Bleach live rock

Not to steal your thread, but I am considering baking some live rock in the oven. I have colonial hydriods and I am trying to rid of them. I have torched the rocks several times and re-cycled them twice and they still came back. Not all of them, but one or two and then before you know it they have spread. I would like to avoid anything that would get me sick like Poidog, so I'll take the boiling option off the table. I was considering cooking the rock in the oven for 5 hours at 500 degrees and then cycling them again. Would bleaching the rock's be more effective than heating them up to 500 degrees? I just want a guranteed 100% effective method to get rid of the hydriods. Would beaching the rock do it. Is there a possibility that some sort of pest could survive being bleached? Has anyone tried heating rocks in the oven? The reason I was considering this is because I wanted to avoid having to dechlorinate them and then risk the rocks not being fully dechlorinated and then kill my coral and fish.
 
Jason7181 said:
The reason I'm bleaching the LR is the guy I got the tank from had thousands of asterina starfish and a ton of pyramid snails. Would 24 hrs kill all that?
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You mixed a 5:1 ratio, that's a lot of bleach. I'm sure everything is deceased by now. A little bleach goes a very long way.
 
KiLaGo said:
Not to steal your thread, but I am considering baking some live rock in the oven. I have colonial hydriods and I am trying to rid of them. I have torched the rocks several times and re-cycled them twice and they still came back. Not all of them, but one or two and then before you know it they have spread. I would like to avoid anything that would get me sick like Poidog, so I'll take the boiling option off the table. I was considering cooking the rock in the oven for 5 hours at 500 degrees and then cycling them again. Would bleaching the rock's be more effective than heating them up to 500 degrees? I just want a guranteed 100% effective method to get rid of the hydriods. Would beaching the rock do it. Is there a possibility that some sort of pest could survive being bleached? Has anyone tried heating rocks in the oven? The reason I was considering this is because I wanted to avoid having to dechlorinate them and then risk the rocks not being fully dechlorinated and then kill my coral and fish.
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Bleach will kill everything on your rock. Just don't rush them back into your tank until you are certain they have ben dechlorinated. Personally, I haven't baked rock in the oven. However, all I can envision is a whole house stinking to high-heaven! Take out a piece of LR and give it a whiff. I wouldn't want my whole house smelling like that :painkiller:
 
Would it be possible for the hydroid to retract into a crevice in the rock and go dormant during the beaching process and then reemerge in a few months? I have read where individuals have dried out their rock for 6 months and put it back in the tank and the hydroids came back. Has anyone tried to bleach LF to kill hydroids?

Maybe I should just throw the rock away and not worry about it. I just ordered 20 lbs of dry rock that I am going to begin to cycle this week. Last weekend I bought a used BC 14 and put all of my coral that appears hydroid free in it. My plan is to cycle the new rock with new sand, and then completely redo by BC 29 with new rock and new sand, and then add my hopefully hydroid free coral back to the BC 29 and move on. I wanted have my old rock on standby or to eventually use it in this tank or a bigger tank, but maybe I should just write it off and move on and not worry about bleaching or baking it.
 
If the hydroid retracts into a crevice, which it probably will, the bleach will follow them into the crevice. I wouldn't throw the rock away. Also, it would not be physiologically possible for a hyroid to live for 6 months on dried rock. They are filter feeders and some are even photosynthetic. What would they be eating for 6 months? If it comes back after 6 months then some of it was left in the tank. Most people who have gotten rid of hydroids simply let the rock completely dry out for a few days. If you don't plan on putting the rock back in the tank right away then don't worry about baking it or bleaching it. Let it dry out and it will be fine.
 
EricTheRed said:
You mixed a 5:1 ratio, that's a lot of bleach. I'm sure everything is deceased by now. A little bleach goes a very long way.
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I have taken the rock out and put it in tubs with fresh water and prime by seachem. How long should I leave them in the fresh water?
 
I have been soaking the rock in water for 2 days with dechlorinator and changed the water once and still has a weak bleach smell. Is that normal or should I continue soaking?
 
I would be nervous if they still smelled like bleach. Might be a good idea to change the water and continue soaking.
 
I would add dechlorinator and keep doing water changes until you don't smell any chlorine. After that, let the rock COMPLETELY dry out. Any excess chlorine will evaporate. You used a fairly high concentration of bleach, you may need to do this for several days. I wouldn't be comfortable until all of the chlorine smell was gone.
 
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