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View Full Version : How to clean old saltwater rock?


Jonnyacrofeed
03/28/2013, 09:46 AM
Hi after about 3 years I am getting back into reefkeeping. So excited! I quess this hobby is addicting. My question is, is that I have 40 pounds of old dead live rock that has been sitting out in the garage in a plastic container. The rock is not in water just dry. How can I clean the rock really good to get all the detritus out of it and any harmful stuff from the garage? Can I just soak it in tap water? I do have an Ro/di unit. But it takes a long time to get anough water to rinse all this rock. Any other suggestions on how to clean the old rock would be appreciated. Thanks.:rollface:

xdannyxrocksx
03/28/2013, 09:50 AM
I would just rinse with water and let it air/sun dry honestly. That is what I did everything seems great tank has been up for 3 years and no problems. One of my buddies did the same thing but cured it after wich I didn't understand it was dead to begin with. Either or will work.

Jonnyacrofeed
03/28/2013, 10:08 AM
ok thanks

kissman
03/28/2013, 10:19 AM
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1914426&highlight=rock+reincarnation

Jonnyacrofeed
03/28/2013, 11:45 AM
thanks for the help everyone. I washed the rock off with cold tap water and scrubbed it with a toothbrush. There was some dark green guck on the rocks and some white mold. Got most of it off. Is the rock safe to use when I set up my tank? Also on this old rock was a bad aiptasia infestation in my old tank. But there is no way they could survive 3 years out of water in the cold garage right? I don't want that problem again that's for sure. Even after 3 years the rock was damp and there was water in the bottom of the tub. Right now I have the rock soaking in tap water with a powerhead running. I don't think I need to do a bleach and acid bath. Do you? Could I just do bleach and skip the acid bath?

Reefin' Dude
03/28/2013, 12:18 PM
the link above is nice and all, but i am not a fan of using muriatic acid on LR that has been seriously neglected. the acid bath is great and all if you know that the phosphates are attached to the outside layer only. if it is not, which is entirely possible since calcium carbonate is a fantastic phosphate binder it will wick up through the entire structure if the tank that the LR came out of was nutrient neglected for a very long time. the more you soak the LR in acid the less LR you will have. (just some food for thought, if this works for removing phosphates from LR, then why wouldn't using a aragonite in a calcium reactor also not add phosphates to a system? ;) )

i would then "cook/purge" the LR for a few weeks, or until the detritus accumulation stops. at which point i would add a tiny amount of fish food and ammonia to the process. if the LR starts producing detritus again, then you know that the LR was not fully purged. keep doing this until the detritus accumulation stops even after the food is added. at this point you will have good clean and cured LR ready to be put into the system.

my .02,

G~

brad65ford
03/28/2013, 12:22 PM
the link above is nice and all, but i am not a fan of using muriatic acid on LR that has been seriously neglected. the acid bath is great and all if you know that the phosphates are attached to the outside layer only. if it is not, which is entirely possible since calcium carbonate is a fantastic phosphate binder it will wick up through the entire structure if the tank that the LR came out of was nutrient neglected for a very long time. the more you soak the LR in acid the less LR you will have. (just some food for thought, if this works for removing phosphates from LR, then why wouldn't using a aragonite in a calcium reactor also not add phosphates to a system? ;) )

i would then "cook/purge" the LR for a few weeks, or until the detritus accumulation stops. at which point i would add a tiny amount of fish food and ammonia to the process. if the LR starts producing detritus again, then you know that the LR was not fully purged. keep doing this until the detritus accumulation stops even after the food is added. at this point you will have good clean and cured LR ready to be put into the system.

my .02,

G~

+1 G, can't speed up nature I learned the hard way myself. Good to see you on the forums. I haven't been on thereeftank in a while seems more lively here.

Brad

Reefin' Dude
03/28/2013, 12:37 PM
good to see you are still in the hobby.

they are different forums, that is all. :D

G~

Jonnyacrofeed
03/28/2013, 04:17 PM
Ok I think I am going to bleach the rock that is soaking in the tap water in a 50L plastic bin. My mom has Clorox bleach but it says on the bottle, same great scent, clean linen. Is this bleach ok to use on my rock? Also how much bleach should I use? Thanks.

ihigh
03/28/2013, 04:29 PM
I've bleached the rock, and then ran the rock in water with a powerhead for a week. After that, threw it into the tank and I've been homefree ever since. I was using rocks probably 6 years old too from a well established tank it was originally in.

mfinn
03/28/2013, 05:39 PM
This is what I've done a couple times.

2 cups of non scented bleach in 5 gallons of water.
Soak atleast 24 hours.
Then do a fresh water/ dechlorinator soak for atleast 24 hours.
I'd use 5x ( or more) the recommended doseage on the dechlonator container.

Then do a muratic acid soak.
I'd use 2 cups of muratic acid to 5 gallons of freshwater. Soak for about a hour. then rinse with a garden hose very well. When working with the muratic acid, it's a good idea to use rubber gloves and somesort of glasses, preferably a good wrap-a-round safety glasses.
Let sun dry for a couple days.

Dr Colliebreath
03/28/2013, 06:14 PM
This is what I've done a couple times.

2 cups of non scented bleach in 5 gallons of water.
Soak atleast 24 hours.
Then do a fresh water/ dechlorinator soak for atleast 24 hours.
I'd use 5x ( or more) the recommended doseage on the dechlonator container.

Then do a muratic acid soak.
I'd use 2 cups of muratic acid to 5 gallons of freshwater. Soak for about a hour. then rinse with a garden hose very well. When working with the muratic acid, it's a good idea to use rubber gloves and somesort of glasses, preferably a good wrap-a-round safety glasses.
Let sun dry for a couple days.

This is what I would do. I didn't with my live rock that sat for a few years, and I ended up with a bad cyano and hair algae problem that I can only attribute to the old live rock. I am now finishing up a bleach and acid cleansing process part of the rock at a time.

I would use stronger bleach and acid baths (maybe 6 or 8 cups rather than 2), soak the rocks in a solution containing a lot of baking soda during the post-acid rinsing process, and let the clean rocks soak in rodi water changed out a couple of times at the end.