Jaxom

I found a thread online about this, and as I am new and unused to the formal decorum to this blog, I will send you the link, and you can decide to post it here or not.

Everytime ive needed start fresh with rock or anything that was questionable ive boiled them in large stock. Do it outside because the stink is unruly. Just make sure to cover the rock completely and bring to a boil long enough to get the core temp of the rock close to 210. After you boil you add some chlorine to the water, it will help eat any trash out of the pores of the rock, and let them soak then rinse well and leave of the completely dry.

So I would just put the rocks in a vat of fresh water with a pump to move the water around. The fresh water will kill off anything in the rock. I wouldn't use any type of chemicals because of the pouress nature of live rock. Do these soaks a few times and make sure to scrub the rocks with a toothbrush to get the surface algea off. Let them dry out in the sun as long as you can. You should be good. Just a thought why are you trying to kill the rocks???

You would be surprised how near impossible it is to kill everything on the rock. I've left rocks out in trash bags in a garage for months and still had stuff regrow. Your best bet is to boil it a few times, and let it sun dry. Avoid chemicals as much as possible if you plan on putting the rock back in any tank. Porous rock will absorb chemicals, and release them back into your water over time.

Thanks for the feedback, the reason I'm asking is because I have about 40 lbs of rock that has been sitting in a covered container in my garage, in saltwater with no heater for about a year. I just about have everything to setup my tank and will be getting the 90 gal package from Tampa Bay Saltwater, with only about 120 lbs of rock, I want to use the 40 to 50 lbs I have as base rock on the bottom of my 3 islands I plan on creating in my 60" long tank. Thanks again for the feedback.