Cooking rocks?

[Aceswild]

I have read many forums in the past where people have experienced problems with there reef and they mention that they cook there rocks does it mean boiling them to start from scratch? please explain and why should it be done thanks

 

[Edwardw771]

mikem put them in the Microwave.

 

[concept3]

I have read many forums in the past where people have experienced problems with there reef and they mention that they cook there rocks does it mean boiling them to start from scratch? please explain and why should it be done thanks

cooking rocks means putting them in a bucket with a skimmer and a heater with no light for a considerable amount of time. weekly water changes need to happen as well as dunking and swishing in new water to relieve the rock of excess nutrients either weekly or biweekly. You end up with "fresh" cooked rock free of unwanted nuisance algae and cleaner rocks.

 

[adesimone1]

Could you imagine the smell that came from that microwave, no more popcorn

 

[Aceswild]

mikem put them in the Microwave.

not sure what kind of rocks you thought I was talking about but Ill say live rock next time :

I have read many forums in the past where people have experienced problems with there reef and they mention that they cook there rocks does it mean boiling them to start from scratch? please explain and why should it be done thanks

cooking rocks means putting them in a bucket with a skimmer and a heater with no light for a considerable amount of time. weekly water changes need to happen as well as dunking and swishing in new water to relieve the rock of excess nutrients either weekly or biweekly. You end up with "fresh" cooked rock free of unwanted nuisance algae and cleaner rocks.

that makes alot of sense thanks

 

[AngelPete]

I've also heard of people put lr in very hoy or boiling water when they have algae problems in order to kill off all the spores.

 

[mikem]

I tried cooking rock in a garbage can with heaters, flow, and a skimmer. No lights. Algae was still there 5 months later. So I placed the rock in a tray in the microwave and cooked that way for a few minutes. Pure white rock and didn't smell because I didn't have them in there long enough to cook them.

 

[harryk]

I had unwanted bubble algae so i cooked mine in the oven for an hour at 400 degrees. Killed it dead, no bubble algae in over 3 years. I had to re-cure my rock but it was worth it. actually cooking it is the only way to get rid of unwanted algae....Keeping it in a bucket with a skimmer, heater and no light will only keep the spores dormant, it won't get rid of them....If i ever had another bad bubble algae outbreak i'd cook my rock in a heartbeat.

My wife wasn't too happy that i used the oven for cooking live rock and the house stunk for a few hours but she got over it after I cleaned the oven

good luck
Harry

 

[adesimone1]

The 90 gallon we got when we 1st started had a ton of bubble algae on it. It took me over 4 hours to pick every spore off all I did was rinse it with tap water after the rock was free of them. We never had another bubble again the rock is my 210 ;D