My friend gave me 20 lbs of rock after all of his fish died. How to make it safe to put in my tank?

[floods7]

My friend has had enough and is giving me all of his rock. He already gave me some of it a while back and I boiled it, which probably wasnt the best way to go. All four of his fish died in three days, it looked to me like they had ich but I didnt think they could die from ich so fast. It seemed like the fish would show symptoms in the morning and be dead the same night, then the next day it would happen to another fish. I think he had more problems than ich as he was always having problems. So the 20 lbs of rock is still in water and in his tank. What should I do to make sure the bad bacteria/disease is gone from the rock in order to put it in my tank?
Also he has a shrimp in that tank that he is giving to me, how should I prepare the shrimp for my tank so it does not bring the bacteria with it?

 

[mr. limpid]

If you can leave it in his tank for 8 weeks the life cycle of ick will dead. I would ghost feed the tank as if there were four fish still in there. As for other diseases it usually dies when host dies. The bacteria in the rock and any critters living on the rock you want to save thus the ghost feeding.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Limpid http:///t/391370/my-friend-gave-me-20-lbs-of-rock-after-all-of-his-fish-died-how-to-make-it-safe-to-put-in-my-tank#post_3470402
If you can leave it in his tank for 8 weeks the life cycle of ick will dead. I would ghost feed the tank as if there were four fish still in there. As for other diseases it usually dies when host dies. The bacteria in the rock and any critters living on the rock you want to save thus the ghost feeding.
A bucket of saltwater and a power head will do the same thing.

 

[floods7]

Over the two years his tank has been up he lost many fish and corals despite great water conditions. He got some of this rock from the ocean, idk if that matters.
I finally got my tank clean to where I want it, and I have great pink and purple algy on my rocks. I dont want anything to mess it up, what is the best way to guarentee that his rock will not negitivly effect my tank,
At one point his rocks (20 lbs) must have had about 500 algy bubbles, a ton of aptasia (he thought it was good) im talking like over 200 hundred heads, and this weird filmy red algy that grew absolutly everyhwere. I really dont want of this to happen in my tank, how can I prevent his rock from bringing this to my tank?
thanks

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by floods7 http:///t/391370/my-friend-gave-me-20-lbs-of-rock-after-all-of-his-fish-died-how-to-make-it-safe-to-put-in-my-tank#post_3470440
Over the two years his tank has been up he lost many fish and corals despite great water conditions. He got some of this rock from the ocean, idk if that matters.
I finally got my tank clean to where I want it, and I have great pink and purple algy on my rocks. I dont want anything to mess it up, what is the best way to guarentee that his rock will not negitivly effect my tank,
At one point his rocks (20 lbs) must have had about 500 algy bubbles, a ton of aptasia (he thought it was good) im talking like over 200 hundred heads, and this weird filmy red algy that grew absolutly everyhwere. I really dont want of this to happen in my tank, how can I prevent his rock from bringing this to my tank?
thanks
LOL...By not putting it into your tank.
The red filmy algae is called cyano bacteria and with aptasia in abundance...Green bubble algae.... all spell high phosphates, so his water was not so pristine. He got false negitive readings on his phosphate tests because of the cyano and bubble algae.
Either boil the rock, bleach it.... totally killing it, or pass it up altogether.

 

[floods7]

I dont mind boiling it but the last time I boiled some rock it turned green then white and doesn't look good. Plus it made it really brittle. Any way to boil it without those negative side effects?

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by floods7 http:///t/391370/my-friend-gave-me-20-lbs-of-rock-after-all-of-his-fish-died-how-to-make-it-safe-to-put-in-my-tank#post_3470454
I dont mind boiling it but the last time I boiled some rock it turned green then white and doesn't look good. Plus it made it really brittle. Any way to boil it without those negative side effects?
Soak it in freshwater and bleach...then rinse it to death in fresh water and then set it in the sun to dry for a few days...LOL...because I am afraid of bleach...rinse it again in freshwater, the fill a tub with freshwater and dechloinator and let it sit overnight in it.

 

[siptang]

I would do what flower said.
Honestly you have to weigh in the pros and cons of all of this.
Pros: You get a free live rock.
Cons: Tons of aptasia which will over run your tank.
Possible ich infestation which will over run your tank if the conditions are right.
Cyno bacteria which can over run your tank like your friend's.
Safe way to due to this is make it a dead base rock by doing what flower had suggested. Coraline algae will eventually grow on it but I wouldn't risk crashing my tank or having anything that I don't want in there.

 

[floods7]

So the bleach treatment that Flower suggested will eliminate any chance of carring the bad bacteria, aptasia and cyan algy from coming into my tank?
Will it ruin the color of the rocks?

 

[siptang]

Yes it will change the color of the rock and be sure to rinse vigorously after you bleach it with water with prime in it.