lunacris
Active member
I have decided to cook my rock for my next build. This is the first step to my build to try and get it off on the right foot !
i have done alot of reading and discussing on cooking rock with fellow reefers and decided this will be my best bet to make sure i will have a clean slate with my build. PLEASE feel free to comment but keep on topic.
so my first step was to buy the rock i wanted for my new build and i went with two very large pieces of pukani dry rock and some old dry rock previously live rock from my old tanks i had laying around. rock total weight dry is roughly 90 to 100 lbs.
second after some reading the cooking process can take a few months and i read that dipping rock in a acid bath can help speed this up by taking off the outer shell of the rock. so i used a tub with about 25 gallons of water and 2 gallons of muriatic acid from a fellow reefer. (thanks slinky !) i must add this stuff is pretty cool to work with it smokes when u open the bottle. so i basically slowy poured it in the tub wearing gloves and a mask since the fumes are pretty nasty. i let it go till it pretty much stopped foaming. then added baking soda to neutralize the remaining acid. after this is done i rinsed off the rock with the hose and let it soak in fresh water for 24 hours then dumped washed again with fresh water then another 24 hour soak followed by a final blast from the hose. (some use ro for these steps but i am cooking so didnt feel it was a must)
here is the rock sitting in the acid bath kinda looks like a super skimmer
third is "cooking" the rock. this is can take a few months just a fyi so if u are impatient might not be for you. i did this in my basement as well but if ur going to cook live rock prob do in your garage because they say it smells horrible. basically whats needed is saltwater made from ro, a container large enough to fit all ur rock in or multiples if lots of rock. heater and flow. i used lots of flow and only enough water to cover my rocks which comes out to about 30 gallons in a 75 gallon tank.i had painted back and sides of tank black and covered the top and front with black garbage bags. and taped it so no light gets in the tank . this is huge NO LIGHT !!!!!!. then every week i choose sundays , i make fresh salt water and swish around rock to get all crap off and clean the cooking tank. a 100% water change and a sample cup of water from the tank (before you take out water or disturb rock) and the fresh salt water. this will be to test po4.
i will continue to do this untill crap stops coming out of rock and po4 and nitrates are at 0 for two weeks.
pic of rock
heres the tank all covered up
the clean bin to rinse rock off in
after rinsing rock (and this is after a acid bath ) gross !!!
and all the crap at the bottom of cooking tank
when u clean the rocks off each week u may need multiple buckets because the water gets pretty nasty. i took pics of before and after my first week and will continue to update this thread every week until done.
if this in wrong section please move
week one po4 tests :
from tank with rock still in it before moving anything .50
from new saltwater : 0
i have done alot of reading and discussing on cooking rock with fellow reefers and decided this will be my best bet to make sure i will have a clean slate with my build. PLEASE feel free to comment but keep on topic.
so my first step was to buy the rock i wanted for my new build and i went with two very large pieces of pukani dry rock and some old dry rock previously live rock from my old tanks i had laying around. rock total weight dry is roughly 90 to 100 lbs.
second after some reading the cooking process can take a few months and i read that dipping rock in a acid bath can help speed this up by taking off the outer shell of the rock. so i used a tub with about 25 gallons of water and 2 gallons of muriatic acid from a fellow reefer. (thanks slinky !) i must add this stuff is pretty cool to work with it smokes when u open the bottle. so i basically slowy poured it in the tub wearing gloves and a mask since the fumes are pretty nasty. i let it go till it pretty much stopped foaming. then added baking soda to neutralize the remaining acid. after this is done i rinsed off the rock with the hose and let it soak in fresh water for 24 hours then dumped washed again with fresh water then another 24 hour soak followed by a final blast from the hose. (some use ro for these steps but i am cooking so didnt feel it was a must)
here is the rock sitting in the acid bath kinda looks like a super skimmer
third is "cooking" the rock. this is can take a few months just a fyi so if u are impatient might not be for you. i did this in my basement as well but if ur going to cook live rock prob do in your garage because they say it smells horrible. basically whats needed is saltwater made from ro, a container large enough to fit all ur rock in or multiples if lots of rock. heater and flow. i used lots of flow and only enough water to cover my rocks which comes out to about 30 gallons in a 75 gallon tank.i had painted back and sides of tank black and covered the top and front with black garbage bags. and taped it so no light gets in the tank . this is huge NO LIGHT !!!!!!. then every week i choose sundays , i make fresh salt water and swish around rock to get all crap off and clean the cooking tank. a 100% water change and a sample cup of water from the tank (before you take out water or disturb rock) and the fresh salt water. this will be to test po4.
i will continue to do this untill crap stops coming out of rock and po4 and nitrates are at 0 for two weeks.
pic of rock
heres the tank all covered up
the clean bin to rinse rock off in
after rinsing rock (and this is after a acid bath ) gross !!!
and all the crap at the bottom of cooking tank
when u clean the rocks off each week u may need multiple buckets because the water gets pretty nasty. i took pics of before and after my first week and will continue to update this thread every week until done.
if this in wrong section please move
week one po4 tests :
from tank with rock still in it before moving anything .50
from new saltwater : 0
