to dry or not to dry? sell is the question

[SharkLover]

well, long story short i picked up about 175 lbs of LR with some larger pieces containing lots and lots of HA And BA. the question is, it would be a shame to dry all the rock. What options do i have? My tank is just getting filled with water today, and the live sand used in the same tank with the LR was given to me from the previous owner. So the live sand and some new water is in my tank but i'm afraid of an outbreak. I spoke to some reefers they say BA isn't too bad in small amounts it can easily be removed. I have a 58 gallon and a ASM G3 skimmer soooooo I think i'm in the +1 for that department. Need help!

I may just sell all of the rock if anyone wants it, its infested but for a professional easily fixable.

 

[Joel A]

If i were you i would dry it, scrub it, then bleach it, then soak it.. then rinse it.. then soak it... etc. etc.

People do that sometimes... then you can eventually use it again.. sure its not living and has no benefits, but it will becoming living and have benefits =)

 

[gobie1313]

I heard you can cook it. Not literally on the stove. You put the LR in a sealed container with salt water, and a power jet, make sure it is totally dark and the container is sealed(prevents evaporation). let is cook for 30 days and the HR should be gone.

 

[Leroy]

Soak the rock in a rubbermaid container or a Brute barrell mixed with saltwater and raise the magnesium, calcium and alk to kill off the hair algae with no exposure to light for it to grow. Add a powerhead for circulation. Remove any bubble algae with an Xacto blade at the base of the bubble. Someone told me a story of how they burnt off any remaining bubble algae with a heavy duty soldering iron. Use a heavy duty scrub brush to remove all the loose hair algae after it all looses it hold to the rock.
Took me 3 weeks to a month to rid my entire tank of hair algae by raising my magnesium to 1460 and less lighting. Calcium and alk were also slightly raised higher purposely. I pulled a lot of the hair algae by hand and what was left I used a tooth brush and finished off the rest of the rock. It's all time and patience. Had some luck on my side.

PS, If you bleach it may leach

 

[Jim Tansey]

I go with Joel A, but no need to dry and scrub first, the bleach takes care of that for you.

Jim

 

[SharkLover]

If i raise magnesium, calcium and alk will that kill the life?

 

[Jim Tansey]

No

Jim

 

[Greg Hiller]

>If i were you i would dry it, scrub it, then bleach it, then soak it.. then rinse it.. then soak it... etc. etc.<

I agree. You will of course need to seed your tank with a few pieces of live rock when you are ready.

 

[Aquaman_68]

Without a question bleach it & do the "cook" on that rock. I'm pretty sure I know where that rock came from...If it did in fact come from who I think...That rock is saturated with organics & metals for that matter... Some reefers don't beleive in ro/di water....There are a few who use tap water.. (a very few) I beleive you got the score!@!!)

If didn't come from who I thought I still think you should "cook" the rock....Better to start off right than wrong!!!

HTH,
B

 

[rjdudek]

I have had the best luck actually boiling the rock. A turkey pot and backyard burner for cooking a turkey will work great. if you run the rock up to a boil and hold it for about 10 - 15m the rock will be hot enough to disinfect all the way through. If you use tongs to remove the rock the water will be hot and ready for the next batch right away. You could do this damp in an oven also, but I would not unless your wife is out of town for the week.

BONUS: Fried turkey is super good on Thanksgiving and quite fast to make. The pots are on sale now in most hardware stores and home centers.

I like boiling better than bleach because it does not use a chemical I have to dump down the drain, there is no long wasteful flushing process after to rinse the bleach off and the rock can start curing as soon as it cools as there is no residual chemical in the pores that has to breakdown.

Also a bonus is the boiling will loosen any bits you don't want so they can be brushed off with ease, and the rock will not take on a freaky bone white color that looks so "bleached" for the first few months.

Bubble is not the worst thing that can happen to you, but it's not a fun thing once it gets going as not all that many things actually like it as a food. Better to avoid the problem as mentioned above.

 

[JayM]

I boiled the rock I had with it. It didn't come back. It's an extreme step, but I'm glad I did it.

Caveat Emptor. It is a rare occurrence that a hobbyist who is 'getting out' has not had some issue with their tank or let their husbandry slip. There is a reason that rock is 2-3 bucks a pound

 

[SharkLover]

its fiji so its very pourous...

 

[Aquaman_68]

its fiji so its very pourous...

Just cook it up....It's not that hard....Or buy it at a premium price.....6 of one half dozen of the other....You already have it so your probably better off cooking...Provided they are the size & shape your looking for...
B