Should I give my rocks an acid bath?

[RDA]

Hello all.

I have posted a few random questions here and there, now it's time I'm back again with another question. I've always gotten such helpful tips and suggestions from here, I hope I can get some good answers on this topic as well. I am finally in the final(ish) stages of setting up my new tank. Things kind of got postponed due to certain life changes causing me to put a hold on the tank. It has basically been sitting with saltwater circulating in it for a while. I had purchased 100 lbs of BRS's Pukani dry rock, which has just been sitting in the boxes they came in.

I'm finally ready to get the rock ready to go in the tank to start progressing forward again. I know a lot of people recommend cleaning the dry rock to get back to a clean slate before putting them in the aquarium. Basically, we're trying to get rid of any leftover organics that may have died on or in the rocks. We want to get rid of them before they add additional waste to the tank. I have read about people saying to use a diluted bleach solution (I do have one box I had put into a bleach solution (stronger than I had seen recommended), that has been running for the last couple weeks) and I haven't really noticed much, if any, change to the rocks. I have heard of people saying to use a straight vinegar bath to do a safer, more mild version of what we try to accomplish with the acid.

My question is, am I best to just cut to the chase and just go with the acid bath and make sure to get everything stripped from the rock? I know I'm most likely overthinking everything, but I just want to try my best to get this tank correct the first time around. I don't want to short cut on things and end up with problems later on.

Thanks in advance.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I'm a big definite NO to acid washing rock. It gives you less rock and is very dangerous. I say a big yes to a bleach wash....I did two gallons in about 50 gallons of water, for a week. This will jump-start the cure of the rock.

 

[RDA]

I did a bleach bath, i think i ended up doing 4 gallons to 20 gallons for several weeks. They still just look as if they're not clean. I hear people say if the dry rocks arent cleaned properly they can start leaching phosphates and/or other stuff back into the water from the organics that were trapped inside that die off. I just don't want to set myself up for future headaches or problems down the road. I want to make sure the rock is clean before it goes into the tank.

 

[lzrlvr]

Why do you people go through so much trouble with dry rock when there are better alternatives.

 

[User1]

You don't need to perform an acid bath. Depending on the ratio like noted above it will remove the total volume of rock - I think in the BRS video it was upwards to 25%. So in my opinion it is waste of both surface area and money invested in the rock. I have 150 lbs of the same rock I used in my tank. I pressure washed, divided into bins, filled with tap water, added some bleach, power head, then let sit for 24 hours. Rinse and repeat two more times. Rinsed with tap water, refilled bins with more tap water, then added lanthium chloride to reduce phosphate(s). 24 hours with power head, rinse water, repeat another two times. That was good enough for me. Pressure wash, aquascape, and then use RI/RO water to make saltwater and start the cycle.

My phosphates are still somewhat high but I really am not worried about it. Tank is maturing, ugly phase I'm sure, but everything is doing ok. I don't think doing an acid bath would have changed anything or added any value.

 

[TheEngineer]

Tests have shown bleaching rocks doesn’t remove organics. It simply turns them white. The best thing to do is to cure the rock in saltwater for 6 weeks or more. This will make the rock live and the organics will naturally get taken care of.

 

[KrisReef]

Lots of opinions thus far, and there are many routes to "live rock" as the previous posts have shown. A couple of points:
1 Live rock isn't "organic free" by definition.
2 No matter the curing route you take, when you think you have arrived and are ready to add this to the tank, make sure to test for nutrients, especially P and adjust your schedule to whatever the rock throws at you.

Test twice!

 

[User1]

Tests have shown bleaching rocks doesn’t remove organics. It simply turns them white. The best thing to do is to cure the rock in saltwater for 6 weeks or more. This will make the rock live and the organics will naturally get taken care of.

You are very correct here with the comment about bleach and I should have noted that. I didn't say why I bleached but you hit the nail on the head. It was to more or less clean the rock. It is less invasive or destructive compared to the acid bath and a lot safer. The lanthanum chloride was to try and reduce the phosphate that is pretty rampant in dry pukani rock. Once it was done it was definitely moon base 9 sort of rock. My rocks are now 4 or 5 months post cycle and I'm still not a fan of them. Affordable entry point but if I was to do it over again I'd toss it all and buy TBS or KP live rock. Its good rock don't get me wrong but sometimes you find yourself getting the impatient bug bite and need to reset expectations. Pukani does take a bit to mature for sure...its a long ride

 

[Art2249]

I acid washed mine, ran it in bleach circulated by a pump for 2 weeks. Did the same with tap water for several months, and then with ro water for about another month. I didn't use salt water because i was planning on letting it dry and scaping it anyway.
The rock is not leaching nutrients at all after this treatment.