Cleaning and curing "formerly" live rock

Over the weekend, I bought 145 lbs. of formerly live Fiji rock from someone. They thought it was 60-80 lbs., but it was much more when I weighed it at home, and got an even better deal. Now to my questions:

What is the best way to:

• clean "glue/putty" from rock that formerly held coral?
• clean leftover salt, detritus, and every other type of gunk on the rocks?

I added approx. 100 lbs. to my new tank, and washed these rocks off with a hose, which got a lot of the gunk off of them. When I added them to the tank though, I noticed more junk falling off of them, probably from the holes in the rocks. I'm thinking they should have been soaked earlier as well to remove dirt from the holes. Thoughts?

I now have approx. 50 lbs. of rock left over, and I'd like to clean these up really well for future use. I'm also wondering if it is wise to set a tank up just to keep these rocks in to get them ready for another tank (is this called curing?). Any tips on doing this are appreciated.

 

Cleaning epoxy is usually as simple as getting something under it, and prying it off. I don't know about superglue.

Detritus I wouldn't worry about, as that can be used to start your cycle, if you go with a new tank. For an already-running tank, you could leave it in a bucket for a while, and let some colonization happen.

 

hammer and chisel used carefully will remove both putty and superglue.

 

Would I need to add a powerhead or filter to have some water flow? I have an empty 55, 30, 20, and a few 10s laying around. I thought of putting the rocks in one of them to get them cured, but wasn't sure how to do it exactly. They would be used eventually in a new tank.

Should I only leave them there for a set time? Do I first get my salinity set to proper levels? Add a filter? Powerhead?

Curing rock is new to me so I'm eager to learn.

 

I just use a knife to pry off the putty. To clean it, just use a brush and scrub it well with RO/DI water.

 

I was told RO/DI water is close to distilled water, is that correct. I have no way to get RO/DI at this time.

Also still wondering about adding salt to water and water flow when I place the rock in a bucket or empty aquarium.

 

Take the rock and put it in a tub or used tank and place a powerhead in there for circulation. test the water like a regular tank for ammonia and nitrites. keep doing some form of water changes until your levels (ammonia and nitrite) are at zero. Then the rock is cured. i used a 55 gallon and just a protein skimmer on mine. I got a good deal and had an extra skimmer.

 

this is the best way to cure the rock. The only thing not mentioned is to put an ATO on the tub with the rock in it so that your salinity stays stable. If you can't do that, make sure you are topping off the tub frequently so it doesn't get too salty in there.

 

Thanks for backup.

 

The only thing I'd add to this is to do it in darkness, like an opaque rubbermaid tote. I've been using a PH from an old protein skimmer and using aeration as well. This way, water circulates, and the rock has access to oxygen. AFAIK this is the only way to truly clean LR from the inside out, while keeping it alive throughout the process. You'll have to change the water out periodically, and swish the rocks when you perform water changes. I'm in the process of doing this with about 50 lbs of LR now, and I'm about 90 days into the process. I've probably been done for a month or so, but I have no place to put the rock so I've continued. I've never seen such clean LR before. The rock is exactly as you'd imagine: there's not a speck of detritus or algal growth, the color is uniform, and it has absolutely no smell.

If keeping the rock live isn't a concern, just soak it in bleachwater for a week or so, then rinse in RO/DI water--changing it out a few times. Some use baking powder to neutralize the bleach, but if you let the rock fully dry afterwards, it's not necessary.

Good luck.