Reuse of rock after disease shut down.

[AdamK1]

Anyone that's seen my last couple of posts, my tank had a desiese which in the end has meant I've shut it down. Thought to be brook or velvet, existing fish in the tank were fine, but any I added would die pretty fast. I tried to treat the display with cupramine, as it's a newly converted fowlr, but I couldn't control the ammonia from the snail die off, and the levels of copper were hard to manage.

I've ended up emptying the tank, taking my remaining fish to my (excellent) lfs for treatment.

My tank is running currently with fresh water, my rock is in a vat of fresh water, and all my kit is off the tank. Everything will be getting a thorough clean and dry before beginning to fill up again.

So my question is about my rock. I've a good bit of Marco rock. It's scapped and I don't really want to lose it if I can help. This process is pricey enough as it is.

I'm replacing the sand, and adding a 110w pro grade uv to my system. I'll also likely run ozone.

It will be in fresh water for a couple of days with regular changes, and left out to thoroughly dry.

Is there any reason I can't use this again? Is there a marine fish desiese in existence that can withstand a week of cupramine, cold fresh water for 24 hours, thorough drying, and a reset with a huge uv?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Anyone that's seen my last couple of posts, my tank had a desiese which in the end has meant I've shut it down. Thought to be brook or velvet, existing fish in the tank were fine, but any I added would die pretty fast. I tried to treat the display with cupramine, as it's a newly converted fowlr, but I couldn't control the ammonia from the snail die off, and the levels of copper were hard to manage.

I've ended up emptying the tank, taking my remaining fish to my (excellent) lfs for treatment.

My tank is running currently with fresh water, my rock is in a vat of fresh water, and all my kit is off the tank. Everything will be getting a thorough clean and dry before beginning to fill up again.

So my question is about my rock. I've a good bit of Marco rock. It's scapped and I don't really want to lose it if I can help. This process is pricey enough as it is.

I'm replacing the sand, and adding a 110w pro grade uv to my system. I'll also likely run ozone.

It will be in fresh water for a couple of days with regular changes, and left out to thoroughly dry.

Is there any reason I can't use this again? Is there a marine fish desiese in existence that can withstand a week of cupramine, cold fresh water for 24 hours, thorough drying, and a reset with a huge uv?

The freshwater alone should have kept parasites at bay but as an option, you can do a bleach/water dip or take your chance with the freshwater already addressing it

 

[TX_REEF]

If you're doing a FOWLR tank still, I'd think it would be fine as long as it's completely fallow of fish for long enough. I would not use any rock that has been exposed to copper for a coral or invert-inclusive tank.

 

[acroslayer]

Could soak rock in bleach

 

[Dan_P]

The freshwater alone should have kept parasites at bay but as an option, you can do a bleach/water dip or take your chance with the freshwater already addressing it

Seems like if one had a soup pot, placing the rock for a few minutes in boiling water would be a non-chemical sanitation method

 

[KrisReef]

Seems like if one had a soup pot, placing the rock for a few minutes in boiling water would be a non-chemical sanitation method

Possible volcanic (steam) explosion risk that I would not try.
Also, if paly's are present that could release toxins in the kitchen.

(Just pointing out hazard potential! keeping folks safe.)

 

[vetteguy53081]

Seems like if one had a soup pot, placing the rock for a few minutes in boiling water would be a non-chemical sanitation method

Actually, that too is an option if free of coral - agree

 

[Northern Flicker]

I would not boil live rock. Vetteguy’s bleach suggestions is one I have used many times. I usually bleach, soak in fw, then let them air dry (or in the sun outside) for a day or two.

 

[Fish Fan]

I wouldn't boil rock. Bleaching it will sanitize it.

However, I would be concerned with the Cupramine treatment. If the OP wants any inverts at all, I think this may be an issue. Maybe run some Cuprisorb on the rock bucket before trying to to reuse this rock would be a good idea?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Anyone that's seen my last couple of posts, my tank had a desiese which in the end has meant I've shut it down. Thought to be brook or velvet, existing fish in the tank were fine, but any I added would die pretty fast. I tried to treat the display with cupramine, as it's a newly converted fowlr, but I couldn't control the ammonia from the snail die off, and the levels of copper were hard to manage.

I've ended up emptying the tank, taking my remaining fish to my (excellent) lfs for treatment.

My tank is running currently with fresh water, my rock is in a vat of fresh water, and all my kit is off the tank. Everything will be getting a thorough clean and dry before beginning to fill up again.

So my question is about my rock. I've a good bit of Marco rock. It's scapped and I don't really want to lose it if I can help. This process is pricey enough as it is.

I'm replacing the sand, and adding a 110w pro grade uv to my system. I'll also likely run ozone.

It will be in fresh water for a couple of days with regular changes, and left out to thoroughly dry.

Is there any reason I can't use this again? Is there a marine fish desiese in existence that can withstand a week of cupramine, cold fresh water for 24 hours, thorough drying, and a reset with a huge uv?

There are no fish diseases that I am aware of that can survive freshwater and complete drying. You may find though, that the rock has absorbed some Cupramine. If that is released later on, it can harm invertebrates. Depending on the copper test that you have, you can try running the tank with JUST freshwater, and add enough white vinegar to drop the pH to below 6. Then, in 24 hours, test for copper. If you get a reading higher than 0.05 ppm, dump the water and repeat the process. If copper keeps leeching out, your rock should really only be used in a FOWLR system.

 

[AdamK1]

Thanks for the replies.

Yeah the cupramine is something I've considered. I'm planning a fairly sterile fowlr setup, with no plans for inverts. My lfs has a superb, multiple hundreds of € copper test kit, so if down the line I did want a fireshrimp or something I'd be sure to check with them first.

I'm almost considering a tiny bit of copper leaching to be a good thing in this system, and am considering running a small background level of copper anyway. We'll see.