Killing Live Rock

[derrick orosz]

as I'm selling corals I've been able to get access to a lot of rock that has clove ployps on it which I want gone. I put some rocks covered in it into a bucked with half water and half bleach... it certainly killed the cloves ployps and pineapple express zoas that they where covered in but looking back that might not have been the best method haha

is this rock garbage now or can it be reused ?

 

[TORX]

You are somewhat right. There are some better option. I just did the kalk paste on rocks in my tank with amazing success at killing those sadistic zombie button palys. Pure bleach is just basically ammonia. You will be fine. Lots of soaks and flushes and you will be good.

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[Janice]

The live Marco rock that I saved out of Colby's tank in March was in the old water from the tank. We put it in a plastic box we bought at Cdn Tire for the purpose of covering it and leaving it in the dark for awhile to kill the extreme about of algae on it. Unfortunately, due to my mom dying suddenly we have not had time to deal with this rock. It is likely dried out by now-not home, cant check- and likely has been for several months. Can someone educate me as to what I need to do to treat this rock, if it is salvagable? It cost $13.99 per pound at Big Als, so I would like to put it in Colby's new 16G Biocube(his new tank for Coral RX emergencies!), when we get it set up, if possible. Thanks.

 

[shamous113]

The rock will be good, soak it in RO water with some prime then let it dry for a few days on your deck to remove all of the bleach. I bleached and then used muriatic acid on the old dry rock I bought before setting up my tank, here is the rock reincarnation thread on reef central. Note: Do not mix muriatic acid with bleach it makes mustard gas

 

[Janice]

which prime? Sorry, I am pretty dumb about this suff so need to be really clear so that I do not make a mistake

 

[Janice]

Also, for clarity, you are NOT suggesting that I do the same treatment that you did?

 

[Janice]

The only reason we had an algae issue at the outset of my son's SW tank career was because I HAD TOO MUCH PHOSPHATE IN THE SYSTEM. After 5 months of daily cleaning we could not take it any more. Trust me, you first pic was nothing! That is when we called in the so called professional who destroyed our tank and killed everything in it. My son has learned since then. So Salty can you be more specific about your views as to what I would have to do to this live rock, which has been out of the tank in the dark since mid March (5 months), before Colby could use it in his new soon to be 2nd tank that he will be starting?

 

[ColbytheClown]

The only reason we had an algae issue at the outset of my son's SW tank career was because he accidentally mis-programmed the lights (used am instead of pm), which meant they were on 24 hours without us knowing. After 5 months of daily cleaning -even with GFO-we could not take it any more. Trust me, you first pic was nothing! That is when we called in the so called professional who destroyed our tank and killed everything in it. My son has learned since then. So Salty can you be more specific about your views as to what I would have to do to this live rock, which has been out of the tank in the dark since mid March (5 months), before Colby could use it in his new soon to be 2nd tank that he will be starting?

 

[teebone110]

To salvage that deadrock you need to rinse it in 0TDS RO/DI water a few times, then put it into a container with saltwater and either an airstone or a skimmer (preferably) for a couple of weeks. If you're only using an airstone then change the saltwater in the tub a few times. You also have to run a canister reactor with actual ferric oxide (or phosban) in it. Preferably you would run a hanna phosphate checker on the water and run the GFO until the number is less than 0PPM.

I would recommend letting the rock actually soak in the RODI water for a few days, rinse and repeat again for another few days. The RODI water is so pure that it will pull contaminants right out of the rock.

You can also do a muriatic acid bath for about 20 mins, as the acid will take a thin layer off your contaminated rock.

This has worked well for me in the past

 

[AdInfinitum]

The only reason we had an algae issue at the outset of my son's SW tank career was because he accidentally mis-programmed the lights (used am instead of pm), which meant they were on 24 hours without us knowing. After 5 months of daily cleaning -even with GFO-we could not take it any more. Trust me, you first pic was nothing! That is when we called in the so called professional who destroyed our tank and killed everything in it. My son has learned since then. So Salty can you be more specific about your views as to what I would have to do to this live rock, which has been out of the tank in the dark since mid March (5 months), before Colby could use it in his new soon to be 2nd tank that he will be starting?

I'm sorry Janice, but listen to @Salty Cracker...

If nutrients are under control algae will not bloom regardless of your lighting schedule or many other factors that people blame their issues on. Hair algae in particular is extremely hungry and nutrient Intensive. It needs plenty of high phosphate fertilizer to thrive (putting it in gardening terms). Without the nutrients it needs, it just withers and dies.

