coral skeletons added to tank

[acrouse]

Hello- a friend gave me some coral skeletons from an old tank. Can I safely boil the piece I would like to use in bleach water, rinse well and add to the tank? thanks jolene

[sir_dudeguy]

imo, you dont even need to do that, tho others might say otherwise. Generally, all you need is a good vinegar rinse and then plop it in. Unless the guy threw it in the dirt, poured pesticide on it, and did some other stuff too it w/chemicals, thats all that would be needed imo :) (and i see that stuff as...quite unlikely lol)

[rickh]

I have a ton of old-dead-bleached coral that I bought at Pier One years ago. I would like to put some in my tank but that was when we used copper sulfate regularly to control Ick. R

[acrouse]

I would be a little nervous adding it to the tank if copper was used , the lfs said that those coral pcs absorb copper and not to have any in the QT tank when medication is used. However, i have no idea how long the stuff stays in the old corals. I don't even know if mine are safe to use because of being boiled in bleach water. Maybe someone can help us out! Jolene

[zmovegolf]

Be careful if and when you use bleach. It can come out later. I would just boil it and maybe a vinegar bath. Good luck

[acrouse]

How long does the bleach stay in the corals? Forever? I think I will play it safe and not use the pc that would fit so well in my tank. I do not want to take the chance of ruining my tank for one pc. Thanks Jolene

[mfp4073]

This thread just gave me an idea.....star polyps, grafted to old dead branching coral skeletons and allowed to cover. Easy to frag, lots of surface area and usually laying around.

[J. Montgomery]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8672026#post8672026 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by acrouse
How long does the bleach stay in the corals? Forever?
Not at all; bleach can be removed by washing it a few time. Rinse it really, really good with tap water, and then rinse it some more. And then rinse off the tap water with some RO/DI water. And IF you did have some bleach on it when you put it into your tank, it will react with organics in the water pretty quickly and dissipate itself. You only need to use a 10% bleach solution, and don't boil it in the bleach. If you want to boil it, do that separately in water.

If you're worried about copper, clean the piece and then put it in a container of saltwater . . . wait a few days or weeks and measure the water with a Copper test kit to see if any has leached out into the water.

[No Worries1979]

Stay away from chemicals period. Just rinse that bad boy and sink'em.

[TekCat]

Place them near graphite rods in the nuclear reactor for 6 weeks to be sure :D LOL

Boiling is sufficient. However if they were exposed to copper, then they have no place in a reef.

[MimicTang]

All LR is old coral skeletons.

[UrbanSage]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8672832#post8672832 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mfp4073
This thread just gave me an idea.....star polyps, grafted to old dead branching coral skeletons and allowed to cover. Easy to frag, lots of surface area and usually laying around.

I think starting a profit on coral skeletons should be avoided.
You may have a bunch of it laying around, but if there is money in it then there will inevitably also be people out there who see a profit in "finding" coral skeleton sales to coral growers.

[mfp4073]

I cannot honestly believe that there would be enough profit in growing and fragging star polyps off old coral would cause a risk to anything. I mean the point that you start charging for the coral skeletons wouldnt it just be cheaper to use a rock?

I was more meaning the size and shape of a skeleton (I have a small box of it my grandmother had in a freshwater tank) would be great because of the amount of surface area it would provide and then the flowing of the polyps in that shape as opposed to just covering a rock.

[acrouse]

Thank you to everyone for your input, maybe now I can use that piece that would fit perfectly in my tank. Thanks again! Jolene