Too much algae on these rocks to even bother with?

[cvrle1]

I read lots about folks bleaching live rocks, using muriatic acid (combination of both) and so on, and then curing it. Question is, how much of the bad stuff is too much on the rocks before it doesnt make sense to spend time and effort to clean it all up for use? Is there such point?

I am looking at bunch of rocks locally, but just seeing what they look like makes me cringe. Not sure if I should even bother trying to get these for dirt cheap (no pun intended) and then going through the whole cleaning process

Thanks for the help

 

[ihavecrabs]

Dirt cheap, sure!

I wouldn't even bleach or cure them if they are still live.

I'd dump them in a brute with fresh saltwater, a heater, and no light after giving them a good scrub. Come back a week later and do the same thing once no light has weakened the algae further.

Then it is all about stabilizing the ecosystem before you add too too much light to cause another algae bloom.

 

[jtl]

If it is most hair algae you can dip brush them and then dip them in H2O2 do that a couple of times and you will kill off the HA and save the beneficial bacteria. If you find any useful critters when you remove the rock set them aside they may not react well to the peroxide.

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

Easily a couple of hundred bucks worth of live rocks there! I would also just give them a good scrub and check for any nasties like aptasia or manjano. Looks like a great deal!

 

[cvrle1]

Someone already got all the rock before me, so there goes that idea. Thanks for the replies everyone. Good to know for future for sure.