Rock "Cooking"--a dangerous trend or something worthwhile?

[finneganswake]

I was hoping to get some expert advice on what I see as the newest unfounded fad on RC--"cooking" your live rock. It's all over the general forum; pretty much any algae issue that is presented is answered by a chorus of "Have you cooked your rocks yet?" Not "What are your husbandry procedures," "Do you use RO/DI," "Do you overfeed," etc. It's always about the rock "cooking." If you aren't familiar with this procedure, it's basically something started by the same people who used to answer all algae issues with "Have you removed your sandbed yet?" instead of asking the probing questions I've previously mentioned. This "go bare bottom" trend was sold as a cure-all that was going to forever remove the chances of a tank having algae problems. When it turned out that the people who were blaming their sandbed for their problems still had algae issues after removing it, the next step was not to question their husbandry but to blame the rocks. They say that "uncooked" rocks leach phosphate (didn't we hear the same thing about sandbeds?) and through their "shedding" constantly dump detritus into the tank. Their solution is to "cook" the rocks by (and this is a somewhat simplified version of the treatment, but it should suffice) removing them from the aquarium, putting them in a dark container for months while swishing them every week or so. At the end of the process, you have what is, in my opinion, dead rock, although the proponents of this treatment claim that somehow only nuisance organisms are killed. One thing that leads me to believe that this process doesn't work is that many people have algae problems after "cooking" their rocks; these people are told that they didn't "cook" them long enough, or that they just need to do it again--it's not uncommon to hear that you need to do this every few months.

I want your opinion on this in the hope that people will be more likely to listen to you than to me. Is this cutting off the leg to save the toe? It seems to me to be a very desperate maneuver and unlikely to offer any longterm results compared to a thorough look at what factors caused the problem to begin with. If this is such a necessity (and it is being promoted as something you have to do to keep algae out of your tank, as eventually the rocks will leach so much phosphate that your tank will crash) how come nobody that I know with a nice, algae-free tank has ever "cooked" their rocks?

Thanks for your help.

[PUGroyale]

http://www.frantech.demon.co.uk/temp/troll.gif

[DaddyJax]

I agree with the husbandry. In this fastfood, instant gratification world we live in people are forever going to look for something other than themselves to blame. Proper maintenance and stocking of an aquarium is the only tried and true method of algae free and successful tanks.

[finneganswake]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6611105#post6611105 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DaddyJax
I agree with the husbandry. In this fastfood, instant gratification world we live in people are forever going to look for something other than themselves to blame. Proper maintenance and stocking of an aquarium is the only tried and true method of algae free and successful tanks.

Couldn't have said it better myself:thumbsup:

[finneganswake]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6610788#post6610788 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by PUGroyale
http://www.frantech.demon.co.uk/temp/troll.gif

Um, since I started this thread, aren't you the troll?:D

[Sindjin]

Finn,

You remind of CNN.
Stop spinning it. No one has ever said that you need to Cook your rocks every few months. In addition... ANYONE and EVERYONE I have talked to never lost all life on their rock. Only algaes. In addition, they actually reported seeing pods, worms, snails, tube worms, etc... after the rock went back into the tank.

I have been curing my rock in my tank for 3 months with lights on. I still have rock shedding tons of debris. Now... yesterday I blew out my rock with a TBaster. The only thing accumulating on my BB was a pile of sandy detritus too heavy to remain suspended. I extracted that with the Tbaster and placed it in a cup. I tested that cup sample for PO4. Guess what? 4ppm. My water column tests .05ppm. So yes. 3 month old cured rock can still harbor detritus and yes it is loaded with PO4.

All Cooking is, is "Dark Curing". It kills off algaes and allows the bacteria to break down internal PO4 and shed it. I feel this is an important process simply because of the experimnet I mentioned above. Now... If I were running a DSB, all that PO4 enriched detritus would be settling in the sandbed...sinking deeper and deeper and accumulating over time. If the sandbed is deep enough, where anaerobic conditions exist... their will also be acidic conditions as well. since PO4 will bond to calciferous substrates, the acidic conditions (less than 7.9) will cause the release of PO4 from the calciferous substrate.

IMO it is VITAL, especially in a NEW DSB set-up to add rock that is as free from internal detritus as much as possible. That, combined with good husbandry skills will help to ensure a more stable, manageable environment over the long term and help reduce the PO4 accumulation in the DSB.

[Sindjin]

In addition, Cooking rock in a closed, dark environment does a few things. Obviously... killing algaes. But more importantly, in a cooking environment, you are not adding any food for the bacteria. So they are forced to bore deeper in the rock to feed, therefore cleaning out detritus that may not get consumed under normal circumstances in the aquarium where food would be more plentiful, closer to the outside layers of the rock. Then when placed back in the aquaria, with good husbandry and lower nutrient environments, the bacteria will thrive toward the outer layers while the internal areas stay clean and free of built up detritus. Now it is my understanding that when Nutrients are plentiful (poor husbandy, higher bioload) the bacteria will actually store nutrients deeper in the rock to be used later on. But if the rock is not COOKED and the center is still filled with detritus then the bacteria will store nutrients closer to the outside of the rock and that rock will become clogged.

Im my tank for example... its a low nutrient environment with some food sources at the rocks surface. However the bacteria is still boring deeper and feeding...thats why I'm still seeing a lot of shedding...especially in the form of mineral detritus and not so much snail/fish poop.

[RichardS]

Just because something is "new" on rc doesn't mean some people have not been doing it for a long time. "Rock cooking" really isn't any different than curing your rock for an extended period of time (several months at least in a dark trash can) beyond the no more ammonia/nitrite point before putting it in your tank. Some, like me, have been doing this for a long time. Guess someone just came up with a catchy name for it other than patience.

I agree there is some "spin" to your post. The same type of things can be said for the dsb approach. Oh you only have 4" of sand...you need 6". Still have problems...you need more sandbed critters - order from ipsf. Still have problems...you need more macro algaes. Whaa? your water is green now...you need uv sterilizer. More problems??? you need a bigger skimmer. Algae still??? oh well you need a phosban reactor or two. Still not happy??? well your tank is overstocked...only one tang per 200 gallons...on and on and on.

There are a bunch of methods that can yield excellent results and they all have their up and downsides. So I think the real question is...Why does it bother you so much?