Pukani Cookout

[Scorched]

According a few local reefers and Reef Central Pukani rock has been known to leech phosphates and dead material long after it is introduced into a new tank.

 

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2049855

 

There are two common treatments. Muriatic Acid and Lanthanum Chloride.

 

Muriatic acid will eat away at organic matter and the outer shell of the rock getting rid of any dead algae that was growing on it.

 

Lanthanum Chloride can also be used but its approach to fixing the problem is different. Rather than eating away at the rock and organic matter, LC will attach itself to the phoshate and form a precipitate and make the water look cloudy. This is the bonded phosphate that will be dumped away with the waste water. This process takes longer, costs more, and doesnt really destory the organic matter that could still break down after the LC treatment.

 

So today I went out and bought some muriatic acid and did a little cookout.

 

This batch I just started with my smaller pieces and rubble from when I cut off the bottoms of my main display rocks. I wanted to test the amount of dry off and crap that would come off the little pieces and make sure it wouldn't destroy the nice rocks I was planning to use.

 

 

A few minutes later you can really see the brown gunk that started to rise to the top.

 

 

When it stopped bubbling I emptied the solution and pressure washed off anything remaining. Tons of green and brown slim as well as numerous chunks of tiny organic debris was left on the bottom.

 

After I saw the results of the bright white rocks with no more crap I refilled the container, added the acid and dunked the large pieces. Lots of bubbles now!!

 

 

 

Overall tons of crap was removed that didn't need to go into the tank.

[plainrt]

Nice.wish i went that route when i got that rock.Crazy dirty rock.I had to let my tank cycle for a long time with that rock just for algae issues to go away.

[Red Sea Reefer]

I read that RC thread as well. Cooked my Marco key largo and then did the lanthanum chloride cure/cycle process by adding Dr. Tims nitrifying bacteria as well.

 

I had to rinse my rock in RO/DI several times to get all the calcium precipitate off before the cure/cycle.

 

I bought a $30 bottle of sea klear (lanthanum) and only used a few ounces. PM me if you want some for shipping cost.

 

I would also reccomend a Hana phosphate checker.

[sheepgobeep]

Did you dilute the muriatic acid at all, or did you use it straight from the jug?

[Scorched]

I used this.1-Gal Muriatic Acid

 

It is more diluted than some of the others available. There are 2-3 different directions on the bottle depending on what you wanted to do. Clean concrete, etch concrete, or clean boat hulls (I think that was the last one). I used a little bit more than the etching concrete one. The boat hull one said to use it undiluted. Etching was a few onces per gallon.

 

I used a 5 gallon bucket with about 10-20% of the solution and just let it bubble until it stopped or really slowed down. It takes about 5-10 minutes.

[ctxmonitor]

I used this.1-Gal Muriatic Acid

 

It is more diluted than some of the others available. There are 2-3 different directions on the bottle depending on what you wanted to do. Clean concrete, etch concrete, or clean boat hulls (I think that was the last one). I used a little bit more than the etching concrete one. The boat hull one said to use it undiluted. Etching was a few onces per gallon.

 

I used a 5 gallon bucket with about 10-20% of the solution and just let it bubble until it stopped or really slowed down. It takes about 5-10 minutes.

 

Hmm, really interested to know if this really clean the rock real good, haha.. Will you be testing phosphate during curing of the liverock or you just going to cured the liverock and use it?

[Scorched]

I don't have an accurate Hanna Phosphate tester so it will just be used as is. I know most of the dead crap that was attached to the rock is gone so it is going to be lower than if I just put it straight into my tank.

[yardboy]

It does work. I was interested in testing different rocks and sand for their phosphate contet. I took samples and refluxed them in acid (scientific term for "boiled in acid" ) until the solids were dissolved then tested the resultant liquid for phosphate. In the process of that test I also did the acid etch process, to see how much phosphate was adsorbed on the surface of the rock. Turned out most (80%) of it is, so doing the Pukani cookout should work quite well.