Dead live rock. Bleach? Boil?

[kpiotrowski]

Just a FYI to all, I did some more research on specifically the pukani rock and found notable mention of the pukani being an algea factory if not cleaned/cured well before additon to your tank. no matter the method ( bleach, boil, vinegar etc) it seems prudent to give it a good cleaning and soaking. my plan, after taking the garden hose to it, is to run it in my sytsem with non-rodi tap water and do a few complete water changes. Rodi sounds great but I all things considered I'd rather just do about 5 complete water changes over a couple of weeks and call it good. after all, even if i use rodi its pretty much crap water as soon as it comes in contact with the dirty pukani. when the water runs clean I will use rodi then add salt and begin cycling. I'll have to do some more research on the pros and cons of SPEED cycling with #2. I'll get back to ya. lol.

 

[Scooterman]

You'll be much happier when you don't have to deal with all of the nasties, only you will have to allow time for the rock to color up!

 

[akunochi]

Just a FYI to all, I did some more research on specifically the pukani rock and found notable mention of the pukani being an algea factory if not cleaned/cured well before additon to your tank. no matter the method ( bleach, boil, vinegar etc) it seems prudent to give it a good cleaning and soaking. my plan, after taking the garden hose to it, is to run it in my sytsem with non-rodi tap water and do a few complete water changes. Rodi sounds great but I all things considered I'd rather just do about 5 complete water changes over a couple of weeks and call it good. after all, even if i use rodi its pretty much crap water as soon as it comes in contact with the dirty pukani. when the water runs clean I will use rodi then add salt and begin cycling. I'll have to do some more research on the pros and cons of SPEED cycling with #2. I'll get back to ya. lol.

SO you are going to thoroughly clean rock know to produce algae in water that contains phosphates and other trace heavy metals....which fuel algae growth....just want to make sure I have this right. You know the water change idea you have is nice for removing the dirty water as you soak the rock.....but only adds my phosphates into the system....

 

[Aquanaut]

How about loading all your rock and haul it in a couple of 35g rubber maid bins to the beach of puget sound. Then wade-in with scrubber in hand....lol...lol. Or, make rock pillars on the beach at minus tide and come back at the next minus tide a month later and collect your puget sound scrubbed & cycle-seeded rock all-natural...JUST KIDDING! Remember to have fun what ever you choose.

 

[kpiotrowski]

How about loading all your rock and haul it in a couple of 35g rubber maid bins to the beach of puget sound. Then wade-in with scrubber in hand....lol...lol. Or, make rock pillars on the beach at minus tide and come back at the next minus tide a month later and collect your puget sound scrubbed & cycle-seeded rock all-natural...JUST KIDDING! Remember to have fun what ever you choose.

rofl! I love it!

To get off the Rodi subject a minute I want to provide an argument for bleaching, boiling, acidifying, or othwise sterilzing the dead rock although I don't intend to do so...and I will explaing why not later.

The most successful life forms on the planet are? yeah, the simplest! How many of you have put dead rock...I mean REALLY dead rock in your systems only to find some sort of life arise? and of those things that "came alive" were they desireable? Probably not. Sterilzing new rock is a good way to ensure nasties don't creep up and a good way to start fresh regardless of particular you want to be about adding a few trace phosphates in exchange for removing a BUNCH. and the less difficult way to sterilze involves LARGE amount of water for dilution.

I don't plan to sterilze cuz I am curious to see what type of life may arize from the dead if any ( I'm not talking complex life here). I am unafraid to tackle any potential problems in the begining. Having a beautiful display will be nice but that is not my goal. a balanced sytem is. and starting out with a bunch of decaying matter is not ideal!

Now, I said I don't plan on sterilzing....but I may change my mind as it is my perogative.lol

 

[Scooterman]

Usually when you have rock that was bleached, as soon as you put it in an established tank or a tank with some sort of existing life, including algae, it will migrate to the new surface area very rapidly, so that isn't the reason why you would do such a thing.

 

[Krish]

Still trying to understand the title....Dead live rock. Could you imagine a dead live person? :lol:

My 2 cents without weeding through the entire thread is if the rock is dead base rock and has been dried out long enough to where everything in it is infact dead and you are left with base rock, then a good rinsing to get off surface dust and whatever is in the nooks and crannies should be all it needs. Tap water, ro/di water probably doesn't matter much if you allow it to "sun dry" which will evaporate off whatever water you used anyways.

Just a thought...

 

[user 2204]

I agree in this situation, your wanting to start off completely clean, I'd go even farther and soak it in a huge tub with bleach a few days. Then I would spend a few more days cleaning off and neutralizing the bleach and removing whats left, I use a final soak in a large batch of Amquil to help neutralize everything then you can do a final rinse on RO/Di and then it is like a brand new filter, waiting to develop lots of new bacteria.
This way you know without a doubt it is clean and will last many years with no issues.

My Opinion yes!

I've heard of many reefers doing this method with great results and awesoem looking tanks too.

I'm going to be trying this method with my dry rock that I got from BRS.

Cheers,
Alex

 

[Krish]

Take a look at this poll and read through some of the responses there especially Mojo's. Might come in a bit handy.

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/showthread.php?t=61415

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[akunochi]

Still trying to understand the title....Dead live rock. Could you imagine a dead live person? :lol:

My 2 cents without weeding through the entire thread is if the rock is dead base rock and has been dried out long enough to where everything in it is infact dead and you are left with base rock, then a good rinsing to get off surface dust and whatever is in the nooks and crannies should be all it needs. Tap water, ro/di water probably doesn't matter much if you allow it to "sun dry" which will evaporate off whatever water you used anyways.

Just a thought...

Thank you dead is dead is dead is dead...

 

[kpiotrowski]

I've heard of many reefers doing this method with great results and awesoem looking tanks too.

I'm going to be trying this method with my dry rock that I got from BRS.

Cheers,
Alex

I have also used the bleach method on Texas Holey Rock ( limestone) 106lbs of it that went into a 125g and it is the method of all the suppliers of holey rock that I know of. Usually they just let it sit out in the texas sun a few weeks to get rid of the bleach, but I did the amequel thing ( bulk dechlorinator) and used like a half gallon over 24 hours and 5 complete water changes. I 1st changed the bleach water then added about a quart of the dechlorinator. the bleach smell was gone after the 2nd water change, but I continued with last being just a rinse. never had a problem with any fish death or biofilter die off.

 

[saltybell]

just hose it off and throw it in the tank already!!!!!!