Fresh water dip.

[Keith A]

Has anyone ever tried to put LR in fresh water to get rid of mushrooms or other "unwanted" coral or maybe algae? If so, how did it work or would it work? I'm trying to get rid of some mushrooms. I've tried joe's juice, clipping them at thier base, and other methods. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[jasonstreet]

I have done it for aptaisa before. It worked great. The only problem is that it kills everything. I soak it in hot water, drain it, rinse, soak, etc. One hour will be enough.

[jenglish]

a vinegar or acid bath does wonders (but it is essentially base rock afterwards) or if it is just spots of coral a blowtorch will do the massive tissue damage that will keep them from coming back.

[Keith A]

I knew it would basically kill everything on the rock. To my knowledge, even though the rock will be "dead" I think the microorganisms, bacteria and other stuff will make it "live" again over time. Am I wrong on that? A blow torch sounds pretty brutal but I've heard of other tecniques for other things that sound just as bad. If I torch the rock, would it throw off the water chemistry or add impurities to the water after I put the rock back in?

[jenglish]

Dead rock will become alive again after colonization by bacteria. A propane torch burns pretty clean, a brief scrub to remove any black marks is generally sufficient. The torch method can allow some bacteria inside the rock to remain alive. A vinegar or muriatic acid bat is generally a full kill, but makes sure you didn't miss anything either. Muriatic acid is dangerous stuff though. A bleach water bath will also kill anything on the rock, and if allowed to thoroughly dry, bleach will evaporate.

[Keith A]

Thanks for the info.

[BLKTANG]

i boiled lr before to get rid of the dreadded HA in my first reef,& that stuff still grew back.

[Lightsluvr]

I plan on doing a RO/DI bath on some live rock which is INFESTED with Bristleworms...

I'm talking infested...not just a few helpful B-worms... Much of the LR has zoanthid colonies on it that are being harrassed by the worms...

The reefers I discussed this with indicate that zoanthids can tolerate the RO/DI bath for several minutes, but the B-worms flee the rock trying to escape the sudden hypo-salinity shock. Bam! bye bye worms...

After the RO/DI bath, the rocks will be rinsed in saltwater and placed in a new tank.

LL