Cooking live rock?

[Reefplumber13]

So I'm cooking live rock in two 32 gallon brute cans using 1 Gallon of bleach to every 10 gallons. In a week I'm going to dump the bleach water out and run tap water over the rock, fill them back up with tap water and use a bottle of prime per can.

My question is do you think a week will be long enough?

I'll leave the rock in the cans for a few days after I put the prime in the cans
And then let it all air dry before putting it back in the cans and making it live again..

 

[jcook54]

What are you trying to accomplish with the bleach? I've always taken "dirty" dry rock, put it in a container, added a heater, some bacteria and a powerhead and just let it mature. Heck, I set up my last tank with my rock structure, cured it in the tank and then added sand. If you're trying to make it nice and bright white for your new system, the sun will bleach it out pretty good. I can't think of any pest critters that can live through a thorough drying out and if the rock is good and truly dry but I may be missing something. You know, old dog new tricks and all that good stuff.

 

[Reefplumber13]

Just how I have always cooked rock. When we spoke the other day at the expo it was already cooking. Or I would have got the ca

 

[jcook54]

Oh ya, I got it! To answer your question, one week should be plenty of time. Rinse, prime and a thorough dry will take care of it for sure.

 

[Adam]

If the rock was clean Marco type, a week is plenty. If it came out of a tank and has algae and other organics, it could take up to a month depending on how dirty it is.

When I cleaned the rock I had that came out of systems I did a pretty serious cleaning beyond just bleach. But for that part I used liquid pool chlorine from Home Depot. Which is just stronger bleach and I basically shocked the water the way you did. But I shocked it repeatedly every few days for two weeks. Every piece of organic material disintegrated off the rock. I then just rinsed it really well and laid it out to dry in the sun. If you have that "Bleach smell" after a few days in the sun you could always soak it in tap water with a healthy amount of Prime. Just add the rock to the water dry with the prime already added, that way the Prime will get deep into the rock. But sodium hypochlorite breaks down pretty quickly and time in the sun speeds it up.

 

[Reefplumber13]

If the rock was clean Marco type, a week is plenty. If it came out of a tank and has algae and other organics, it could take up to a month depending on how dirty it is.

When I cleaned the rock I had that came out of systems I did a pretty serious cleaning beyond just bleach. But for that part I used liquid pool chlorine from Home Depot. Which is just stronger bleach and I basically shocked the water the way you did. But I shocked it repeatedly every few days for two weeks. Every piece of organic material disintegrated off the rock. I then just rinsed it really well and laid it out to dry in the sun. If you have that "Bleach smell" after a few days in the sun you could always soak it in tap water with a healthy amount of Prime. Just add the rock to the water dry with the prime already added, that way the Prime will get deep into the rock. But sodium hypochlorite breaks down pretty quickly and time in the sun speeds it up.

Thanks Adam. I bought two different batches of rock and the first looked to have hair algebra on it.. @jcook54 I totally overlooked part of your question but that's the reason I was cooking it.

 

[Adam]

Thanks Adam. I bought two different batches of rock and the first looked to have hair algebra on it.. @jcook54 I totally overlooked part of your question but that's the reason I was cooking it.

The key is you want to shock it not just add bleach. I think at a gallon of 6% sodium hypochlorite per 10 gallons should be more enough to do that
When you get the bleach smell hit it again with a half gallon of this below. After a coupe more days put on a protective glove and pull out a rock and give it a good look. If you still see crap on it hit it again. I'd also try and keep the brute can in a spot that gets no sun.

HDX 1 Gal. Pool-Care Chlorinating Liquid (2-Pack) 20128HDX - The Home Depot

The Kem-Tek 1 Gal. Pool-Care Chlorinating Liquid (2-Pack) is excellent for everyday maintenance chlorination for your swimming pool and can be used for super-chlorination as needed. It is a suitable alternative

www.homedepot.com

"A pool that smells strongly of pool chlorine doesn't mean that it's clean. In fact, a clean pool will be almost odor-free. Strong chlorine smell is a sign of improperly treated water. The odor actually comes from chloramines, also known as combined chlorine. Chloramines form when the chlorine in the pool mixes with the nitrogen in sweat, oils and urine. However, smell alone does not dictate when you should shock your pool."

 

[Reefplumber13]

The key is you want to shock it not just add bleach. I think at a gallon of 6% sodium hypochlorite per 10 gallons should be more enough to do that
When you get the bleach smell hit it again with a half gallon of this below. After a coupe more days put on a protective glove and pull out a rock and give it a good look. If you still see crap on it hit it again. I'd also try and keep the brute can in a spot that gets no sun.

HDX 1 Gal. Pool-Care Chlorinating Liquid (2-Pack) 20128HDX - The Home Depot

The Kem-Tek 1 Gal. Pool-Care Chlorinating Liquid (2-Pack) is excellent for everyday maintenance chlorination for your swimming pool and can be used for super-chlorination as needed. It is a suitable alternative

www.homedepot.com

"A pool that smells strongly of pool chlorine doesn't mean that it's clean. In fact, a clean pool will be almost odor-free. Strong chlorine smell is a sign of improperly treated water. The odor actually comes from chloramines, also known as combined chlorine. Chloramines form when the chlorine in the pool mixes with the nitrogen in sweat, oils and urine. However, smell alone does not dictate when you should shock your pool."

Thank you sir.. I plan to add a half gallon every other day

 

[Adam]

If it's just a very small amount of gha adding once maybe twice more over a weeks time you should be fine. Any more is pretty extreme and would be for porous rock that is covered in organics.

 

[Reefplumber13]

When I get back from out of town Sunday is when I'll dump the water and refill with tap water and add prime to the brute wait two days and dump it and see if it still smells and if so do it again. And then let it air dry in the shop.

 

[Adam]

When I get back from out of town Sunday is when I'll dump the water and refill with tap water and add prime to the brute wait two days and dump it and see if it still smells and if so do it again. And then let it air dry in the shop.

Heat and the sun will break down the sodium hypochlorite within a day or two. A good rinse blowing off and dislodged bits and laying them out to dry will take care of most, if not all, of it. You can do a final soak in prime water to be safe but again, adding the rock dry to water you've already added the prime to is the best way. After that you definitely wont smell bleach anymore.
I also wouldn't waste any RO water till you either start curing the rock or after you've built the rockscape and filling the tank with saltwater.

 

[Reefplumber13]

Heat and the sun will break down the sodium hypochlorite within a day or two. A good rinse blowing off and dislodged bits and laying them out to dry will take care of most, if not all, of it. You can do a final soak in prime water to be safe but again, adding the rock dry to water you've already added the prime to is the best way. After that you definitely wont smell bleach anymore.
I also would waste any RO water till you either start curing the rock or after you've built the rockscape and filling the tank with saltwater.

Oh yeah I'm using tap water.. I still have to figure out a spot to put the 300g water tank to hold my ro water.