cooking Live Rock

[10gnano]

Hey guys. I am trying to find an article on cooking live rock. I know I have read it many times on here but I cant seem to find the actual article/post. I have about 25lbs of liev rock infested with green hair algea. I took it all out of my tank and placed if in my closet in a tank with a power head for circulation.

[alongfortheride]

http://ovas.ca/index.php?topic=13986.0 references "cooking" live rock and the corresponding link on reefcentral;

"The purpose of "cooking" your rocks is to have that bacteria consume all (or as much) organic material and PO4 stored on, and in, the rock as possible. Here is a link for full instructions of cooking LR. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=437342 "

[karjean]

Good thread, would it be recommended to do it when you do add new live rocks beforehand? It could save you some hassles.

[lost_at_sea]

If the rock is out of the DT in a separate tank, couldn't you just leave it there with no access to light for a while?  The Hair Algae should die off no?

[Vincenzo.]

i cooked mine for 4months, worked perfectly.
though i did not have algae problems, i just wanted to cook it..

[cdylnicki]

I hope this is not going off topic.

Why would you not just rinse the rock off and begin it in total fresh water?  Would a cold water soak not do the same thing as a cook or is the idea to kill off only the bad and try and keep the good?

If you have another salt tank going, could you not over time put your dirty "water changing" water into the same tank where the dead rock is sitting and therefore end up slowly curing it in a similar manner?

[alongfortheride]

A quick rinse in water will not achieve the same end-result.
This process is a time-insensive but worthwhile endeavour.
When we switched over our 120g to our 144g half cylinder we opted to cook all the rock from the old tank before it went back into the system. Our rock wasn't that old, had good flow (a couple Vortechs) and yet still I couldn't believe the amount of detrious which came off of the rock over the "cooking" process.

You could use the water changing water to complete this process - it would ensure those weekly water changes on your tank

The idea in "cooking" the rock is to open and clean all the pores on your rock.
Rock as a means of filteration in your tank requires many pores for the live bacteria to form and grow. The older your rock, the more these pores will clog with detrious, sand, etc.
By "cooking" your rock, in the dark and blowing off the excess detrious that the rock sheds over this process you will be "rejuvinating" your rock - not killing the rock.

Taken from the reefcentral post mentioned before;
"But before I do I just want to say that Bomber instructed me how to do it several months ago and it works great. So it is his process that I am trying to make popular and cause fellow hobbyists a lot less heartache in the long term.
The purpose of "cooking" your rocks is to have tha bacteria consume all (or as much) organic material and PO4 stored on, and in, the rock as possible.

The first step to this is commitment.
You have to be willing to remove your rock from the tank.
It doesn't have to be all at once, but I feel if you are going to do this do it all. In stages if that is easier but make sure that all of it gets done.

The new environment you are creating for your rock is to take it from an algal driven to a bacterial driven system.
In order to this, the rock needs to be in total darkness to retard and eventually kill the algae's on the rock and to give the bacteria time to do the job.

So basically you need tubs to hold the rock.

Equipment needed.
1. Dedication.
2. Tubs to cook rock in. And an equal amount of tubs to hold the rock during waterchanges.
3. A few powerheads.
4. Plenty of buckets.
5. A smug feeling of superiority that you are taking it to "the next level."

Here are the steps, if you have any questions I will try my best to answer them. What I don't know I am sure Bomber can/will instruct.

