up and running again!

 

[Brew12]

A little over a month ago, my tank went downhill fast. I was losing coral left and right, and even fish were dying off. Could not for the life of me figure out as to why. Long story short, I decided to tear down the tank completely, and discovered my return pump had rusted on the inside big time and had been leaching metals into the tank. Well I decided to go at least a month without setting it back up to see if it was something I even wanted to get back into. I definitely do!

When I tore everything down I let the rocks drain and threw them in two brute trash cans. They have been sitting in them since.

So I'm in the process of cleaning out all the rock. Here is what I have done so far:
Took them all outside and took the power washer to them.
Let them sit in the sun for a day to really dry out (some pieces were still damp a month later just from sitting in an enclosed trash can).
Filled up a trash can of water and dunked/swished the crap out of them (and busted a few knuckles in the process).
Let them dry out in the sun again for a day and half. And that's where they sit now.

What all should I do before getting them to start cycling again? Dunk/swish them again? Power wash them again? Ideally I'd prefer not to use any chemicals as I really don't want to run the risk of not getting them off well enough and have them leach into the tank :-/

I'm excited to get the tank back up and running again!

I would run Poly-Filters (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...rqwrNF-TYFCI-Zxv5ZVJyDakWn1_pTCzeThoCwO7w_wcB) in your system for awhile before I would even think about adding life or even trying to cycle the tank. The color change will let you know if you are absorbing heavy metals.

 

[lambchops]

I would bleach the rocks. You can fill the bucket of rocks with water and then dump a quart of bleach in, let it sit overnight, empty, rinse with RO/DI, empty, fill again but put some declorinator in, dump, and let them sit in the sun.

 

[Pongo]

What size tank? How many lbs of rock?

If it was mine, I'd throw the rock in the garden and get new rock.

If that's not an option, I'd put the rock back in the trash cans, fill with saltwater and run a heater with circulating pump for 2 weeks. Then send water samples off for Triton testing.
If it comes back clean then you might be more confident it won't kill anything if you re-use it.

Dump some bacteria in a bottle and dose the cans to 2ppm ammonia.
When it cycles, boom, live rock ready to go.

But then again, I'd have ordered new rock by now.

 

[chefjpaul]

Acid wash & bleach

 

[afamousjohnson]

Bleach is good. I went full blown recently and gave all my rock a muratic acid bath for a full cleanse. Lots of info on it so make sure to do research if you choose this direction

 

[BigHildy53]

+1 on the muratic acid bath. Just take all the precautions.

 

[corey.nolta]

Rock has been cleaned and dried. Just finished up the aquascape and I'm not sure about it. I'm going to sleep on it and maybe change it up in a day or two. I tried to add more "shelves" and nooks and crannies than I had previous. Even added a cave.
Take a look at the video and let me know your thoughts!

 

[Pongo]

Wow, nice job.

Is that vertical column on the left stable?
Looks like you have a rod through them.

 

[corey.nolta]

Stable as in it will not topple over or shift, yes. But there is a little bit of "sway" to it when there is a lot of movement around the tank (aka dogs wrestling in front of it). There is a 20" rod that runs from top to bottom, and a few other rod pieces to secure it to the other rock work around it. Both pieces are secured with rods in some way.