+Mlaw Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 I have 55 gallon all male cichild tank with haps and peacocks. About a month or so ago i started getting a nasty film of black algae on the rocks. It spread everywhere. I scraped and scraped and finally gave up. I put about half of my limestone holyrock in a 10 gallon bucket full of water with about a cup of bleach and let it soak for about 12 hours. Every thing looks good as new. My question is do I need to soak it in dechlorinator or can I let it sit out in the sun for a few days? Plan is to put the clean half of rock back in and do the other half so the boys have some place to hide until it is all back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingjames Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 i would just rinse it off really well and then let it bake for a couple days, have done this before, along time ago on decorations to one of my fw setups i used to have Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 It's pretty porous so you would want to rinse really well after bleaching and let it dry for a while. You could also put it in the oven on low (250 max) for 8 or so hours after rinsing. You don't want too hot an oven in case there are sealed pockets that might explode if the liquid turns to steam inside the rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 +1. I'd rinse it in heavily overdosed dechlorinator for a day, then rinse in discarded tank water, then let it bake in the sun for a week. In the future, try either soaking them in a vinegar bath, or using hydrogen peroxide. Just as effective, far less harmful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 I just bleached sps. 2 days soak 10 min rinse 2 day dry and its good for my pico tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woods Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 I have done this many times over the past 15 year of Cichlid keeping and breeding. I would spray it with straight bleach and let it sit for 15 minutes and spray it again. I did this until the algae was gone and rocks were perfectly white. So my bleach on the rocks was much much heavier than your concentration. I would rinse with a hose for 10-15 minutes and then let it sit in the sun for a day. When adding it back into the tank I would add extra dechlor to the tank in fairly heavy dose and never had a problem... I did this summer or winter on a sunny day, didn't seem to make a difference... I would not use an oven to bake it as it is not needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mlaw Posted February 20, 2013 Author Share Posted February 20, 2013 Thanks everyone. Makes me feel better. They have been out in the sun for 2 full days and will go back in the tank tonight assuming all is well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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