Best way to clean dry rock

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Good day all,

I have recently purchased some dry rock, about 21kgs worth from a tropical LFS who purchased the wrong rock for their store. As a result the rock was left outside and has since accumulated quite a bit of mud and clay and some of the rock has a slight green tinge to it.

I have begun a bleach based cure to kill spores and bacteria and such, my question is how do I clean the mud and such off, I'd like nice white rock not some white, some brown....

I know in my pool to remove stubborn stains and stubborn algae I dump a few liters of hydrogen peroxide which "melts" everything away, can I do the same with dry rock to loosen up the dried mud/sand?

What would be the best way to go about this?
 
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Research acid bathing the rock.
Thanks brother, I have looked into it, but seems it reduces the rock pretty significantly and then neutralizing and disposing of the acid seem a great deal of hassle....

Hence I am thinking of a more, eco friendly way of doing it...
 
I am currently doing this, rock soaks up alot of nutrients from tanks they are in, the worse the condition of the tank the higher the levels of nutrients they will leave

I used BRSTV Acid bleach method, the results they got gave a great understanding as to why you can have those long extended algea outbreaks after adding new rock, they leach a fair amount of Phosphate into the water


I used 1L 30%Hcl ( Standard pool acid) to 20Litres of water ratio for the initial soak of 15 minutes. ( there was no noticable change in the size and or texture of the rock)

here is a before and after picture of the rock after 15 minute HCL wash.

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Look at what comes out during the HCL wash, this was about 10kg of rock. So the more rock you add the more Kak is going to come out

20230313_171527.jpg



After 15 minutes, the majority of fizzing has slowed down due to the acid dissolving the rock and reaching a neutral-ish PH, I added 500G of baking soda to neutralize the solution, this causes even more fizz and mess, so dont do this on your nice driveway or grass, this will mess all of that up.

I rinsed off the dirt and residual liquid from the acid wash and then proceeded to do a clorine bath, it is quite satisfying to watch the rocks turn white as you rinse off all the dissolved gunk with a hose.

I now have them in a 1/10 Bleach/water bath for the last 4 days, and will leave them for another 3 for total of 7 days soak.

They are literally looking like brand new scaping rock, and will have the same characteristics in terms of not leaching any nutrients into the tank.

Once it is done, I will rinse and soak in fresh water overnight, and then leave in the sun to dry for the residual chlorine from the bleach to gas off and they should be good to go.

Goes without saying, be a man, take the relevant safety precautions do it outside, blah blah blah, HCL is no joke, and never mix HCL with Bleach, you will die from the gasses.

no excuse to get your rocks clean
 
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Hello everyone, so the rocks are now done with their 7 day bleach bath.

No noticeable changes in the rocks colour ( they where super white and clean after HCL bath), however there was a fair amount of things going on in the tub, there seemed to be a fair amount of dissolved organics in the tub and on the rock after the bleach wash.

I now have them in a FW bath, and will put them in the sun tommorrow, they should be ready in the next day or so, time will tell.

Long story short, based on what I have done, if you have dry live rock, this is one of the best methods to ensure you have as little nutrients introduced into the tank when the rocks are added. ( The BRS tests results will confirm this), so it rules out "feelings" and "opinions", which is great.

I will advise as the time goes, as to what difference it made in terms of algea proliferation after I do the new scape.

Anyway I am done getting my rocks off for the day, hope this info helps.


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20230320_080714.jpg
 
So its been about 2 weeks after adding the new scape, zero signs of any algea or nuisance breakouts on the rocks, corraline spots starting to appear as well. So i would say this method works well.
 
So its been about 2 weeks after adding the new scape, zero signs of any algea or nuisance breakouts on the rocks, corraline spots starting to appear as well. So i would say this method works well.
That's pretty cool, mine are still in the ugly stage, seeded corraline a few weeks ago, but to date nothing has happened except ugly brown phase...
 
I also did a seeding about a week ago but I had coraline already starting up from the existing liverock in the tank, but it definitely made a difference in how fast the coralline has caught on.

Also, my system wasnt a new system as per say, and I dealt with the ugly phase in the first tank, where all the stuff came from, I got my nutrients under control, and my biopellets are doing their thing, so that helps alot. Coralline hates Phosphates, and its growth will be directly inhibited by the excess presence of PO4.
 
I also did a seeding about a week ago but I had coraline already starting up from the existing liverock in the tank, but it definitely made a difference in how fast the coralline has caught on.

Also, my system wasnt a new system as per say, and I dealt with the ugly phase in the first tank, where all the stuff came from, I got my nutrients under control, and my biopellets are doing their thing, so that helps alot. Coralline hates Phosphates, and its growth will be directly inhibited by the excess presence of PO4.
Ill definitely keep that in mind....
 
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