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View Full Version : how do you cook rock?


bustedbikes
01/01/2009, 04:57 PM
I took all my rocks out and would like to sure clean?

ReefWreak
01/01/2009, 05:14 PM
cooking rocks takes time.

At it's most basic, it's taking the rocks out, putting them in a bin filled with salt water, running pumps through it, doing frequent water changes on them, siphoning detritus from the bottom of the bin, keeping the rock away from light during this process, and preferably keeping a skimmer on the bin.

Lots of work, but it's how you clean most things from your rock

jenglish
01/01/2009, 07:01 PM
I start with olive oil on a low simmer......:)


No but really, the term cooking is used w/ a couple of different connotations. One is removing not only the organics surface but removing any bound phosphates from the rock.

Another is to remove any algae and make it a completely bacterially driven rock.


Either way you are looking at keeping rock in a container, usually in the absence of light, with water movement, a constant temp and water changes until you have met your goals. Generally cooking rock is done over the course of 1-3 months depending what your goals are and the status of the rock you start with.