Bleached some rock.. now what?

[XSiVE]

I had 3 or 4 ball anemone's on a rather small piece of Live Rock, I tried to get rid of them in several ways, but it just was not working... None of my other pieces of rock had any sign of them on it so i pulled the piece out and threw it in a bucket of bleach water.. let it soak for a few hours, of course killing everything on it..

I rinsed it out in some tap water, then submerged it in RO water last night.

How long should I let it soak in the RO water / change out the RO water before it's safe to put this piece of rock back into my tank?

[jon99]

put some dechlorinator in the RO water too, about 2 times what is normally used. I'd let is sit for atleast a full day or two, but don't quote me on this, I never had a situation like this, just guessing.

[XSiVE]

oh! good call! I have some and didn't even think of that.

[sunfishh]

I would dump in 2 times the normal dechlor. Aerate for a week using an air pump and an airstone. Add 2 times the dechlor again and then let soak for 24 hours. I know this is probally excessive, but why take chances? Also if you used scented bleach (fresh scent) instead normal bleach just throw out the rock. Apperently what gives the bleach the fresh scent also is great at killing fish and corals.

[HPD Turbo]

If I were you I will get rid of that rock just for caution

[XSiVE]

meh... we used to bleach rock when i worked at a LFS years ago.. no, its not your typical LFS..

I just couldnt remember how long we soaked em after we bleached before we used them again..

[SeanySean]

Run carbon, or a polyfilter if you want to be real cautious I would do it for a week, smell may be a good indicator

Seanb

[aquarius77]

I would also cure it in saltwater with a powerhead after the ro and declor soak. Im a bit anal tho... But id rather not risk it. How strong was this bleach water?

[siropa]

i've bleached many, many rocks over the years and have used them after a day of soaking in freshwater with dechlorinator with no issues ever.

[coast2coast7390]

i would do the dechlorinator...and leave the bucket in the sun...evaporation and sun (ive been told) helps dechlorinate...and make sure that it doesnt smell like bleach before you put it in
but the best idea is to trash it

[scarter]

completely dissagree, soak in whatever(saltwater or RO) untill you can no longer smell the bleach.



<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10286997#post10286997 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HPD Turbo
If I were you I will get rid of that rock just for caution

[siropa]

for years and years when people used to use dead coral skeletons to decorate marine tanks, those were regularly taken out and bleached. there is no harm as long as you rinse it good and make sure you use plain old bleach. I like the nice generic stuff thats .99/gallon. use it on everything from rocks to various kinds of filter pads.

[scarter]

agreed, many large tank owners currently use bleach to clean filter socks

[XSiVE]

:lol: if i wanted to get rid of it in the first place I would have just thrown it in the trash,not a bucket of bleach.

The point of bleaching was to recycle the rock and get rid of the unwanted critters. Thanks for your concerns, and thanks for the input of people who have done it in the past. It's currently sitting in some fresh water with dechlorinater

[sunfishh]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10288702#post10288702 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by siropa
for years and years when people used to use dead coral skeletons to decorate marine tanks, those were regularly taken out and bleached. there is no harm as long as you rinse it good and make sure you use plain old bleach. I like the nice generic stuff thats .99/gallon. use it on everything from rocks to various kinds of filter pads.

I forgot all about those days at the LFS. I also tend to agree with most folks that the smell will be a good indicator that things are ok.

[uscharalph]

The rock I had which had unwanted anenomes on, I boiled.

[jasontg99]

Doesn't hot water get rid of bleach?