Hello Everyone--i am going to be setting up a 180 closed loop reef system in the coming months and i have about 300 lbs of dead LR that has been sitting outside and or in buckets for quite some time. i would like to find the best way to clean and cure the rock to bring it back to life and also ensure that i wont have any excess PO4 or nitrates when i am ready to put the rock in the tank. any and all suggestions are welcome.
Best Proven methods to clean/cure dry rock
- Thread starter RuNvS
- Start date
maidia
Team CR
Here my method when I restart my reef tank:
- Put all the rocks in the big container, fill up with tab water
- File 1/2 gallon of Muriatic Acid (bought at Menards) in that container (May be 1 gallon for your 300lb rocks) - Do it careful outdoor with no people around - Leave it atleast 1-2 days
- Empty the container and fill it up with new tab water and fill 1 or 2 gallon of vinegar and leave it for 1 or 2 days.
- Empty it and fill with RO/DI water for 2-3 day, clean and rinse the rocks up
- Let it dry for 1 or 2 days.
- Done
- Put all the rocks in the big container, fill up with tab water
- File 1/2 gallon of Muriatic Acid (bought at Menards) in that container (May be 1 gallon for your 300lb rocks) - Do it careful outdoor with no people around - Leave it atleast 1-2 days
- Empty the container and fill it up with new tab water and fill 1 or 2 gallon of vinegar and leave it for 1 or 2 days.
- Empty it and fill with RO/DI water for 2-3 day, clean and rinse the rocks up
- Let it dry for 1 or 2 days.
- Done
jrpark22000
Premium member
There was a thread on this, but it was lost. Who else wants to share their methods? We can update the thread referencing the lost thread.
http://www.chicagoreefs.com/forums/showthread.php?15716-Guide-to-the-most-commonly-used-treatments-dips-methods-etc-in-one-spot
I simply soak my new rock in vinegar until its clean and white. It takes a couple days as it is much milder than a strong acid bath.
http://www.chicagoreefs.com/forums/showthread.php?15716-Guide-to-the-most-commonly-used-treatments-dips-methods-etc-in-one-spot
I simply soak my new rock in vinegar until its clean and white. It takes a couple days as it is much milder than a strong acid bath.
Last edited:
maidia
Team CR
I set it up next to the sewer back yard...Sorry if you don't have one then just do the vinegar..
vucious
Member
Bowhunter4250
Active member
listen to mai ! he knows his stuff !!
lunacris
Active member
heres my thread on how i did it . i acid dipped first then cooked and had great results . if you have any questions lmk . http://www.chicagoreefs.com/forums/showthread.php?16144-cooking-live-rock&highlight=cooking+live+rock
i read thru your thread Chris thank you, how long did it take before you recieved 0 PO4 readings and 0 Nitrate readings. it looks like you used a heater to heat the water to what tempature were you heating the water to?
lunacris
Active member
it took a while . like few months i also added gfo in reactor which speed up process a bit also after it hits 0 pull gfo and measure po4 for a week or 2 to make sure gone . used salt at 25 and heat at 78 . also becareful not to over do the acid you can melt your rock to nothing. i did 2 batches of my rock and 2 batches for a guy here and only one rock melted alot
how long did you leave it in the acid bath before you nuetralized the acid?
lunacris
Active member
all your doing is burning away the outer shell of the rock which holds po4 in most cases , then cooking it in total darkness gets everything to die and release from the rock (which can be done without acid dip) and any leaching will be gone . once you start to cure the rock it will start all over but from 0 and no question of whats there because only thing in there was put there by you .
madjoe
Premium member
idk bout that lol some how after 4 days in heavy acid 1 week in bleach I have this alage I never seen before in my dt growing out of rocks with no sigh of it in my fuge . its a mystery I tell u
