Live Rock Vinegar Bath

[wizzbane15]

I have struggled long enough with live rock in my main display tank that is completely over-run with crud (hair algae, bubble algae, aptaisia, ect...) so I bit the bullet and decided to re-start my system. With that, I need to re-start my rock.

I have removed 50% of the rock from the display and put it into a tub straight with 5% white vinegar (no dilution). I have a good brown/black frothy head in the bucket in only an hour or so..... Besides needing to get the rock clean,
I need to work on trying to start leaching out the phoshates from the rock as the rock has been in a high phospate setup for a long time.

Here are my questions:
1) how long to soak rocks
2) once vinegar soak is complete, anything special needed to diffuse/dillute/ get rid of the vinegar on/within the rock
3) Anything else I can do to speed up/enhance getting phosphate out of the rocks?

When this is all said and done, I am already primed to cycle my rock and have a seperate setup ready for the rock, just need some quick advice to get it to that point.

Thanks

[jimsplace]

There are several threads on RC dealing with this you might want to research. Most people myself included use muriatic acid instead of vinegar. Using muriatic acid (Home Depot) diluted 10/1 (10 gallons water / 1 gallon acid) soak rock for 20-30 minuets. I soaked mine in clorox first, rinsed and then did the acid bath. After the acid bath I rinsed with the hose and then soaked in a tub. Check the waters PH, change water as needed until its netural. You can use lime (kalk) to neturalize the acid. I took all the rock out of my tank on a Friday and was back in the tank Sunday. Be VERY careful (rubber gloves, safety goggles...)with the acid as it will burn you. Also make sure what ever your soaking it in is not too deep, so you can reach in and get the rock.

[wizzbane15]

Is there any benefit using acid vs vinegar in terms of being better at leaching stored phosphate from live rocks?

[jimsplace]

Other than the acid being much stronger and therefore more agressive at dissolving the rock and removing any phosphates. You might ask the question in the chemistry forum, but from my experiance the vinegar would take a long time to eat away at the rock; hours instead of minuets.

[Angel*Fish]

I don't understand the point of this. You're saying the the rocks are literally covered with aiptasia, bubble algae and hair algae? Or is the other algae the problem? If it's a fibrous algae like bryopsis, sometimes that's the only solution. But with bryopsis specifically, there's the possibility of ridding it with Mg control. This business about having to leach all the phosphates from the rock is poorly misunderstood in my opinion.

I my opinion, you are going to set your self way back in terms of tank maturity by doing this. Maybe I just can't understand how extreme your situation is or something.

[MarcoPolo]

I agree with Angel*Fish, I'm not sure that by taking out all the rocks you are addressing the route cause of the problem. How do you prevent the same problem from reoccurring in a few months once the clean rocks are back into place, and tank fully cycled into it's new maturity stage. But in any case, you have already taken the rocks out. I would be attentive with any radical approach, it may take many months to recover and perhaps solving route cause - though still requirying time - may be faster in the long run. What do you think is your underlying problem?

[SaltyMember]

I have to agree with some of the others. If you are bleaching and using vinegar/muriatic acid then you are killing everything on the rock. You are starting from square one. If you are going to go this route you might as well get nice base rock, re-seed it and start over.

I would recommend pulling all the rock, scrubbing the algae and "cooking" the rock instead in a tube of saltwater with heater, couple power heads and no light. There are many threads on "cooking" rock. At least this way you would keep the bacteria and some of the life on your rock and still accomplish your goal of decreasing algae, etc..

[jimsplace]

Sometimes extreme situations require extreme measures. In my case I was convinced my rock was releasing large amounts of P back into my tank. The acid bath worked. To answer saltymember; replacing the rock is $100's of dollars and "cooking" the rock removes it from the tank for a long period of time. In my case my rock was taken out cleaned and returned to the tank in less than 3 days and is already established and growing coraline. I think I made the right choice, others may not agree.

[SaltyMember]

It does seem extreme to me but it worked out for you so you did make the right decision for you. I just like to try less extreme measures first. My thought was more about preserving life on the rock. But I am probably too cautious at times about trying new techniques. I hope it works out well for you. Good luck.

[Angel*Fish]

Die off releases phosphates. Any new tank goes through a series of blooms and die offs, much of it invisible to the eye. Sometimes this is mistaken for phosphate leaching out of rock.