Dead Rock

[Kronk]

I have about 10lbs of dead rock been out of the water for years i am guessing do i have to boil it, or can i put it in a bucket with a bunch of curing/cooking rock ?

Thanks,
Ken

[Der_Iron_Chef]

For how long has this other rock been curing?

[fkshiu]

You only need to boil if you are concerned about parasites. Just toss it in with the rest of the curing rock. Any decay would have long since ended if it's been sitting in a relatively dry place for years.

Anyway, boiling old live rock can often cause a big stink.

[Kronk]

yah i wasnt concerned about any organic matter but i was kind of worried about chemicals comming into contact with the rocks.. they were in a basement so who knows if at somepoint something was spilled on them.

[fkshiu]

yah i wasnt concerned about any organic matter but i was kind of worried about chemicals comming into contact with the rocks.. they were in a basement so who knows if at somepoint something was spilled on them.


If chemicals did spill on the rocks boiling will do nothing. Boiling will only kill anything live on the rocks.

The porous structure of the rocks will have sucked the chems right in similar to how contact with copper medication can permanently render live rock deadly to invertebrates.

[Kronk]

Well that blows they are really cool shapes... i suppose i can gamble and put it in with the curing rocks and see what happens.

I am trying the relatively new process of "cooking" the rocks where you put them in a dark place with a heater and powerhead doing a 100% water change every week for 8 months so there is no algae and the bacteria burrows into deeper into the rock. Its been a month so far and you should see the gunk that is in the bottom of the bucket every week.