Live Rock Cleaning help

[codsack]

I got some live rock from a friend that was covered in what looked like a clear slime type of algae, it was also stuck to the back wall of his tank as well. any tips on how to clean and or kill the algae before introducing it to the tank?

 

[enderg60]

Give it a good shake in some dirty tank water, if there is still crap on it hit it with a clean scrub brush or tooth brush.

 

[codsack]

well the rock is pretty much dead, other than some unwanted pest. It has the slime algae and I saw a few aptasia, so I'm looking for some good tips to kill it all and start fresh.

 

[ptreef]

I killed some algae infested rocks with just a freshwater soak for a while.

 

[codsack]

Will distilled white vinegar soak kill aptasia?

 

[wannabeeareefkeeper]

CodSack;885375 wrote: well the rock is pretty much dead, other than some unwanted pest. It has the slime algae and I saw a few aptasia, so I'm looking for some good tips to kill it all and start fresh.

Why would you risk placing this rock into your tank? I would throw it away. If you already have a tank established; you could purchase some inexpensive rock and place it in the tank after you have completed the setup process.

After setting up a new tank once it has cycled, you only need a few pieces of cleaned liverock in the aquarium. You can add the new deadrock [not the stuff you got from your friend] into the aquarium. With the correct water parameters and filtering setup, your [new deadrock] will come alive with living organisms from the few pieces of cleaned liverock you started with.

Just my 1/2 cent --- Wannabee

Edit: P.S. You mentioned "unwanted pest" on the rock. I would just throw it away, unless you want those "unwanted pest" to thrive in your display tank.

 

[darrrenjmartin]

Let it dry out in the sun or bake it in the oven. Fresh tap water spary rinse until clear rinse followed by RO dip. Sterilize......

 

[jdavid]

hmm, IDK, I wouldnt go near tap with my rock. I agree with let it bake in the sun. These things need to be wet to survive.

Edit:

EnderG60;885369 wrote: Give it a good shake in some dirty tank water, if there is still crap on it hit it with a clean scrub brush or tooth brush.

and this too.

 

[nsconductor]

I would kill it and cook it. Start out with "dry rock". You will have to cycle, but better safe than sorry IMO.

 

[jdavid]

Nsconductor;885441 wrote: I would kill it and cook it. Start out with "dry rock". You will have to cycle, but better safe than sorry IMO.

actually this is what I would do. I lied before.

Edit: whatever you do, don't get dog hair all over it. It will be there forever.
(is that helpful?)

 

[codsack]

No offense but tossing the the rock and starting over would just be stupid. The rock is fine other than a little slim algae and a few small aptasia. So I'm just looking for advice on killing it. I'm helping a buddy set up a complete system he just bought and we broke the tank down moved it to his house, cleaned the tank sump skimmer and all plumbing and set the tank back up. He got new sand and we just didn't want to put the rock back in until we made sure it was pest free ect. The slime algae isn't the main issue, I'm mostly just worried about the aptasia, it wasn't bad only a hand full of small ones but if we already have the rock out what is the best way to treat it? Putting it in the over isn't an option, the wife would kill us lol. I soaked the mp10's in a vinegar/water solution so I was just curious if it would kill the aptasia as well.

Edit:

JDavid;885442 wrote: actually this is what I would do. I lied before.

Edit: whatever you do, don't get dog hair all over it. It will be there forever.
(is that helpful?)

Noted...dog hair is bad!!!! Thanks for the tip man lol

 

[jdavid]

Yeah but if you bleach rock don't you have to cure it again or something? Will it mess the PH up?

 

[containerman1]

leveldrummer;885451 wrote: DO NOT PUT YOUR ROCK IN THE OVEN AND BAKE IT!!!

Give the rock a bleach bath and then wash it real good. Or let it sit in the driveway an let it dry out, then wash it.

+1
I bought a 32 gal trash can home d and bleached the rock for couple days then spanked couple days in tap water then let dry for about a week and then I put rock back in clean trash can with tap and double doses prime and added a old power head let it go for few days then poured out the water and repeated. Then I poured out and cleaned out the trash can and added the rock then I did a water change on my tank and put the dirty water in with the rock and power head added a little stability and I let it stay in for couple myths switching water every now and then and I threw in a bag of phosguard mixed with carbon. Rock looked good and clean but it took some work

 

[codsack]

Bleaching sounds good to me, I would rather have a clean fresh start. It's 1 gallon of bleach per 10 gallons of water right?

 

[heathlindner25]

acid bath

 

[containerman1]

CodSack;885474 wrote: Bleaching sounds good to me, I would rather have a clean fresh start. It's 1 gallon of bleach per 10 gallons of water right?

I only used about 2 cups for 15 gallons water . It cleaned up pretty good . I did let it dry then re soaked in prime just to be really sure.

 

[iu_gary]

bleach first, soak in tap water and then soak it in muriatic acid. You can read about it on reef central.

 

[codsack]

Sounds good thank you all for the helpful tips!

 

[darrrenjmartin]

This pertains to wet stangnant rock, not rock that has had a chance to fully dry. Also fast fast results.
Bleach is ok for disinfecting , but not sterilization.
Chlorine can leave residual reactions , because it soaks deep into the rock and can not evaporate or be chemically nullified. Heat will accelerate the natural evaporation of volatile chlorine.
Sterilization not only kills but includes the breaking down and removing organics.
The only excepted form of benign organic sterization is heat. It's simple fact not opinion.
Medical, , argriculture, aerospace, aquaculture.
I'm not talking about a sintering oven. Just a small boil.
Steam is the best form of heat. Quick and through. Farms and greenhouses steam the dirt by the mega yards. BRS artificial substrate is only certified sterile because of heat. All you organic chemistry majors chime in if I'm wrong.
Rinse and scrub it first. Removing as much as you can. Boil it bake it , steam it,whatever. rinse it I bake it in an outside gas grill. Throw down some tin foil and load it up. @ 220 or so. I used a RO spay bottle to keep it doust before. The porous stuff will start to spew a little steam , and that's about right. One evening and your done.
The steam really Blows out the detritus deep in pourous base rock
The main issue is with the foul organics and not the negligible phosphates and nitrates
Tap water is not poison , it fine for power rinsing followed by a RO rinse or soak.

I wonder how this is going to go over.

 

[containerman1]

leveldrummer;885514 wrote: Sorry Darren, but this is terrible advice and could be very dangerous. If the rock had any zoanthids or palys on it, this can really harm someone.

Your right, bleach is terrible for sterilizing, but you don't have to sterilize the rock, just kill everything on it.

Boiling and baking could potentially release any number of toxins into the air that we barely understand and possibly some we have never even heard of. Please do not boil or bake live rock. Do a quick search on palytoxin and read up on a number of cases where people really harm themselves doing this.

+1
I can tell you something about palytoxin from 1st hand experience and a weekend in the ER and 10,000 bill.
The toxin can get airborne and make you very sick or die. Even after the palytoxin dries you can still get it on you and make you very sick. This information came 1st hand from the CDC. Do not boil or cook . Even peroxide can bubble up and cause the palytoxin possibly airborne.