"Purifying" Small Piece of Live Rock

Pat24601

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
So, I'm adding a coral that's potentially invasive. I thought I would put it on it's own little island of live rock in my sandbed so it doesn't end up crawling all over my main live rock structure.

Here's my problem, I bought a couple of small pieces of live rock to use as the island and I think they'll fit fine, but I really want to make sure they are free of any problem issues (GBA, pests, ich cysts (is that even a problem to worry about?) whatever.

They were actually sitting in a tank with fish when I bought them. What I really wanted was a couple of small pieces of dry rock, but there doesn't seem to be a way to get that without ordering a ton of it and paying lots of $$$ for shipping.

So, my question (and I do have one) is are there any precautions I can take with this live rock I bought to make sure it is pest free? It's supposed to be aquacultured, but it was sitting in a tank with fish so who knows what lurks in that tank.

Fresh water dip for live rock? Coral dip? Sit it in the sun for a few days? Something else?

It's small enough I'm not worried about starting a mini-cycle. I'd think its an insignificant addition compared to my overall amount of rock.
 
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newo11

newo11

Well-Known Member
Pat,

At a minimum, you could do a fresh water dip, and then a separate hydrogen peroxide dip, as well as a coral dip over a couple of days. I'd run it in a covered 5 gallon bucket of saltwater with a small powerhead in between each dip with some cheap carbon as well to handle the die-off. You will kill off a lot of the bacteria on the surface (but not necessarily inside the rock) and this will help to remove a lot of the potential pests. Majanos, hydroids, aiptasia, etc. will still likely live through all of this though.

How soon do you need to use the rock? Do you have time to "cook" the rock?
 
Pat24601

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
newo11 said:
Pat,

At a minimum, you could do a fresh water dip, and then a separate hydrogen peroxide dip, as well as a coral dip over a couple of days. I'd run it in a covered 5 gallon bucket of saltwater with a small powerhead in between each dip with some cheap carbon as well to handle the die-off. You will kill off a lot of the bacteria on the surface (but not necessarily inside the rock) and this will help to remove a lot of the potential pests. Majanos, hydroids, aiptasia, etc. will still likely live through all of this though.

How soon do you need to use the rock? Do you have time to "cook" the rock?
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This is a good point. I guess really I have as much time as I want. The coral is arriving tomorrow, but it's not going to go out and eat my entire tank in a day or anything. :) Anything that invasive should be the subject of a "B" Horror movie. :)

I'd rather be safe than sorry and these are great suggestions.

I'll also look into BRS. I checked a few places and their packages seemed to start at like 20 or 30 pounds, plus shipping. Maybe I didn't check BRS yet, though. I don't remember.

Thanks for tips!
 
newo11

newo11

Well-Known Member
Pat24601 said:
This is a good point. I guess really I have as much time as I want. The coral is arriving tomorrow, but it's not going to go out and eat my entire tank in a day or anything. :) Anything that invasive should be the subject of a "B" Horror movie. :)

I'd rather be safe than sorry and these are great suggestions.

I'll also look into BRS. I checked a few places and their packages seemed to start at like 20 or 30 pounds, plus shipping. Maybe I didn't check BRS yet, though. I don't remember.

Thanks for tips!
Click to expand...
The more important question is what corals did you get?
 
mtsully71

mtsully71

Well-Known Member
Pat are you in the US? If you want some Dry( pest free) bigger rubble stuff, as in making a baseball sized island (pieces) I have some sitting around and would be happy to mail you some. Just send a PM with address and Ill get in the mail by Thursday. I have some left overs from my rock build, can't use it all. I would send you plenty do with what ya want.
 
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Pat24601

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
mtsully71 said:
Pat are you in the US? If you want some Dry( pest free) bigger rubble stuff, as in making a baseball sized island (pieces) I have some sitting around and would be happy to mail you some. Just send a PM with address and Ill get in the mail by Thursday. I have some left overs from my rock build, can't use it all. I would send you plenty do with what ya want.
Click to expand...


This is really extremely nice!

I'm in Georgia, but don't worry about it. I think I've taken care of it.

I'm both in the process of cooking the live rock I bought per @newo11 reccomendation and I bought 20 pounds of reef saver live rock per @ReefConstrictor reccomendation.

It's definitely overkill for my current needs, but I've been thinking of playing with a couple of things anyway, so it will be good to have lots of shape options. We will see what it looks like when I get it.

Plus, why do something for free when you can spend $20 or even $50! Grrrr. ;)

On the good side, dry rock is a lot cheaper than I thought.
 
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