1. Get into your head and accept the fact you will be making lots of salt water if you aren't lucky enough to have access to filtered NSW.
2. Explain to significant other what is going on so they don't flip out. This process can take up to 2 months. Prepare them in advance so he/she can mark it on the calendar and that they won't nag about it until that date arrives.
3. Setup a tub(s) where the rock is to be cooked. Garages are great for this.
4. Make up enough water to fill tub(s) about halfway and around 5-7 buckets about 60% full.
5. Remove all the rock you want to cook at this stage. (The rock can be removed piece by piece until you are done.) I suggest shutting off the circulation beforehand to minimize dust storms.
6. Take the first piece of rock and dunk it, swish it, very, very well in the first bucket. Then do it again in the 2nd bucket, then the third.
7. Place rock in the tub.
8. Repeat steps 6 & 7 to every piece of rock you want to cook at this time. The reason I suggested 5-7 buckets of water will be evident quickly...as the water quickly turnsq brown.
9. Place powerhead(s) in the tub and plug in. Position at least one powerhead so that it agitates the surface of the water pretty well. This is to keep the water oxygenated. You can use an air pump for additional oxygenation if you wish.
9. Cover the tub. Remember, we want total darkness.
10. Empty out buckets, restart circulation on main tank.
11. Wait.
12. During the first couple of weeks it is recommended to do a swishing and dunking of the rocks twice a week.
What this entails is to make up enough water to fill up those buckets and the tub the rock is in.
First, lay out your empty tub(s) and fill buckets the same as before.
Then, uncover tub with the rock in it. Take a rock and swish it in the tub it's in to knock any easy to get off junk.
Then, swish it thru the 3 buckets again, and place in the empty tub..
Repeat for all your rocks.
Then empty the tub that all the rocks were cooking in, take it outside and rinse it out with a hose.
Place tub back where it was, fill with new saltwater, add rocks and powerheads, and cover.
Wait again unti the next water change.
You will be utterly amazed at how much sand, silt, detrius is at the bottom of the tub and every bucket. It is amazing.

How it works:


Some FAQ's.
When re-introducing the rock to my tank, a month or two from now, should I do that in parts to help minimize any cycling effect(s)...if there are any?
I never have. Really after a very short while, the ammonium cycle has been extablished. That's not what you're worry about though, it's the stored phosphates and that you have to wait it out.
When they are producing very little detritus - you'll know - then I would use them all at once.

Would running Carbon filtration and/or a PO4 reducing media help/hurry/hinder the process?
I wouldn't fool with it. You don't want the detritus to sit there long enough to rot, release water soluble P again. You want to take it out while it's still locked up in that bacterial detritus.




I hope this helps you out.
It really is a "miracle" and a low cost one at that.
The only monies spent are for salt and electricity for the powerheads which are nominal. Especially to rid yourself of Bryopsis.
Time and effort is all it akes. And really not that much effort.
I would say that 85% of my exposed rock had Bryopsis (hair algae) covering it.
There isn't a single visible strand on andy rocks in the tubs now.
Remember, the key is patience. Let this process run its course.

And a few last minute tidbits I remembered.
Your coralline will die back, receed etc.
My thoughts on this are GREAT!
Now my rock is more porous for additional pods, mysids, worms etc.
Coralline will grow back.
Throughout this process the sponges, and pods on my rock have not died off.
Everytime I do a waterchange they are there and plentiful.

If you have any questions please ask.

[dan2x38]

I read many the mainstream articles including the linked one here and I see the benefits. For high bio-loads, tanks with high feedings and tap water the LR would really be affected over time and I imagine even a short time. Even large build ups of coraline would affect the LR's affectivness. But yes always a but... For me I am running pretty much a Berlin System. How would I cook rock after a year or so of running my tank? OH presently using tap water plan on a future RO/DI system but not for at least 6 more months.

[cdylnicki]

A few questions, I hope you don't mind! 

Why does it need to be in salt water?  If you take it outside and rinse it with the hose, won't that usually kill off any bacteria that would be on there?  And is the idea not to kill off everything anyways to clear out the pores?  Could a freshwater bacteria grow and have a similar affect on breaking down the algae/other things that may have developed?

Also, could you not just fill a tank with freshwater, and a powerhead and filter that get moved around every few days, cover the tank with a background (but covering the whole thing) and just rinse out the crud on the bottom with a siphon (place egg crate down first to catch detritus) every three days or so? 

Any thoughts?

