Will boiling live rock cause it to start releasing silicates and cause a diatom outbreak?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Never ever boil rock. There is a high chance of explosion. If you’re really trying to clean that exact rock, and your tank is already cycled soak the rock in bleach water for a week, then soak it in RODI for a few days and allow it to dry. That’s how I cured all of the rock in my tank

I'm curious. Have you seen an actual account that claimed reef rocks exploded on boiling?

 

[brandon429]

JustAW

post a pic of your setup and we'll mature it back into compliance anyway, no matter the start. what cha working with here/pics

being willing to lift out the rocks for treatment is part of lots of work threads, so that willingness can really help/its the treatment aspect that could be changed up once removed, far less broad actions are avail and can target the actual spot you want vs the whole rock. not all algae battles must happen via water only, and boiling is too broad scale to be effective.

you might be dealing with live rock that isn't particularly porous anyway/where boiling wouldn't be a big deal after a few weeks of guiding back

 

[GoReefin]

If you do boil it please do so outside in a well ventilated area. I'd also let it cure in a vat of salt water covered with no light under high flow for at least a week after boiling.

 

[Theescotland]

for the love of god, please do not boil rock, just do a quick search on palytoxins and you will see why not. i however would bake rocks outside in buckets with Muratic acid. i do that with all the rocks before they go into my tank.
hope this helps!

 

[ridgeburyreefer]

I'm curious. Have you seen an actual account that claimed reef rocks exploded on boiling?

I’ve not seen it with reefing, but yes I have seen it with other types of rocks.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I’ve not seen it with reefing, but yes I have seen it with other types of rocks.

In boiling water? It's hard to see how one generates too much pressure inside a rock without heating them above 100 deg C.

Other types of heating, sure. I've exploded rocks in campfires myself. lol

 

[ReefdudeAdam]

In boiling water? It's hard to see how one generates too much pressure inside a rock without heating them above 100 deg C.

Other types of heating, sure. I've exploded rocks in campfires myself. lol

Prove it!!

 

[Just John]

JustAW

post a pic of your setup and we'll mature it back into compliance anyway, no matter the start. what cha working with here/pics

being willing to lift out the rocks for treatment is part of lots of work threads, so that willingness can really help/its the treatment aspect that could be changed up once removed, far less broad actions are avail and can target the actual spot you want vs the whole rock. not all algae battles must happen via water only, and boiling is too broad scale to be effective.

you might be dealing with live rock that isn't particularly porous anyway/where boiling wouldn't be a big deal after a few weeks of guiding back

Thanks for the offer to help! I'm not at home to take a photo, but it is just a 13 gal AIO aquarium with diatoms growing on the gravel and glass. It's not really bad yet. It is just growing fast and I am trying to get things sorted out before it becomes a disaster.

 

[brandon429]

well ill let you see this little cheat. these two systems are about 30 gallons-ish apiece

smallest models I can think of to relate to a 13 gallon.

The reason to consider this approach is because full on reefs are shown benefitting from it below during times of concern, so applying it to your tank as a starting cleaning mode won't be harmful and its not harmful if full reefs want to run it either. it doesn't matter when you do this type of cleaning, or how often

what matters is the order of ops for takedown and reset back up...over and over if you want, without a skip cycle and without loss of your resident animals. This means you can clean the reef into compliance at any time skipping all meds

skipping all boils

skipping chemi clean and vibrant especially

try and reef without needing a deep cleaning, that's the fun part. try all the esoteric stuff

then when you need real action, apply this below and start clean but start with your whole tank still in tact, no recycle needed.

Algae Identification

Any opinions on what type of algae this is growing on my rocks and sand bed?

www.reef2reef.com

if you learn that, cyano can't win

dinos can't win

certainly not diatoms

only coral growth will occur, its a cheat for getting out of invasions we just never had permission prior. nowadays, those with work threads get to reset the conditions heh.

we're not doing anything but leveraging the gallonage you have to make an easy cheat win, its harmless. current testing shows this method to impart an indefinite biological lifespan to captive reef systems, meaning the end of old tank syndrome 100% gone.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Prove it!!

