Rock NOT bubbling in vinegar bath...

[Transporter]

Ok, as many know, I got well over 100 # of rock from a 180 gallon aquarium tear down for free. This aquarium was up for the better part of 7-8 years with this rock in it and while there weren't any coral in this tank, there were plenty of fish from a snowflake eel, to an angel, to clownfish, to tangs. Although this tank never "crashed", it was badly neglected after my dad had back surgery and couldn't even walk for about 6 months. After the tear down, I was given all the rock. It was all power washed and left out in the sun all last summer.
Fast forward to now. I decided to give this rock a 1:3 bleach to water bath, and after that it will soak in a pure 5% vinegar bath. When I was putting this rock in the trash bin, I noticed a lot of this rock while very porous, was not the typical off white color. Some of it was greyish, and some of it was a brownish color. I just figured it was from algae and put it to the bleach anyway. Today, after the bleach bath, this rock was still the same color as when i put it in, so I decided to put a few pieces of the off-colored rock into a bucket of vinegar after a good RO rinse.
Yep, you guessed it, very little to no bubbling from the rock, even after 25 minutes of being in it. My question is, sinse this rock came out of an estblished aquarium, can I still use this rock in my upcoming 75 build with no side effects ? I can provide 'before bleach bath' pics if needed.

Thanks,

 

[Reefrookie220]

Muratic acid followed by lanthum chloride will get toy the reaction and color your looking for

 

[nervousmonkey]

+1, vinegar doesn't have a strong enough acid concentration to produce what you want. It's really low in fact. I'd recommend muriatic acid so it'll get into all the pores and dissolve the detritus, hopefully, as well as take a thin layer of the rock off. That may get the rock back to white.

 

[Transporter]

I understand what you guys are saying about the muratic acid. The thing is, I put a known, calcium based reef rock into the same vinegar bucket with these rocks, and it went nuts with bubbles and foam. So I know that it's the rocks that are not calcium based. My question is, are these rocks still ok to use ?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Keep in mind these rocks are not rocks. They're bone. Some comes from freshly dead coral from the ocean. Some is ancient and mined from dry land. I would assume mined is denser and has more minerals depending on where in the formation is came from.

 

[Transporter]

Ok, let's suppose the 'rocks' I have, are not actually bone, but in fact porous rock. The reason I say that is the lack of reaction to vinegar. Is there any harm in running them in a new setup once they are fully cooked ?

Keep in mind these rocks are not rocks. They're bone. Some comes from freshly dead coral from the ocean. Some is ancient and mined from dry land. I would assume mined is denser and has more minerals depending on where in the formation is came from.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Ok, let's suppose the 'rocks' I have, are not actually bone, but in fact porous rock. Is there any harm in running them in a new setup once they are fully cooked ?

No it's probably fine. It won't develop a bio filter s well I'd guess. Likely have fewer aneribic areas deep in it.
I would try to figure out why kind of rock it is.
and kinda why you bought It.

To be clear, live rock, aragonite, is coral skeleton. Dried and collected or mined.
Same as the most sand in the hobby now.

 

[Transporter]

I didn't buy this rock, it was given to me. It all came out of a 180 gal that was up and running well for the better part of 7-8 years.
And idea on how to find out what kind of rock it is ? I'll post pics as soon as I figure out how...

 

[Transporter]

Thhis is all the rock that got a bleach bath...All of it had coraline (sp?) growing on it at one time.

 

[Transporter]

Here is another view of them. Most of the rock that look really porous on one side, are not so porous on the opposite side.

 

[azbigjohn]

I believe that is volcanic lace rock.

I have used it before without problems. Many stores sell it as Lace Rock, primarily for freshwater decoration, but it should be okay for saltwater, too. I have heard some say it tends to leach phosphate more, but if it was in another tank for 7 years, it should be leached out.

 

[nervousmonkey]

+1 to Salty and Big John first.
Second, the efficacy of the rocks in your tank will depend on how much dead bacteria and detritus that there is built up on the inside pores of the rock. that's why I recommend muriatic acid, to break down and dissolve all of the dead crap inside the pores of your rock. Personally, I would leave them in the acid bath for 24 hours, then neutralize the acid, rinse them really well, soak in RODI for a day, and repeat the process 2 more times to make sure you have really open, porous rock. That or get new rock and use those for a nice border around a garden pond. They will not do well as nitrifying substrate for the bacteria you need to colonize them if they're clogged, and they were used for 7 or 8 years. Guarantee that they are clogged. If you had access to an ozonizer, I would put an airstone on the end of the tubing connected to the ozonizer, fill the trash can or other container with the rock, turn the ozonizer to max generating capacity and blast them with ozone to break down detritus and other crap in the rock. I would let them sit in that super oxidizing bath for two days, and do it outside for sure. All other ancillary equipment added as well (air pump, air dryer).

 

[Transporter]

You guys are awesome ! Thank you very much for the fast and informative responses !! Looks like I will only be using a couple select pieces from this batch, and mixing it in with the actual reef rock (bone) that I already have.

On a side note, I don't have an ozonizer...Let alone even know what one looks like lol.

Thanks again !!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

You guys are awesome ! Thank you very much for the fast and informative responses !! Looks like I will only be using a couple select pieces from this batch, and mixing it in with the actual reef rock (bone) that I already have.

On a side note, I don't have an ozonizer...Let alone even know what one looks like lol.

Thanks again !!

Yea, these folks Rock!

 

[nervousmonkey]

and Salty too, he's just modest.

 

[wkscott]

Much of the darker rock is sold for freshwater tanks under the name of Mexican Bowl Rock.( besides Lace Rock.)

 

[stevieduk]

Ok, as many know, I got well over 100 # of rock from a 180 gallon aquarium tear down for free. This aquarium was up for the better part of 7-8 years with this rock in it and while there weren't any coral in this tank, there were plenty of fish from a snowflake eel, to an angel, to clownfish, to tangs. Although this tank never "crashed", it was badly neglected after my dad had back surgery and couldn't even walk for about 6 months. After the tear down, I was given all the rock. It was all power washed and left out in the sun all last summer.
Fast forward to now. I decided to give this rock a 1:3 bleach to water bath, and after that it will soak in a pure 5% vinegar bath. When I was putting this rock in the trash bin, I noticed a lot of this rock while very porous, was not the typical off white color. Some of it was greyish, and some of it was a brownish color. I just figured it was from algae and put it to the bleach anyway. Today, after the bleach bath, this rock was still the same color as when i put it in, so I decided to put a few pieces of the off-colored rock into a bucket of vinegar after a good RO rinse.
Yep, you guessed it, very little to no bubbling from the rock, even after 25 minutes of being in it. My question is, sinse this rock came out of an estblished aquarium, can I still use this rock in my upcoming 75 build with no side effects ? I can provide 'before bleach bath' pics if needed.

Thanks,

why do you want the rock white ?. Its not white in the sea, and I thought the object was to create a piece of ocean in a tank

 

[Transporter]

The color really has no effect on me, and I was just using the colors to explain the differences that I see.
I noticed that while trying to do a vinegar dip, that some of the rock was not reacting in the same manner as what I had previously read about. While trying to figure out the reason, I had noticed that the rocks of a different color were the ones not reacting in the manner i had expected. I couldn't find any definitive answer through searching on here, so I figured I would put up a post.
The whole reason for cooking the rock down, is to get rid of anything that was stuck inside decaying due to being out of the water for a year. I figured it would be better to cook it off than to have it cause any unforseen problems just placing it in my tank.