[dan2x38]

Freshwater denitrifying bacteria is different from saltwater denitrifying bacteria. Therefore freshwater kills the benifcial bacteria on LR from saltwater. You do not want the bacteria to die off. If I understand (correct me if I am wrong) the bacteria on the LR will deplete the excess neutrients built up on the LR over the time of cooking. Of course the rinses during the WCs does a great part. There will be a die off but a large enough population remains to regenerate the bacteria to handle the bio-load of an active aquarium.

Did I get it right?

[johnrt]

Dan:
That is right. I just have some thoughts on economics and on dealing with really nasty rocks that have sufficiently good shape and porosity to warrant the effort:
Given that this process can take up to 2 months with more with 1-3 complete water changes per week, we are looking at a great deal of salt water. You could save here if you have multiple tanks and use 'old' water from the tank water changes to  cook the  rocks, but few people have that volume of used water. The alternative is to cook in fresh water. The advantages is that it is cheap, it will kill everything in the rock: bacteria, Aiptasia, hitchhikers, bad crabs, Ich and other fish parasites, red bug, hidden elephants, the lot! The goal is to not just set up a bacteria driven system, rather than algae driven system, but to set up a fresh water bacteria driven system and kill the rock dead. There is no need to dechlorinate the tap water. The few mg of chlorimide that the city adds to the water will not sterilize a bucket-load of rock and bacteria!

The same rinse and shake procedure outlined above does the cooking and the end point is still when detritus stops coming out of the rock.

At this point, we need to reestablish the salt water bacteria, either in a aquarium or in bulk in the cooking buckets. So put the rock in salt water and do what you do to start a cycle. I add used water from a brine shrimp hatcher. One sniff of that stuff will convince you that it will cause bacteria to drool. Do you need to add bacteria? Don't know. I am not convinced that all the salt water bacteria will be killed by even a prolonged fresh water bath. If you have ever tried to sterilize something as massive and dirty as a rock, you must do a great deal more than 'wash' it. But, if in doubt, some used aquarium water should do the trick, or a good quality seed rock will get thing going. Now just test the water until ammonia and nitrates are at 0, and you have ultra cooked, nasty-free, mega porous rock for your new setup and its light too.

[dan2x38]

How do you sustain a reef tank while coooking rock whether in FW/SW? I am running a Berlin System and just one SW tank. The other thinig that is removed from the rock is not just detris but PO4 & NO3 that is built up from decomposing detris, non-RO water, etc. The live SW bacteria is suppose to consume these neutrients but it takes that 6 weeks to do it.

[johnrt]

Either salt water or fresh water bacteria will consume PO4 and organics. Aiptasia and many other nasties (crabs) will come through a salt water cooking just fine.

[dan2x38]

Either salt water or fresh water bacteria will consume PO4 and organics. Aiptasia and many other nasties (crabs) will come through a salt water cooking just fine.

Ya know that makes sense. BUT still leave sthe question open what happens to your Berlin System with rock removed?

[martin_jones]

Hi,

Am considering cooking my LR, but have a question: do you cook the rock with soft corals on, specifically mushrooms, GSP and Pulsing Xenia? If so, what would happen to these corals? Would they die off or survive the process?

Thanks

Martin

[Hookup]

They would not survive.

I would cook them with them on, because I do not want them in my tank.... so to me that is a win-win...

chip them off, frag them off, smash the rock... all ideas if you want to save them...

[Bob P]

So,10gnano, did all this answer your question?? 

[10gnano]

ya sure

[groan]

i cooked all of my rocks a few months ago for 6- weeks and all the mushrooms survived!!!
no algae left but somehow the mushrooms and rics all made it through. I was told that they may actually detach themselves, but they did not.

[dan2x38]

i cooked all of my rocks a few months ago for 6- weeks and all the mushrooms survived!!!
no algae left but somehow the mushrooms and rics all made it through. I was told that they may actually detach themselves, but they did not.

You had zero light? wow tough corals...

[groan]

ya, zero light, heated water, HEAVY flow.
only light it ever saw was when i would scrub the rocks (scrubbed carefully aroudn the corals) and did water changes.