Reusing Rock

[Lovefish77]

So I took 2 pieces of rock out of my 75G like 2 weeks ago and are now dried up.
I wanted to use them in a 20 cube. Question: can I shall rinse off under faucet? Or I need to bleach to start with a clean slate?

I usually bleach and start from scratch, but was wondering if there is any benefit to doing otherwise.

Thanks

 

[Lovefish77]

Anyone?

 

[Lovefish77]

I am inclined to bleach and reset everything, any ideas?

 

[rwreef]

I would just rinse, no bleach. Then cycle new tank with this rock. There will be some die off but it's normal.

 

[IKD]

just my thought. If it’s going into a small tank like 20g, I would clean it well as the die-off could quickly pollute a smaller tank volume.

 

[Cell]

If the new tank is already cycled, then I'd bleach the rock. If the new tank is not yet cycled, then you could use die off from the old rock as your ammonia source. What you are really asking is if you should remove the dried organic material from the old rock before using and generally the answer is yes.

 

[ScottB]

I don't think there is a wrong answer to this. The best answer would have been to keep it alive in a bucket with a small powerhead, changing the water very few weeks. A mature bacterial colony is valuable. Maybe give that a try next time.

For now, you could:
Bleach it -- but I would soak it in RO/DI and a dechlorinator afterwards.
Or simply powerwash it.
Or put it in a citric acid bath for an hour or so if you want to open up the pores. Just don't forget and leave in there.

 

[Lovefish77]

I can use the die off as ammonia I know. But the rock smells really bad as it has a lot of sponge that I manually peeled off, but it is still there in the pores even after leaving it out of tank for 2 weeks. I drilled several holes in it yesterday then gave it a rinse to remove the dust and it still smells strange and has green algae on it.
The 20G is a brand new tank that I am ordering soon, so starting from scratch. The idea from cleaning rocks with bleach and peroxide is that i will use some marine pure spheres from my 75G to help establish bacteria in that 20G.

 

[Cell]

Sounds like you have your answer then.

 

[Lovefish77]

I don't think there is a wrong answer to this. The best answer would have been to keep it alive in a bucket with a small powerhead, changing the water very few weeks. A mature bacterial colony is valuable. Maybe give that a try next time.

For now, you could:
Bleach it -- but I would soak it in RO/DI and a dechlorinator afterwards.
Or simply powerwash it.
Or put it in a citric acid bath for an hour or so if you want to open up the pores. Just don't forget and leave in there.

Yes I think I will put in bleach and peroxide for few hours, then rinse and let it air dry in the sun for a week. Dont like dechlorinator as it can cause skimmers to go crazy

 

[cvrle1]

Yes I think I will put in bleach and peroxide for few hours, then rinse and let it air dry in the sun for a week. Dont like dechlorinator as it can cause skimmers to go crazy

Few hours of bleach batch, if you use recommended 10-1 mix of water to bleach, wont be enough. When i bleached my rocks months ago I used more like 5-1 mix and had them in there for a week. Maybe if you used just pure bleach few hours would work, but otherwise I would extend your planned time. Also, no need for peroxide if you use bleach. It will kill everything on and in the rocks. I would also do this in a sperate brute can, and not inside aquarium. This way you can use dechlorinator, and lathanum chloride if needed. No need for skimmer, just pump to move water around.

 

[Lovefish77]

Few hours of bleach batch, if you use recommended 10-1 mix of water to bleach, wont be enough. When i bleached my rocks months ago I used more like 5-1 mix and had them in there for a week. Maybe if you used just pure bleach few hours would work, but otherwise I would extend your planned time. Also, no need for peroxide if you use bleach. It will kill everything on and in the rocks. I would also do this in a sperate brute can, and not inside aquarium. This way you can use dechlorinator, and lathanum chloride if needed. No need for skimmer, just pump to move water around.

Thanks I already dumped them in a tub, I never do anything like that in a tank. Might leave for a day or two. I always use bleach and peroxide to clean filter socks from poop, works wonders.