advice needed

[krb]

I have some rock I picked up a while back that is covered in valonia and aiptasia. I have been battling it for a few weeks now and am making no progress. The rock is in a tank with only some live sand. I am planning on eventually setting this tank up, after modifying the closed loop. I was thinking about pulling the rock out and soaking it in a mild bleach water solution for a while to kill everything on it. Then rinsing it extremely well and putting it in the tank when it is ready. I will seed the rock with rock from my other tank. Here are my questions

how strong should the solution be?

how long should I soak it?

would this be easier than fighting the algae?

thanks for the advice in advance

 

[wolfie]

I will not use bleach. THere are 2 way you can cook those rock.
First 1 are cook it in the dark with salt water. Will take some time and you will still have Live rock once it done.

Second are cook them in a pot. Boil the water then put the rock you want into it. This will killl everything in it in about 5 minute time. Make sure you rinse it out good since you will have dead stunn inside the rock.
I did this with 1 of my rock that I got sme unwanted mushroom.

 

[victor626nj]

i would start all over and seed it with sand from an established tank dude cause youll probably be fighting this for ever good luck and keep us posted

 

[reefscape]

yeah I would not use bleach .....would cook it ...as stated before..on the stove in a pot is the quickest way

 

[dannybradley]

I've bleached valonia covered live rock before and reused with no issues.
1. I bleached it for 24 hours in a Brute trashcan with a strong powerhead to insure a good bleaching.
2. Drained the water and rebleached for 24 hours.
3. Drained the water and replaced with freshwater and a large dose of Seachem Prime for 24 hours.
4. Repeat step 3.
5. Repeat step 3.
6. Reseeded with good live rock.

You can also try pressure washing. Hyposaline won't kill valonia. I tried that first. Aiptasia can live through a pressure washing. I've tried that too.

 

[cameron]

Bleach is very safe in the proper doses... that is why it is used in resturants to wipe everything down and to clean plates.

I would suggest something different though. Chlorine tablets from a pool supply company. The stuff becomes inert after a short period and you can even by "dechlorinators" if you want to speed up the process. Should kill just about everything.

 

[krb]

Alright, I boiled it in a stock pot for about 10 mins. I am now going to cure it again. We will see how it goes

 

[humptrax]

i would've thrown it into the sump and made an aiptasia scrubber zone. if you keep the zone unlit, valonia should die.

all hypothetical now, of course.