The experienced beginner: Curing rock

[Emerald525]

As I dip back into the Saltwater hobby I am embracing new methods. I have the luxury of having made many mistakes so I am trying to be more patient take things slow and read more.

While I love the look and color of live rock I have dealt with many pests including nuisance algae’s like bryopsis so for this build I did the bleach cure treatment of my rocks. BRS did a comparison of natural curing versus muriatic acid versus bleach and the bleach was superior to killing off organics.

1. One gallon of bleach per ten gallons of water.

Do this outside ! it leaves noxious fumes and used a covered lid. Brute trash cans work well

2. Can use tap water and just let it sit for a week 

You Can leave the rock to set out snd dry and the bleach will evaporate off. ( I read on one forum someone put the rocks in the oven to “cook” off the bleach ) Don’t do this

3. You can then rinse the rocks and use a dechlorinator and test for chlorine which is what I did. 
 

you lose the purple coralline but I plan to later seed my rock with coralline. 
 

Here’s a video going into more detail 

 

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/content/post/bleach-curing-dry-rock-for-a-saltwater-reef-tank-brstv-reef-faqs

 

Here is the rock. The brownish discoloration is the diatoms as it is going through the cycle. If you look closely on the bottom there is a remnant of a vermetid snail tube. This was rock from the kids tank and I debated keeping it live but I am glad I didn’t. 

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

The BRS study found that the absolute most effective method was acid then bleach. Nutrient levels were almost half of just bleach. 

If you have pukani i would think about soaking for a couple weeks becuase they do seem to leach out phos even if they are bone white and dry. 

[Emerald525]

4 minutes ago, pdxmonkeyboy said:

The BRS study found that the absolute most effective method was acid then bleach. Nutrient levels were almost half of just bleach. 

If you have pukani i would think about soaking for a couple weeks becuase they do seem to leach out phos even if they are bone white and dry. 

BRS actually had bleach superior to the muriatic acid. Agree with the dry rock leaching phosphate. I had pukani and even had it soaking for several months and still had hair algae problems for a year  which is why I said [language filter] it I’m going to use live rock and then you get all the wonderful pests that come with that.  

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Brs original study.

[Emerald525]

4 hours ago, pdxmonkeyboy said:

Brs original study.

I believe the bottom one is a combination and Acid is muriatic acid alone .

Correction: I get what you are saying now. User muriatic acid then bleach. I didn’t think the .1ppm was worth it for me to do a combo. 

[spectra]

I ran pukani and soaked it for a weekend in vinegar then a 4 month soak in SW with a skimmer in a brute can.............no issues in that tank.............

[Emerald525]

11 minutes ago, spectra said:

I ran pukani and soaked it for a weekend in vinegar then a 4 month soak in SW with a skimmer in a brute can.............no issues in that tank.............

That’s my plan is to get the rock bleached for the new build and then let it sit in a Rubbermaid container as if it was a new tank. Why did you run the skimmer ? 

[spectra]

30 minutes ago, Emerald525 said:

That’s my plan is to get the rock bleached for the new build and then let it sit in a Rubbermaid container as if it was a new tank. Why did you run the skimmer ? 

 

The pukani I had is known for issues so I ran one after a few months just to clean the water. I would swap tank water from water changes into the brute and also do water changes.......... I also added bottled bacteria to the brute after first starting it.

[Emerald525]

16 minutes ago, spectra said:

 

The pukani I had is known for issues so I ran one after a few months just to clean the water. I would swap tank water from water changes into the brute and also do water changes.......... I also added bottled bacteria to the brute after first starting it.

Gotcha I have this rubbermaid tub I’m going to use . Bleach it In a trash can and then treat this like a tank and let it run for 4 months while I plan the fish room.  I was also going to add bacteria and probably just leave it in the shop with a heater and heater control since the weather is warming up.