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"cooking" live rock

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by ruggerkc, Jan 4, 2008.

  1. ruggerkc Experienced Reefkeeper Board of Directors Leadership Team GIRS Member

    North Liberty , IA
    Ratings:
    +183 / 3 / -0
    I read about this process once to beat algea, but now I am having trouble finding the details. Does anybody know how long? and if I need to keep it heated?
    thanks
    casey
     
  2. acidlittle

    198
    Beaverdale
    Ratings:
    +3 / 0 / -0
    The basics are:
    Place rock into rubbermaid or whatever you have that can hold water.
    Place water into container.
    Place powerhead and heater into it as well....crank the heater up to like 85+.
    Then cover it up so as there is no light to feed the algae, and do water changes about twice a week if possible.
    I did this for about 2 months and it cleared up pretty much all of my bad algae, even had some zoas survive.
    As for the time it takes depends on your water changes and how stubborn your algae is.
    Hope this helps
    Josh
     
  3. ruggerkc Experienced Reefkeeper Board of Directors Leadership Team GIRS Member

    North Liberty , IA
    Ratings:
    +183 / 3 / -0

    Yeh that helps alot. thanks
     
  4. Guest

    Guest Guest

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    +0 / 0 / -0
    Hooray for not being able to post.

    In summation: Sugar. Try it. It worked for me.
     
  5. Philby

    Philby Inactive User

    232
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    Here's a thread with some info (including a pretty lengthy description of the exact process someone used) - http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=437342

    Here's another thread with some more discussion on the effectiveness - http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=485572
     
  6. Guest

    Guest Guest

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    Well I removed about 70% of my live rock and managed to jam it all in a 20 gallon tank. I have it covered and heated. I didn't read about trying to get all the stuff off untill I was done. I guess I will dunk all the rocks next. What would happen if I used tap water? I have a well so no chlorene and nitrates are below 10ppm. I think once its back in the 20 with asw it will be dilutted and be fine.
    Sorry about my spelling but I don't want to download this spell check and I can't copy and paste into my word program.
     
  7. IowaDiver Well-Known ReefKeeper

    536
    West Des Moines
    Ratings:
    +6 / 0 / -0
    I have my own technique though you may think it a bit extreme. I've got 30 pounds of live rock that has sit through two winters on my patio. I don't think I'll have any algae or aptasia problems when/if I put it back in the tank.

    If you don't want to put it outside for 1+ years, a week in a bucket of freshwater would probably get the job done too.

    Chris
     
  8. Guest

    Guest Guest

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    +0 / 0 / -0
    The point of cooking is to not kill the rock, and though some people think freshwater won't kill the denitrifying bacteria it will definitely kill most everything else. Personally, with the results I got from dosing sugar, I'm not certain why anyone wastes their time and money with "cooking".
     
  9. IowaDiver Well-Known ReefKeeper

    536
    West Des Moines
    Ratings:
    +6 / 0 / -0
    I suppose if you must keep your bacteria alive, it's not a good way to go, but you can recolonize your rock with bacteria easily enough.

    What's your sugar method?
    4 parts flour, 3 parts sugar, 1 part yeast, cook for 3 hours and top with icing?
     
  10. BGreenlee

    BGreenlee Inactive User

    673
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    Posted By tibbs2 on 01/07/2008 3:57 PM
    I suppose if you must keep your bacteria alive, it's not a good way to go, but you can recolonize your rock with bacteria easily enough.
    What's your sugar method?
    4 parts flour, 3 parts sugar, 1 part yeast, cook for 3 hours and top with icing?
    From experience, drying rock out will kill your algae and other undersireables, but leaves an awful lot of other problem nutrients in place. The best way I have found is to cook it. Its a PITA, but it has been very effective for me. 
     
  11. covey

    covey

    268
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    +8 / 0 / -0
    Cooking keeps your pods alive as well not just the bacteria.


    It also cleans your rock as the bio mat on the rock sheds and you change out the water. I've never seen the increased temp thing and I read up on it quite a bit before I did it.

    Worked for me.
     
  12. acidlittle

    198
    Beaverdale
    Ratings:
    +3 / 0 / -0
    now that i think about it, i never did put a heater into my rubbermaid. I just left it in the garage for 6months and all the nasty stuff was gone. I also don't remember where I read the heater and cranking it up or even why it was necessary, so I say screw the heater and just throw a powerhead in it.
     
  13. matt the fiddler

    matt the fiddler Inactive User

    329
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    +1 / 0 / -0
    you don't want it to freeze, but the bacteria can survive in a large range of temps. a basement works perfect for cooking.
     

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