Best way to Cook Dried out Live Rock 6+ years old

[saltman123]

I totally forgot that when I purchase a used fish tank for my wife's turtles, the guy gave me a tupperware full of pretty nice live rock from when he had it all set up. Rock is all types and sizes, and I want to consider using about 8-10lbs of it for a pico I want to get set up. From what I estimate, this rock has probably been out of the tank and then stored at the guys house, and in my basement for 6+ years easy

 

What is the best way to cook dried out live rock? This rock looks clean for the most part, but some pieces have dried green hair type algae on them. Others have coralline, and other little things that grew and used to live on the rock like tube worm shells, etc.

 

I searched around before posting this and it seems like EVERYONE has a different way of doing it.

-Some say do a bleach dip, others say not to

-Some say us Muriatic Acid dip, others say not to

-Some say power wash it first, others say just rinse quickly or scrub

-Some say add a shrimp or fish food to spike the ammonia and get the cycle going, others say the stuff that is dried to the rock should start the cycle

 

Sounds like almost everyone agrees with:

-Put rock in salt water with a heater and power head, and change the water weekly.

-Test until Ammonia, Nitrites are zero and Nitrates are low

-Seed it with a piece of live rock

 

Is it ideal to put a piece of live rock rubble in at the start, or should I wait till all the levels drop and then put a piece of live rock in?

 

Anyone have a process they've used that has worked well for them? Or have a link to share?

 

I realize the process can take 4-8 weeks so I figure i'll start and if I lose patience i'll just go buy live rock, or it will be ready to go and i'll build it out then.

 

 

What do you all recommend on cooking and then seeding this rock?

 

 

[Tamberav]

I did this exact thing. I scrubbed the rock then put it in a rubbermaid with a powerhead/heater and some live rock and did water changes for a month or so. Put it in the tank after and it worked just fine!

[spazizz]

Bleach>acid>ro/di>salt water

 

If you go straight to saltwater and it's full of stuff you just going to waste salt and time with changing the water often.

[saltman123]

I did this exact thing. I scrubbed the rock then put it in a rubbermaid with a powerhead/heater and some live rock and did water changes for a month or so. Put it in the tank after and it worked just fine!

So you went the patient route, cool.

 

 

Bleach>acid>ro/di>salt water

 

If you go straight to saltwater and it's full of stuff you just going to waste salt and time with changing the water often.

You didn't use one method, you used them all!!!!jk

 

I'm going to be putting this into its own tank, not adding to an established tank. I also don't mind if it takes some time. How is the rock doing now after all those steps? Have any tips on the different steps, how much to add, how long you did it for, etc.

[Archaic37]

Muriatic acid wash. Just because it looks clean on the outside does not mean it is clean chemically meaning phosphates canbe built up in the rock and cause old tank syndrome and high phosphates.

[spazizz]

Well right my standard procedure for reusing old rock is. Over night bleach soaking, then I let it dry out for a day(smelling no bleach) then I soak it in vinegar overnight. Then when that's all done and the rock is completely dry Ill throw it in a bucket of ro/di for a few days to a week changing the water a few times. Id imagine it's very sterile after all of that. I have zero algae on rocks I do this to. I usually have the tank set up with seed LR before all this is done. I may overdo it a little bit.. Maybe.

So you went the patient route, cool.

 

 

You didn't use one method, you used them all!!!!jk

 

I'm going to be putting this into its own tank, not adding to an established tank. I also don't mind if it takes some time. How is the rock doing now after all those steps? Have any tips on the different steps, how much to add, how long you did it for, etc.

[seabass]

Some thoughts:

 

Muriatic acid wash. Just because it looks clean on the outside does not mean it is clean chemically meaning phosphates canbe built up in the rock and cause old tank syndrome and high phosphates.

An acid bath (even one that dissolves a noticeable portion of the rock will not get rid of the phosphate). Phosphate can leach from the rock for many months. Also, the combination of bleach and acid produce a toxic gas (just like bleach and ammonia). Caution must be observed when using these methods.

 

3% hydrogen peroxide isn't as effective as a concentrated solution of chlorine bleach, but is safer to work with. I haven't tried a 35% peroxide solution, but I would think that it would be highly effective at oxidizing the remaining organics.

 

Many people feel that vinegar is too quickly neutralized by the calcium in the rock to be a very effective cleaner.

 

You could let the bacteria break down all the dead organic matter. I'm not sure if algae spores can survive being dried out (I'd like to hear from anybody that knows).

 

It is surprising how much ammonia can come from rock that looks clean. I pressure washed a batch of dry rock and let it dry out again; and it still produced lots of ammonia (and phosphate) when soaked in water.

[Chew_Magna]

I've always used a simple peroxide bath when I recycle old rock. I've done this with rock almost completely covered with gha and caulerpa and it works fine. I just put the rock in a bucket or whatever you have, fill it with water enough to cover the rocks, then add a bottle or few of peroxide and wait. I've let it sit as long as a couple weeks (adding a bottle or two every few days) before pulling the rock and cleaning it with a toothbrush. Never had a problem.

[Tamberav]

So you went the patient route, cool.

 

Ya and honestly I only changed the water in the tub once or twice (no test kits). No algae ever sprung up from it. I even added fish food to the tub to get some good ammonia going and cycled the rock entirely before it went in the tank.

[Archaic37]

Some thoughts:

 

An acid bath (even one that dissolves a noticeable portion of the rock will not get rid of the phosphate). Phosphate can leach from the rock for many months. Also, the combination of bleach and acid produce a toxic gas (just like bleach and ammonia). Caution must be observed when using these methods.

 

3% hydrogen peroxide isn't as effective as a concentrated solution of chlorine bleach, but is safer to work with. I haven't tried a 35% peroxide solution, but I would think that it would be highly effective at oxidizing the remaining organics.

 

Many people feel that vinegar is too quickly neutralized by the calcium in the rock to be a very effective cleaner.

 

You could let the bacteria break down all the dead organic matter. I'm not sure if algae spores can survive being dried out (I'd like to hear from anybody that knows).

 

It is surprising how much ammonia can come from rock that looks clean. I pressure washed a batch of dry rock and let it dry out again; and it still produced lots of ammonia (and phosphate) when soaked in water.

Phosphate is in the form of calcium phosphate in our tank and through an acid wash it will precipitate a good amount of it out. The other benefit is that the acid wash strips the rock of the top 1mm or so breaking down and coral skeletons (rock even has bound phosphates) that have bound phosphates, precipitating it out into the water where you can dump it. By stripping away that first layer it also rejuvinates all of those micro porous areas in the rock allowing for two things, more surface area and a clean slate for brand new bacteria to colonize.