How do I properly clean live rock

[mikellini]

Whatever the lemon scent is, it won't be organic. Chlorine bleach disintegrates organics, that's how it works. And if you're doing the acid bath to get rid of phosphates, then you'll actually need to lose a significant amount of mass to be successful. It works by removing a layer of rock that has adsorbed phosphates, if you don't remove enough then you're not removing phosphates. Depending on the porosity of the rock, I've heard of acid baths removing 25% of the dry mass of the rock.

Carbon will probably help with removing whatever the lemon scent chemical is. Also soaking in RODI will pull it into the water for removal

[jason604]

No way 25% lose of rock? Can't be that much

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by jason604

No way 25% lose of rock? Can't be that much

While I'm not sure that's a real number, you do need to remove a layer of every external and internal surface to unbind the PO4. You're gonna lose some mass

[mikellini]

Maybe 10% for your average rock, but one guy on reef central did it with pukani and lost 25%, didn't even look like the same rock

[jason604]

Do u guys think only bleach is good enough or maybe like a 30min acid bath as well to minimize mass loss?

[mikellini]

Honestly I would just do a few successive soaks in RODI. 0 tds water is very aggressive at pulling things out of rock, it's a strong solvent

[jason604]

Ok so I did a bleach soak for 24hr then power washed the rocks an they turned out pretty white. Did a 1.5hr soak in muriatic acid and power washed it again. Rocks turned out dirtier than after I bleached it. I did notice some loss of rock mass. About 10% or less I would guess. I have it in a bin with ro water and a hang on back carbon filter. Would it turn white again after a few days ro soak?