Rebooting my DSB reef...

[sl-atl]

I'm thinking about tearing down and rebuilding my reef tank after a really bad hair algae outbreak... All of the corals and fish are already out of there. I'm curious as to what other folks have done. Should I totally re-start from scratch, keep the DSB and replace the rocks, or what?

[SeanT]

"Cook" your rock.
And live algae free. :)

[SeanT]

Here is a thread about it.
If you're not converting to barebottom, ignore the stuff about that.

hth,
Sean


http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=650985

[discocarp]

I second cooking the rocks. I cook all my rocks now - and always will - except the odd piece or two that I want to keep the life on. If I have a bad infestation of something I want to kill (say terrible aiptasia or hydroids or ...) I will dry out the rock to kill it then cook it.

FYI, I run SSB now, and still advocate rock cooking.

[Cole2k3]

I am also a fan of rock cooking. It's just easier to control what goes in your tank once you're done.

[sikpupy]

Bleach , bleach, and more bleach!

[SeanT]

All bleach would do is kill all life on the rock.
It would not remove the phosphates, algae fuel, inside the rock.

[Sisterlimonpot]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15075921#post15075921 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SeanT
All bleach would do is kill all life on the rock.
It would not remove the phosphates, algae fuel, inside the rock. I think he was just joking.

[SeanT]

No room for jokes when it comes to hair algae! :D

[Electrobes]

Definitely a proponent of rock cooking, I also have a SSB. Though I did not technically "cook" it, I grew out the algae in a bin and harvested till it had nothing left. :)

[Dholmblad]

Would there be a negative result in "cooking" your rocks in fresh water?

[SeanT]

Yes.
You need the bacteria to consume the PO4.

[sl-atl]

Sean, those threads on rock cooking are excellent. I'm a convert!

Thanks for the info,
Stuart