Taking live rock out

[Lps_lover12]

I have some live rock that’s been in my tank for quite some time now and I want to take it out. It’s covered in algae and bristleworms love hiding in there. I was thinking of taking it out, scrubbing it down to get all algae off of it and then rinsing it and putting it in the sump. I’m wondering if this will work so that way I can always use it in the future plus I don’t loose any space for bacteria to live on. Is it ok to rinse it in tap water or does it have to be saltwater? Kind of confusing I know but hope I explained it ok

 

[ryanjohn1]

Do you have rodi water to use instead of tap

 

[areefer01]

I have some live rock that’s been in my tank for quite some time now and I want to take it out. It’s covered in algae and bristleworms love hiding in there. I was thinking of taking it out, scrubbing it down to get all algae off of it and then rinsing it and putting it in the sump. I’m wondering if this will work so that way I can always use it in the future plus I don’t loose any space for bacteria to live on. Is it ok to rinse it in tap water or does it have to be saltwater? Kind of confusing I know but hope I explained it ok

You can do this, of course. The answer would depend on what you actually hope to accomplish. If you want to remove it and try cleaning up the algae then a scrub and rinse would be ok. Save some water after a water change and you can rinse in it. You can also go a bit more extreme and rinse in rodi water. I would avoid tap as noted above. So those are the only two I would probably use.

Few notes:

• Bristleworms are not bad. I understand why some think so or that they just don't like them but they are a good creature that will help to manage organic matter or dead organisms. Population is a good indicator of nutrients and feeding habits.
• You mentioned algae issues - have you tried managing it with herbivores or manual removal? Not too many but balanced? Also not to add anything you don't want to keep as some natural predators may not eat it.
• Manual removal of algae? Is that an option?
• Rock in sump with flow, covered, or refugium, is fine and can be used later.

 

[Lps_lover12]

Do you have rodi water to use instead of tap

Yes I can also use that

 

[Lps_lover12]

You can do this, of course. The answer would depend on what you actually hope to accomplish. If you want to remove it and try cleaning up the algae then a scrub and rinse would be ok. Save some water after a water change and you can rinse in it. You can also go a bit more extreme and rinse in rodi water. I would avoid tap as noted above. So those are the only two I would probably use.

Few notes:

• Bristleworms are not bad. I understand why some think so or that they just don't like them but they are a good creature that will help to manage organic matter or dead organisms. Population is a good indicator of nutrients and feeding habits.
• You mentioned algae issues - have you tried managing it with herbivores or manual removal? Not too many but balanced? Also not to add anything you don't want to keep as some natural predators may not eat it.
• Manual removal of algae? Is that an option?
• Rock in sump with flow, covered, or refugium, is fine and can be used later.

I’ll stick to either rodi or old saltwater. I hate bristleworms but I have accepted the fact that it is very hard to get rid of them as well as they are good to have I just have quite a lot. I’ve cut down on feedings since I noticed them all. Only herbivore fish I have is a foxface which barley touches my bubble algae (my main algae issue). So if I take it out, scrub and rinse in old saltwater then return to sump that will be ok? Only reason I want to make sure is that I know if rock drys out it can leach stuff into the tank when it’s added later

 

[ryanjohn1]

Tried adding emerald crabs?

 

[bushdoc]

If you rinse your rock in RODI, you will kill many organisms, including some but probably not all bristleworms and many nitryfyying bacteria, thus your rock would have some decaying matter and possibly cause ammonia rise.
I would rinse in saltwater.

 

[Lps_lover12]

Tried adding emerald crabs?

I added one a while ago but it went missing a few days later. Never tried another one cause I was worried about it eating coral

 

[Lps_lover12]

If you rinse your rock in RODI, you will kill many organisms, including some but probably not all bristleworms and many nitryfyying bacteria, thus your rock would have some decaying matter and possibly cause ammonia rise.
I would rinse in saltwater.

Thank you, I’m going to rinse it in saltwater to avoid any issues

 

[SFREEF3R]

I recently went through this - hair algae and bryopsis had grown wildly out of control in my tank. I filled a big rubbermade bin with SW so that I could fully submerge the rock while scrubbing with a toothbrush (I find hair algae in particular easier to scrub when it is wet/submerged).

Now a month later I still have only traces of algae and managed to preserve a lot of the life on the rocks.