 

[derrick orosz]

I would recommend letting the rock actually soak in the RODI water for a few days, rinse and repeat again for another few days. The RODI water is so pure that it will pull contaminants right out of the rock.

You can also do a muriatic acid bath for about 20 mins, as the acid will take a thin layer off your contaminated rock.

This has worked well for me in the past

had it soaking in ro now for a couple days, tonight I'll take it out and let it sit on the back deck for a few days.

I have some more I want to kill... might go a different route this time hahah

 

[shamous113]

which prime? Sorry, I am pretty dumb about this suff so need to be really clear so that I do not make a mistake

Sorry @Janice i may have confused you my reply was in response to @derrick orosz original question, Seachem prime removes chlorine, chloramine and detoxifies ammonia.

Also, for clarity, you are NOT suggesting that I do the same treatment that you did?

@Salty Cracker method is proven and will work for you, I did the bleach and acid bath because I wanted to strip the organics and outer layer of the rock off, its what worked for my situation and I had the space to safely do it out doors.

 

[shamous113]

I have some more I want to kill... might go a different route this time hahah

Curious what rout you may go the next round... The bonus of using chlorine is that it breaks down palytoxin, see page 7 of the CDC Biosafety report here.

 

[shamous113]

Indeed, that's why I used pool chlorine on my liverock. effin Palys. NO MORE PALYS IN THE TANK.

I Used the same stuff for 3 reasons, it 12% chlorine vs the household at 5-6% , your guaranteed that it doesn't have any thing else added to it, and at $0.65/liter at twice the strength it saves you some $

 

[Janice]

I am confused as to whether I should follow the Rock Reincarnation Thread posted by @shamous above, (2) follow Tbone's advice (above) and (3) where is Salty Cracker's response to my original question, which was:

To recap: I have Marco rock that I saved out of Colby's tank in March was in the old water from the tank. We put it in a plastic box we bought at Cdn Tire for the purpose of covering it and leaving it in the dark for awhile to kill the extreme about of algae on it. Unfortunately, due to my mom dying suddenly we have not had time to deal with this rock. I checked, and the rock is still covered with the old tank water from March. It did not eva[orate, as the cover has been on the container since March.

So what exactly should I do to this rock before I can use it in Colby's soon to be new tank?

Thanks,Janice

 

[Pistol]

I would reincarnate it with bleach, the acid bath is not necessary, then treat it as new dead rock.

 

[Nonuser]

Here's my opinion, sell it all or chuck it in the landfill. Live rock is the bases of your system and any previous problems can cause headaches later on when your system is established. The amount of money I've spent on everything else I put in the tank live rock is not that expensive but seems to cause the most problems.

Just my opinion. Good luck with the new system and house.

 

[ColbytheClown]

Here's my opinion, sell it all or chuck it in the landfill. Live rock is the bases of your system and any previous problems can cause headaches later on when your system is established. The amount of money I've spent on everything else I put in the tank live rock is not that expensive but seems to cause the most problems.

Just my opinion. Good luck with the new system and house.

So many options
The only reason we took out the rock and put it in a box was to kill algae, there is no chemicals on this LR.

 

[TORX]

So many options

Yes for sure. Probably 90% of this hobby is opinionated. Much of this hobby is preference, experience, financials and will vary from aquarium to aquarium. There are best practices, but for the most part there is not 1, 2, 3 set up guide to this hobby. What works for one may not work for others. A lot of people are choosing new rock over used rock as it is much cheaper now and the headache of cleaning and neutralizing the rock can be tedious to some. Other swear by muric acid baths. Some people love their LED while others prefer T5, some mH and for some a combo of 2 or 3 different lighting systems. Heck, I have personally seem amazing set ups using tap water, but I myself can not use tap water which was what I started with and regret it. All you can to is read suggestions and try what works for you. It may not work and you may end up using several different methods. The only true advice in this hobby is go slow, read and research everything you plan on doing or putting in your tank and try to enjoy it. Even though it can get EXTREMELY frustrating some times. My first tank i spent over an hour a day manually removing and filtering out hair algae for a month or so to get my first tank under control (tap water). It was just the water as my next tank of the same size I packed full of coral and fish with 0 algae issues. The only thing I changed was my water source.

 

[Nonuser]

Not trying to offend anyone. Here's the but

Everything you do has consequences in this hobby. If you are confident with your rock then great.

But once you have chosen your rock it's probably the hardest component to change.