How to kill live rock?

[Rainer]

Hi all, havent posted in a while, but ive been lurking!

Sorry for the misleading title, I just have a quick question....What is the possibility of live rock "dying" if I take it out of the aquarium to give it a good scrubbing? Im trying to get my hair algae under control and having a tough go of it.

 

[ccCapt]

No problem. Scrub away, but do it in saltwater if possible. A good time would be when you do a water change.

 

[Rainer]

would scrubbing it under tap water be a death sentence? I dont use tap water in my system, but was thinking it would be easiest to filter the kitchen sink off and scrub it under the faucet..

 

[ccCapt]

Freshwater will kill the bacteria on the rock. Whether or not it will kill ALL the bacteria that is deep inside the rock I guess would depend on how long it was in freshwater.

 

[Rainer]

thanks a bunch, Ive already done that process once. Took all the rocks out of the tank and scrubbed them under the sink to get rid of hair algae. I guess ive wiped out my live rock, which explains the high nitrates i guess. Oh well i didnt pay that much for it, guess ill get tank back in line and buy a few new pieces to reseed it.



im also getting phosphates from an unknown source.

I use distillwater from walmart
buy saltwater (that ive tested) from LFS
drain food before i feed

not sure where else, but ive since set up a fuge and added some chemi pure elite to try and tone down the phospates, now to work on the nitrates.

 

[bigploch]

I am waging a war with hair algae myself. I am currently trying a product called Marine SAT from EMPIRE AQUATICS. Seeing significant results. It's a reef safe natural bacteria that feeds on the same things as the hair algae. If I were you, I would order up the 32 oz bottle for 20 bucks plus 9 bucks shipping, scrub all of your rock in saltwater, and dose with the MSAT once a week for 3-4 weeks. That should clear up your problem.

 

[Bifferwine]

Tap water will definitely destroy your live rock, and as you've found out, can lead to a new cycle and/or high nitrates. You kill off all the bacteria that your tank needs to convert the fish waste into less harmful compounds.

It's much safer to get a 5-gallon bucket, fill it with saltwater (or just use your old tank water after you've done a water change), and scrub each rock in that bucket. It'll preserve the bacteria and hitch hikers on the rock.

 

[Rainer]

yea thankfully it didnt start a new cycle, my three fish friends have seemed totally unaffected. They swim around and feed like ravenous wild dogs, I just want to make the tank a much prettier place for them.

 

[yote]

It'll also help to manually pick out as much of the algae as possible.