Cleaning the Live Rock

[thakki]

Recently I got some live rock that has bubble algae and some hair algae...whats the best and safest way to clean the rock before I can start putting it into an established tank. I am okay if it is not live anymore after cleaning. I just need to make sure that it doesn't have nuisance algae. 

[bbyatv]

I used a pressure washer to clean mine when I wanted to remove all mushrooms.

 

Bruce

[DuffyGeos]

Pressure wash, soak in bleach/ water solution, rinse, soak in muriatic acid/water solution, rinse, ready to go!

[DCReefer1964]

Pressure wash, Get some 5 bottles hydrogen peroxide soak rock to kill all spores rinse then place in tank. Note: all bacteria on the cleaned rock will be gone as well as any harmful parasites. Just my .02

[RW09903]

Pressure wash, soak in bleach/ water solution, rinse, soak in muriatic acid/water solution, rinse, ready to go!

I also dried mine for a few weeks.

[zygote2k]

scrub it all with a  brush then throw it in the tank.

[DuffyGeos]

scrub it all with a  brush then throw it in the tank.

 

I assume it is not your toothbrush?  

 

Rob has saltwater running through his veins........so it might be!  (insert a pirate emoticon here) Argh matey!

[zygote2k]

There seems to be lots of ways to use unnecessary harsh chemicals and strange ways to clean rock.

Sun drying works and so does a good scrubbing.

I've been doing it this way for 25 years....

[thakki]

Okay so here is what I did.

 

1. Let it sit outside for 3 weeks...under sun...but of course mostly cold weather. All the algae seemed to have died.

 

2. Soaked overnight in a mixture of venigar and water.

 

3. Scrubbed the rock with a brush...most of the debri came off.

 

4. Power rinsed the rock.

 

5. Soaked in hot clean tap water for 2 days.

 

6. Planning to soak them in salt water for half a day before putting them into my tank.

 

Live rock pretty much turned like dry rock now...whats the possibility for any kind of algae or life still surviving in this rock? Any more suggestions?

Edited December 24, 2014 by thakki

[GraffitiSpotCorals]

I am with rob, anyways if you don't have a strict qt procedure nuisance algaes and pests will make their way into your system at some point. I don't worry about that stuff or let it ruin the awesome experience it is to have a reef. Someday I will have the means to do it differently though.

[DuffyGeos]

Okay so here is what I did.

1. Let it sit outside for 3 weeks...under sun...but of course mostly cold weather. All the algae seemed to have died.

2. Soaked overnight in a mixture of venigar and water.

3. Scrubbed the rock with a brush...most of the debri came off.

4. Power rinsed the rock.

5. Soaked in hot clean tap water for 2 days.

6. Planning to soak them in salt water for half a day before putting them into my tank.

Live rock pretty much turned like dry rock now...whats the possibility for any kind of algae or life still surviving in this rock? Any more suggestions?

Bleach and water, muriatic acid bath, or both? Just did this and I can't see anything still surviving on the rock.

[MBVette]

I just use muratic acid.  Cleans off all the organics, and just rinse the rock afterwards and you are good to go.  Quickest and easiest way I have found to do it.

[thakki]

How long should I soak them in muriatic acid?

[MBVette]

until it stops bubbling a lot.  5-10 minutes, depending on how much organic stuff is on them

[RW09903]

I searched acid bath liverock on youtube and followed accordingly. Let the rocks sit in the bath til it stops bubbling and slowly pour baking soda in to help neutralize the acid. If your interested in picking up the buffers and calcium, I can give you the rest of my acid as well. It's a little more than half a bottle.

[thakki]

I searched acid bath liverock on youtube and followed accordingly. Let the rocks sit in the bath til it stops bubbling and slowly pour baking soda in to help neutralize the acid. If your interested in picking up the buffers and calcium, I can give you the rest of my acid as well. It's a little more than half a bottle.

Sure I can pick it up as well with the supplements. Will pm you. Thanks.