That seems a little aggressive for what is clearly an opinion searching for more clarification of what the previous posted said. Prove what?

That I've exploded rocks in a camp fire?

How to Use Rocks in Your Fire Without Explosions

When you're building a campfire, you might be tempted to toss a few rocks into the flames for structure or aesthetics. While most rocks will withstand the heat without issue, some can be ticking time

decideoutside.com

Or that "it's hard to see" how 100 deg C or less generates much pressure inside wet rocks?

 

[ReefdudeAdam]

That seems a little aggressive for what is clearly an opinion searching for more clarification of what the previous posted sad. Prove what?

That I've exploded rocks in a camp fire?

How to Use Rocks in Your Fire Without Explosions

When you're building a campfire, you might be tempted to toss a few rocks into the flames for structure or aesthetics. While most rocks will withstand the heat without issue, some can be ticking time

decideoutside.com

Or that "it's hard to see" how 100 deg C or less generates much pressure inside wet rocks?

I meant I want to see you blow some rocks up! Lol

 

[Rubberfrog]

I meant I want to see you blow some rocks up! Lol

That's how I took it. We want to see fire works. haha

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

lol,

OK, never took a video.

Didn't even plan on it. Was just lounging by the fire and boom.

 

[Just John]

well ill let you see this little cheat. these two systems are about 30 gallons-ish apiece

smallest models I can think of to relate to a 13 gallon.

The reason to consider this approach is because full on reefs are shown benefitting from it below during times of concern, so applying it to your tank as a starting cleaning mode won't be harmful and its not harmful if full reefs want to run it either. it doesn't matter when you do this type of cleaning, or how often

what matters is the order of ops for takedown and reset back up...over and over if you want, without a skip cycle and without loss of your resident animals. This means you can clean the reef into compliance at any time skipping all meds

skipping all boils

skipping chemi clean and vibrant especially

try and reef without needing a deep cleaning, that's the fun part. try all the esoteric stuff

then when you need real action, apply this below and start clean but start with your whole tank still in tact, no recycle needed.

Algae Identification

Any opinions on what type of algae this is growing on my rocks and sand bed?

www.reef2reef.com

if you learn that, cyano can't win

dinos can't win

certainly not diatoms

only coral growth will occur, its a cheat for getting out of invasions we just never had permission prior. nowadays, those with work threads get to reset the conditions heh.

we're not doing anything but leveraging the gallonage you have to make an easy cheat win, its harmless. current testing shows this method to impart an indefinite biological lifespan to captive reef systems, meaning the end of old tank syndrome 100% gone.

Thanks again for the help and the link!

 

[dankaqua]

Curious if there is any silicone on/in Live Rock? Assuming it is CaCO3... Where would silicates come from?

...hmm wonder if this will be a problem when using basalt as a base rock...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Curious if there is any silicone on/in Live Rock? Assuming it is CaCO3... Where would silicates come from?

...hmm wonder if this will be a problem when using basalt as a base rock...

I dose silicate, and recommend it, but silicate can come from things like natural oolitic aragonite. Possibly from biogenic silica from diatoms and such.

i measured it myself here:

Silica In Reef Aquariums

Why would I recommend dosing silica? Largely because creatures in our tanks use it, the concentrations in our tanks (at least in mine) are below natural levels, and the sponges, mollusks, and diatoms may not be getting enough to thrive.

reefs.com

It has been suggested that the amount of silica coming from calcerous sand might actually be as high or higher than that from silica sand. To test this hypothesis, I repeated the small-scale experiments above on a calcium carbonate sand from Home Depot (Southdown). In this case, there was some soluble silica released after the first 48 h, but only 1.6 uM (0.1 ppm SiO2), or about a factor of 10 lower than the silica sand. In a long-term test, the concentration had only risen to 5 uM (0.3 ppm SiO2) in 14 days with once a day stirring.